You're so square

This is my attempt at one of the squares from Iris Niebach's booklet Tatting Together, Square Motifs. I found it quite challenging, and this is a long way from being right, but I felt it was worth showing. Sometimes, bad tatting is as interesting as good... My excuse is that it was mostly done while on night-duty, which can be a jelly brain time. (Dealing with drunken phone calls at 2 am can be a bit distracting to the real business in hand!)

Music from Buddy Holly!

another square

I'm not sure that this merits a post, but just to let you know I'm still here, and still, albeit slowly, tatting. Here are the previous patterns joined to make a square. I did as usual make a mistake...my excuse was that I waiting to be interrogated by the gendarmes after a weekend on night duty...but I'm certainly not going to start again!

Pink square

This square is the same as Mrs. John did, but on one corner I put in one too many picots. I am showing it, because I enjoy looking and comparing different versions of the same pattern. This is Valdani 50 thread, precious pansies.

Some work and another book review

I have been very tied up in boring work and not boring but rather stressful studying. My tatting has suffered somewhat, with loads of mistakes.




This is an example; David was in England for Christmas and brought home a load of handkerchieves that his mother had given him. My guess is she'd had them in a cupboard since the '70's as they were in really tacky colours, but one just matched a ball of variegated DMC special dentelles. I decided to make an edging for it, though what anyone would want with such a thing as a funky purple lace edged man's hanky... Anyway I haven't got very far, I keep making mistakes! (So the problem of what to do with it is in the distance for the moment!)


Another pattern I am working on is this one from Mary Konior's book. It requires aboout 16 motifs to be joined together, and the first motif was completely disasterous, but I have at last achieved two...I'll let you know if I manage to get any further.



I wanted to talk about another book, A Tatter's Workbook. The patterns are not my favourites, but I love her use of colour in her designs. It's a book I enjoy looking at more than working from, but it is always interesting to try the patterns, because it can be quite a puzzle between the words and the picture to work it all out! Here's a sample page, at random. You can see more if you click the link.

My book review

I have been wondering whether to buy this book for ages. On one hand it has a very good review by Gina Buchanan, but on the other I wasn't that keen on the cover picture. Well, never judge a book by it's cover, because this is a wonderful book, with patterns and tips for all levels of tatters. This picture shows a shuttle only edging called "curds and whey" which is so simple but really pretty, and also the flower motif from the front cover. The diagrammes are really well explained and there's a good variety, edgings, motifs, collars and doillies.
I have taken on an Open University course which will be taking up a lot of my time, none-the-less I feel that this book will keep me inspired to do a little bit of tatting whatever the demands on my schedule.

Definitely gets five stars from me! (It was no longer available from Amazon, but if anyone is interested I found it at Handy Hands.)

Shuttle talk

I enjoyed reading Sharon's post about shuttles and so I thought I would show you mine.
I learnt back in 1974 with an Aero shuttle, but I didn't like it. I didn't like the noise the bobbin made as it was unwound and then it was fiddly when it needed to be rewound for the chain. My next shuttle was a Milward shuttle which I think must be at my ex-husband's house as I haven't been able to find it. I liked that much better...but as I have said, tatting was laid aside while I trained as a nurse, had children, moved to France etc. Despite this I bought three shuttles in a little case from an antique market in Bath in the early eighties. I was pleased because the seller didn't know what they were for, so they were pretty cheap. They are in the bottom right of the picture, and one is metal, but the other two are made of bone or ivory. I have never used them, though I did use the hook that came with them. When I became interested again I found a packet of two plastic shuttles very cheap on a market stall in Sarlat. They would be better if I took the time to sand them down as they are very poorly finished, and have seams that catch on the thread. (bottom middle) I then decided to splash out on the pack from Clover, via internet, I think from Snowgoose, when I was buying materials for bobbin lace, and have never regretted it. I find them easy to wind, easy to use and I love the cheerful colours. The little pick end means I can tat with impunity on the most paranoid of airlines, and so I would give 5/5 to these ones.
The tortoiseshell plastic and blue plastic ones are made by Innox. The tortoiseshell are nice to work with, but a pain to wind. The blue is ok, but I bought it in Guerande with my daughter so I keep it for that.
The bone shuttle top left is for celtic tatting, it's from Handy Hands, and the other shuttle bottom right is from David Reed Smith. I like this one, which is reasonable to wind and holds lots of thread, but I should have ordered a second one as I like to use matching shuttles. I made sure not to make the same mistake with the Shuttle Shop!
You should click on the picture to see the shuttles clearly, and the hooks are from David Reed Smith, Lyn Morton, and the third was made by my partner from an old bobbin and a crochet hook.

Be still my beating heart!

My christmas present to myself this year was this pair of beautiful shuttles. They are from the shuttle shop.
My first project with them was Sadie's heart from Teri Dusenbury's site, and it has proved quite a complicated pattern, I have had to restart twice and even now there are a couple of mistakes I have ignored. Originally it was for a colleague who retires on the 31st January and who collects hearts, but I think I will have to start again. I'm not sure about my choice of thread, perhaps a solid colour would be less distracting?
Edit: I am posting the finished heart.

Overflowing

This is the cork board, where I usually pin up my finished work, I think I will have to start a new one!

Two more bits...

I decided to see how it would look if I made three more squares, and it worked quite well...one mistake right at the end where I ran out of thread just on the last corner and then forgot to join the ring. Ends not hidden yet.
The snowflake is from the german book, and was designed to fit around an easter egg, but as soon as I saw it I wanted to do it in blue and yellow, I'm not sure why.

Grubby snowflake

This motif is meant to be a snowflake, following what seems to be a seasonal theme in many blogs at the moment. I ought to wash it, because tatting by the stove, and fighting kittens has meant it has become rather grubby in certain places!
The pattern is again from the german book, and I am wondering now if it is actually a star...oh well.

Red square

This was my first attempt at block tatting, and I didn't have access to an explanation, plus the pattern is from a german tatting book. Obviously it is just a motif from a bigger design, but I just wanted to try the technique in a small pattern to start off.
The thread is from Frances, a lovely thread, about a 50, and easy to work (and undo when necessary!)
Thank you to everyone for suggestions as to how to hide ends, with this one I managed to sew them through, sort of... but I am keen to perfect the magic threads method as I often tat with small threads and rather tightly, perhaps I'm rather a tense person!

Jon's daisy picot completed

This was quite difficult for me, and took me a couple of tries before I managed to complete it correctly. I am grateful to Jon for her clear instructions. The threads are Valdani 50 "precious pansies" and King Tut "shekels".


Talking of threads, I see other tatters also have a "sample pattern" to give them an idea of how a thread will tat up. Here are a few of my samples...the smallest is Valdani 50, and the biggest is some hand dyed thread from my friend Frances.
I am still having difficulty hiding my ends, either I can't thread the needle or else I can't force it into the stitches, does anyone else have problems with this?

Pink doiley finished

I am pleased to have finished without too many mistakes. Now I am struggling with the daisy picot snowflake, which isn't working at the moment.
(This is from the french frivolité book, with a design modification in the last row as I removed a little ring from the repeat so it would lie flat. The thread is Anchor 80 dentelles colour 8...)

Me, tatting.

I think this shows some of the reasons the pink doiley is progressing so slowly. I apologize for the poor quality of the photo.

Past tatting, a watershed piece.

This was tatted about five years ago, when I had just started tatting again. I learnt to tat in 1974, from a handicraft book, and then it waned as an interest due to the fact I couldn't find patterns. I did find a few old shuttles while browsing through antique markets, but apart from doing the odd little flower, to all intents and purposes I gave up.
Then I discovered the internet! Suddenly there were patterns, suppliers, new techniques...well everything a lost and lonely tatter could wish for.
This bookmark, designed by LaRae, was an important stage in my development as a tatter, as I learned to do both split rings and celtic tatting, plus it was my first experience of working with colour. I was so grateful to her, for sharing this pattern.
I am telling you about the past as I feel the need to keep posting, (no point in being in "the ring" if one doesn't,) but my progress on my pink doiley is rather slow, and I fear several more hours of work before I can show it. So I hope you'll forgive me for "cheating" a little.

Seven random things

Laura has tagged me, so here are my answers.

Here are the rules which you must abide by if you are tagged.1. Link to your tagger and post these rules.2. Share 7 facts about yourself: some random, some weird.3. Tag 3 people at the end of your post and list their names (linking to them).4. Let them know they’ve been tagged by leaving a comment at their blogs.



1. I moved to France 18 years ago because my then husband wanted to get away from the neighbours, and be sure to have his own parking space.



2. I am fascinated by tuberculosis, having cared for many sufferers, and read many tb books, from "The White Death" through to "That's How it Was" and "The Magic Mountain". I have primary TB, but of course so does most of the world's population!



3. I have three children, Rosie, 24, who has a degree in Chinese and Oriental Art and Archeology, and a doppelganger who is an Australian porn star. Polly,22, who is studying to become a translator, and has bi-polar disorder and has attempted to kill herself about 11 times, and Raphael,10, who would like to be a stand-up comedian.



4. I have a deerhound, six cats, three chickens, a degu of Chile, and a tankful of fish.



5. I met my husband when he was 40, and I was 18, and left when I was 40 and he was 62.



6. I only wear stuff that is comfortable to me, so on my feet it's either Crocs or walking boots, and I never wear trousers.



7. I have lived without television for most of my life.



I tag
mightiadd

Pamela

Sylvia

Glad to be finished with this one

I was using venus thread, and I certainly don't recommend it. It knots up at the first opportunity, it doesn't run smoothly and it splits when you try to join it through small picots. It was cheap, but I'll give it a miss another time!

Getting to know me....

I thought I'd share a bit of useless information about myself, and if anyone else wants to do the survey, I'll be interested to read their results.
Best Survey
Name:: Snowy
Birthday:: January 23 1960
Birthplace:: Chichester, England
Where you live now:: Frayssinet le Gelat France
Hair color:: Brown fading to grey
Eye color:: Dishwater
Height:: 5'2.
Your biggest pet peeve:: People who assume I'm not working just because I'm at home in the daytime, (shiftwork, nights?)
Your biggest flaw:: Not motivated to actually do housework/cooking
Pepsi or coke:: Coke.
Water or Gatorade:: What on earth is Gatorade? (water sounds safer).
Do you smoke:: No.(10 years working in pneumologie)
Do you drink:: Yes.(2years working in alcoologie)
Do you club:: No
Do you swear:: Sort of (Hells bell and buckets of blood, or Jesus wept).
Do you do drugs:: No.
Do you want to go to the military:: Never.
Do you want to go to college:: I did want to, but I have Open University now.
Do you want to get married:: Never again.
Do you want to have kids:: I did and I had three of them.
Do you know how to dress:: I have a certain style.
Do you think that you are attractive:: I think I have a certain charm
Are you moody:: I have my moments.
Do you like rainy days:: Yes, I love them.
Can you cook a decent meal:: Look, it's not that I can't cook, it's that I won't cook, OK?
Ever been......
Beat up:: No, not really.
Fired:: Wimpy Bar, 1978.
Dumped:: sigh, yes.
Hired:: Yes.
Lied to:: Probably, I'm pretty gullible.
Cheated on:: Not as far as I know...
Shot:: No.
High:: Yes.
Deathly sick:: No.
Depressed:: I know I need help when I start thinking about euthanasia for the whole ward.
Homesick:: When I was at boarding school, yes.
Locked up:: Does boarding school count?
On a real date:: Yes
In the past month have you....
Been shopping:: Supermarket, veg, that's all.
Been on a date:: No.
Been to the movies:: No.
Been to a party:: No.
Written a song:: No.
Been cheated on:: I'm a kit car widow.
Are you a virgin:: Do I have to say?
Gay/Straight/Bi:: Straight.
Single or taken:: Not single.
Your favorite...
Food:: Moussaka with soya mince, brown rice and salad.
Drink:: Red wine.
Car:: Mine.
Place:: Massif Central or the Pyrenees
Color:: lapis lazuli.
Show:: The Mighty Boosh.
Store:: Waterstone's or any big bookshop.
Movie:: Death In Venice.
Artist:: Egon Schille.
Feature on a guy/girl:: sense of humour.
Number of piercings:: I've had my ears done but I get inflamation if I wear anything in them.
Number of tatoos:: I hate tatoos.
glasses/contacts/neither:: Glasses.
Love or money:: Neither.
Quiet or loud:: Quiet.
Country or city:: Country.
**RANDOM**
Ever been on the toilet and on the phone:: Frequently!
Ever accidently peed in your sleep:: Hm.... I don't think so.
Ever get up in the middle of the night for a snack:: No.
Ever wake up on the wrong side of the bed:: Yes.
Do you wish you were a different gender:: Never.
Do you believe in God:: No.
Ever split a nail:: Yes.
Did you like this survey:: Yes. I love these things.Take this survey Find more surveysBzoink - The Original Survey Site

Lacemaking helpers

This is a picture of Phoebe, one of four kittens I recently adopted. They arrived in a pretty poor state, needing antibiotics and general care, but now they are bouncing with health and providing much assistance in all activities. Tatting is just such an activity, and I now must untangle a ball of black cotton before I can finish that d****ed doiley!

Laura and lace

A couple of weeks ago I gaily suggested to

Laura that bobbin lace was an easy hobby...well, yes, it is easy, like tatting is easy, that is the basic principle behind it is just "lift right over left", the problems only occur when you try to do something with it! I learnt the basic technique in 2003, but have actually done very little because the carreau, or galette, (or whatever they're called in english) are not all that easy to carry around! For the last 15 months I have been concentrating on tatting, so I decided to dig out my bobbins and have a go at a simple bookmark. Compared to virtuosos like Mark it's not very impressive, but I was relieved to find that I hadn't completely forgotten the technique. The edging on the carreau is one I had been working on previously, as I practised adding replacement bobbins and doing tallies. The picture quality isn't very good, autumn has arrived here and the light is fading fast!