Tatter's best friend

When I first started tatting I used a metal shuttle with the hook on the end and for many years I wouldn't change. Why you ask? 2 reasons, the first is that I'm embarrassed to say I didn't immediately grasp how you got the thread on the post style shuttles. Please keep in mind that I was using a bobbin style shuttle where you removed the bobbin to wind it. The second reason I wouldn't change was that I was not entirely convinced that a crochet hook would be easier to use than the hook on the shuttle. It just seemed like it would take too long and was one more thing to carry around.
I can't remember why I finally started to use the post style bobbin but now I wouldn't change from my clover tatting shuttles. It seemed onerous at first to use that crochet hook- you have to drop the shuttle and find the hook and it seemed to take so long to do. Now, I don't notice at all and in a very unhygienic manner I keep the hook in a place I won't forget, my mouth. I know, it's gross- can you say orally fixated?
Why am I thinking about this? Because I'm filling in time tatting with my shuttle and hook thinking how much harder this would be if I just had the pick to do joins. Now, I'm sure that there are other tools some tatters use more but I would argue that some sort of hook is an essential tool for tatting. What do you think?

Queen of Clunny

If you ever wondered why learn to clunny tat you should check out http://elisadusud.canalblog.com/ by Elisa Dusud. Elisa must be the Queen of Clunny because I've never seen anyone use them so much and with such ease. Personally, I've never really been all that thrilled about clunnies but Elisa brings them to a whole new level. If you don't read french don't worry, just look at the pictures! Its definitely worth your time. One the same note, do you think the plural of clunny is clunnies or clunnys?

lost but not forgotten

I am just about to re-send my Summertime exchange package. It did not make it to Singapore so I'm trying again. I rarely have issues when tatting anymore but every once in awhile things go really wrong. Trying to remake this project was one of those times...what I ended up doing is not what I started doing. Here is the what I originally created and tried to reproduce but was waylaid by my overactive hands.

So the amulet bag is out and something else is in...thank GOD it worked out. In fact, I think what I ended up with is quite lovely. I can't share a picture here until my very patient partner receives her package but I will later. I can tell you that the theme is very similar just that my hands decided to follow a different pattern then my brain. I have a habit of tatting and reading which maybe the cause of the detour.

As a point of interest the major thing wrong with the bag above was that it tipped forward due to the daisy. IF I do the pattern again I will add something or change the handle placement to even out the weight distribution or maybe not...

Something a little different

We were cleaning out the junk that tends to pile up in the clinic. One of the things we found is a bag that Salima (other Chiropractor in the clinic) was going to take home and never did. It had been in a drawer since Christmas. When she opened the bag it had what I made her for Christmas-Tasbih (Muslim prayer beads) . She's Muslim so you may find it strange that I give her a Christmas gift but we don't think about it that way. I had forgotten about them but I'm happy to say that seeing them again I was impressed. The Tasbih have 99 beads with every 33 beads separated by a different bead and a bottom bead and tassel. Ideally the top bead has a certain shape to it but often people use a larger bead or series of beads.

The red and green Tasbih is made out of red fossil and green quartz. The tassel is green and gold. I choose those color because they are important colors for a big holiday. Semi-precious stones tend to be heavy and have smaller holes so they tend to break the thread holding the Tasbih together. This is meant for special occasions.

I'm not sure if it shows up but the next one has green glass beads. I used goldstone beads as the separators and put a red tassel on the top. These beads have larger holes and are lighter. This Tasbih could take a lot of abuse and not break.

I used smaller beads here to make a smaller Tasbih. Again the beads are glass so its lighter. You can't see it but the separator beads are polygons (does that work in 3-d?) and there is a band of gold on them. Green and White are the colors of the Aga Khan who is the the Ismaili's religious leader.

Anyways, I thought I would share this with you. I can't share any pictures of what I'm working on right now. Unfortunately, the summertime exchange package I sent never arrived at its destination. I'm trying to remake what I sent but it's not going well. It's taking forever.

paradigm shift

Definition: a fundamental change in approach or assumptions

I think that I just experienced a paradigm shift in the way that I approach my tatting. It was my opinion that tatting has neither a front side nor a back side so I never bother with front sided/back sided techniques. Most people that I give my tatting to would have no idea which side was up or down so really front/back sided techniques don't apply. In fact, one of the charms about tatting is that there is no obvious front or back unlike say...knitting. Sure, tatters may notice the difference, but the average person won't. I also like the fact that I can just flip a doily if it gets a fleck on it.
However, today I voluntarily changed to front side/back side tatting for a pattern. Why? Well, some things by their nature have fronts and backs. Oh say...an amulet bag. You have an inside and outside portion of the bag and you can't just turn it inside out and have the same thing. Another example is the rosette which by the nature of the joins looks different on the front than on the back. So, I have decided in these cases to use front sided/back sided techniques. This is a major change for me since it changes how I look at patterns and the double stitch. It also makes things a little more complicated. Crap!

Wedding Jitters

I thought I hit publish on this note 2 weeks ago. Jessica's wedding has passed and it was lovely. She had her outdoor evening wedding on the nicest day of the summer...Lucky girl. The rest is the note I wrote 2 weeks ago:

My sister is getting married on the 23rd so I'm making her ring pillow. I have all of the elements done but I just have to assemble it. Every time I think I'm going to have a moment to work on it something comes up. Next week I'll be worrying about the tent and stuff so its getting a little down to the wire here...I think that I am going to be spending a few nights this week finishing it. The other thing I have to do is an edging on her hanky. I think that I need to keep it very simple, its too bad because there's some edgings that would be great! Oh well...time is short and the hanky was a late addition to the plan.

The ring bearer's pillow is a pre-made heart with lots of white machine lace that I stripped down to the bare pillow. If you've read some of my earlier posts you've read (heard) me whine about mignonette tatting. What I didn't say about it is that it works up quick and looks very frilly as an edging. So, I did black mignonette tatting for the edging. For the first round I did the rings every 1/2 inch or so and then sewed them onto the pillow. I sewed the stitches so the thread went top to bottom and Guess what? this angles the lace downwards. No, I'm not kidding. I did two rounds and no matter how I fluff it up, it wants to angle downwards. If I flip the pillow, the lace sits perfect, no downwards angle! If I wasn't afraid of damaging the pillow by ripping out more stitches I would cut it off and sew it on again. The lesson here is consider the direction of your stitches when attaching edging. I'm going to use hairspray to make it sit the way I want!

Special note after the wedding: The edging on the pillow looked fantastic when just sprayed but hairspray really doesn't stand up to a 4 year old boy's handling. So it was a little wilted by the time he went down the aisle. Pictures will be coming soon.

Christmas in July

Here are the pictures of the package I received from Susan for the Christmas in July exchange. It was a lovely package... of course the chocolate that came in the package is long gone so no pictures of chocolate!
I really like the cute little tins that the earrings came packaged in. I forgot to include a picture of the Betty Boop tin.