New tools

August 30, 2011 DWLeave a comment

Still here! And still making a few little things… Actually I would post more, but every time I take a picture of the things I’ve been doing, it never comes out quite the way I want.

Anyway. Just imagine all these photos are wonderful, and we’ll be alright.

I made these little roses a while back:

They’re crocheted in Perlé size 12. This thread isn’t bad for crochet actually, but I don’t like it for tatting. That’s a hairslide I made potentially as a little gift for someone, but I keep forgetting to give it to her. Not sure what to do with the others, they’re in a tiny jam jar at the moment, and I can’t help but get them out and look at them now and again. They’re really pretty in real life – even if I do say so myself.

This is actually a very delicate looking scarf in real life. It’s been impossible to photograph so far though! I’m probably about 1/3 of the way through. It’s ‘angel hair’ weight yarn – very thin, basically, and I’m using a 1.75mm hook. Why on earth I decided to make such a dense looking scarf with such a light thread, we’ll never know – but the different tones of green are really beautiful; it looks like dark moss. I did actually crochet quite a few rows on the train, which is a first for me, as that time is usually reserved for tatting. Usually i think crochet projects are too big to carry around, but in the beginning this packed up really small.

I’m also working on another broomstick lace scarf. It’s in the same bamboo yarn as the previous one, but in blue. No photos of that yet.

I had a few friends’ birthdays recently, so made some more lavender bags. Three in fact – one of which is above.

Then I made another one the same as that – and yet another the same as the one in the post before this. I know. I should mix it up a bit, but when under pressure on the train or bus, it’s easier to tat what you know!

I also got some new toys! A Hera marker (the white thing, above), which is for marking cloth by putting in a visible crease, and a rotary cutter. They’re both great actually and, well, given time, I might actually be able to make my lavender bags square, or at least straight. Ahem. No point rushing into it though. Both of these tools came from Quiltessential in Derbyshire, where a very nice lady let me try out two different types of rotary cutter before I made my choice. I also bought some lovely fabric, but more of that another time. If you’re anywhere near Derbyshire, it’s worth a visit.

And finally, this was another little experiment. Its supposed to be flat, but it’s so pretty as it is. It’s size 100 thread, and I made it on the bus. Sometimes it amazes me that I can make such delicate things. Not because I’m amazing personally – but you know. I just need to make one flat, and then I can get on with the next round. Believe it or not though, I have yet ANOTHER Mary Konior posy on the shuttles to finish first. I’m such an idiot.

Bye!

Win some, lose some

July 3, 2011July 3, 2011 DW3 Comments

I’m a bit behind with updates – although really, I’ve not made anything major. I finished the primrose posy that was on the shuttle last time I posted – and it’s already been rehoused with a friend. She’d not seen tatting before, and was very complimentary, which was really sweet. My sewing leaves a lot to be desired, but she was nice enough not to notice that bit…

This is the hand dyed thread from Yarnplayer – which is lovely actually. I have made another one, which I might put on black, if i can find something black to attach it to – really makes the colours stand out.

I decided it was time to make up my own design, so I’ve been doing that on the train recently. I thought it would be good to make an edging, so I’ve been sketching a bit – but with thread instead of a pencil:

I finally decided on a design I liked – very simple, and probably been done before, but actually, while it tats up nicely, it looks pretty terrible on the bag:

If you ignore the clash with the ribbon – which kind of goes without saying – it just looks terrible sewn straight into the fabric. It needs to be sewn into a border of some sort. What do people normally do with this kind of thing?

It’s also too long I think. Getting edging the right length could well be an art in itself.

So that was all frustrating. I need a new project to work on. I’m making another broomstick lace scarf as a gift for someone, and I have another stashbuster crochet scarf knocking about, but nothing I’m that excited about. Time to get the books out maybe…

Rinse, repeat

June 5, 2011 DW3 Comments

Since I last posted, I’ve been unable to break the habit of tatting the Posey pattern. It’s just the simplest easiest thing to do on the road. I did actually start, and complete over half, of Mary Konior’s ‘Hearts Desire’ – but managed to screw it up when I changed from the train to the bus and the man siting next to me started up a conversation. Now it’s a lacy 90degree angle, and no use to anyone.(Or does anyone need a lace set square? Let me know) so I finished off the shuttle with another posey, of course, that being the joy of a shuttle only pattern.

I’ve made three of them into more lavender bags. Another posey – not made into a bag- is loitering on my desk, and one more is on the shuttle. Actually it IS getting kind of silly. Must find something else to do.

Ages ago I made this motif when I was testing out the linen thread. It’s really dense – so dense it looks like it’s machine made when you see it close up. As that’s just been hanging about too, I thought I’d use it on another lavender bag. Then I thought I’d try adding a border to see how that looked. I tried three different borders in the end, and this is the most basic. It looks ok, but I must admit, I don’t love it… I think this linen is a bit thick for this kind of work – but at least now I know. Next time maybe I’ll use DMC Perle or something. I did enjoy making it though – perhaps this is the ideal kind of project for someone who likes making lace (in various forms) but doesn’t know where she’d put a doily. Also, I have to say, i LOVE this ribbon. It’s so cute, and umm, so CHEAP.

I’ve also been making another one of these. I must’ve made about 5 now! It’s a gift for a friend who’s having a bit of a rough time at the moment. I was wondering what to make her, and I went back through my flickr stream and noticed she’d commented on the first one I made, so I thought she might appreciate one. I really hope she likes it. It’s very similar to the one I made for myself – but I managed to fit on two wee buttons on her dress. It’s such a great pattern, probably the best, and most used pattern I’ve ever bought.

It’s chucking it down outside (hence crappy photos again). Oddly, it’s quite nice. I keep looking at my tomato and chilli plants and thinking how happy they look. It’s not been the best of weekends, but I feel a bit more cheerful now. Maybe it’s default aromatherapy. This room smells like a lavender farm 🙂

Doing something with my tatting

May 8, 2011 DW5 Comments

So, last week (the week before?) I mentioned I’d been tatting and chatting a bit, making some Mary Konior posy designs. I’ve also finished the pieces I was doing on my commute, so I thought for once i should do something with them.

At the end of last year, I was given a 1930s Singer sewing machine. It’s hand cranked, very gentle, and to be honest, all you really need to do is turn the handle – it’ll guide the fabric through pretty straight on it’s own. I’m scared of sewing machines on the whole, but I do love this one. It was given to me on the death of a neighbour of mine – she’d been a neighbour for about 30 years. Also, my parents went to a great deal of trouble to get it all fixed up and working again, so I love it because it’s simple, beautiful and sentimental.

As you can see, I’m taking it pretty slowly! I decided to make some lavender bags…

The top ones are smaller, so they have little hang tags to go on a hanger. The ones directly above are slightly larger and I finished these off with ‘piping’ – which is actually just a crocheted linen chain. I hand-stitched that and I think it was worth it – does finish them off quite nicely. I’m half tempted to tat a border for them, but they’re quite small, and I have a feeling a border might overwhelm them. They’re just to slip in a drawer to make your clothes smell nice.

How big are they? We’ll here’s a little helper for scale:

And finally, the whole lot. They smell amazing – I bought the lavender, as it’s too early to pick in the uk. I have some left too, so I’ll get tatting and make some more.

The good thing about these, is that at least they have a use… Even if you give them to people and they don’t really like the look of them, they can still chuck ’em in a drawer and they’ll do what they’re meant to (make things smell nice). Otherwise I have a terrible habit of just chucking the tatting in the drawer as it is, and that’s not a lot of use to anyone…

Now I just have to ween myself off the posy pattern. As I do most of my tatting in transit, it has to be *the* ideal pattern. I know I’ve said that before, but actually, the more I do it, the more I love it.

Social tatting

April 26, 2011April 28, 2011 DW6 Comments

So… I don’t post anything for ages and all of a sudden, there’s two in one go. We had a long weekend here in the UK, and I went to visit my folks for the weekend. I’m between crochet projects at the moment, and so I tatted while I chatted with my mum in the garden.

It made quite a change actually. My usual tatting routine is: rush for the train, try and get a seat. If I get a seat, hope I also have room to move my elbows. If I have room to move my elbows then out comes the tatting – time for a few rings and chains before packing up again and on to the bus. I usually get a seat on the bus, but it depends how bumpy and how squashed I am as to whether or not I get the tatting out again (also a little bit on the look of the person sitting next to me). Looking back on it, it’s no wonder it takes SO LONG to finish anything.

As I was chatting I decided to go for a more repetitive pattern. I must admit I *love* this pattern. I’ve tatted it before, both successfully, and unsuccessfully! (The successful bit is my favourite piece of tatting ever). This is a Mary Konior pattern (again!) and nice to do – just don’t forget to pay attention to the last set of petals. (It’s also great as it’s shuttle only – no ball, no second shuttle, a marvel!)

These two are both size 80 thread – they’re about 4cm in diameter. The other one up there ^ is size 100 (about 3.5cm in diameter), and I tatted it a while ago. I shot it really to see what the difference in size was – and actually, the difference is a bit more noticeable in real life. The blue thread is from Yarnplayer.

Believe it or not, I’m midway through another one of these – I’m not sleeping at the moment (bad back) and so I ended up tatting to keep myself awake and sociable in the daytime! This last one will be finished on the train though.

I have plans for these, but it means I have to sew them on to something first, so don’t hold your breath just yet.

Oh! And one more thing. I ran out of thread on both of these and had to add more in. I usually try and avoid that at all costs, but I don’t think I did too badly, even if i do say so myself. Hooray!

Commuter tatting

April 25, 2011 DW3 Comments

I’ve been tatting a lot on the bus and train recently. I decided to work on something that had the possibility of becoming a larger piece, while still being portable and easy to memorise. I have a terrible habit otherwise of not having a pattern in mind to start, and then faffing about – taking forever to find one, and in the meantime sitting bored, on the train…

If you’re a tatter – and you’re familiar with Mary Konior, you’ll recognise this design as one of hers, from Tatting with Visual Patterns…

I really like this pattern – interesting enough, without becoming boring and… you do need to pay some attention too:

If you don’t, you might end up switching from the train to the bus, and find yourself impatient to start- only to find you’ve made a wrong join, and need to adapt it into something new… (It’s pretty hard to unpick a ring in size 80 thread on a bus on London’s bumpy streets, so if I go wrong, I consider it lost). And thus we have Mary Konior’s little known triangle design right there.

All of which makes it fun when you finish up the very last bit. It’s like Russian roulette – the thought of going wrong right at the last minute is occasionally too much to bare.

In the end, I decided to make the group of four twice. I didn’t love the first version – wasn’t as neat as it could’ve been. Second time was much neater – although after blocking maybe you can’t tell? I think you probably can though, and besides, it was nice to just tat a pattern with out a big decision as to what to make next.

(Sorry for the dodgy colours on these photos, by the way).

I do have a plan for these. Now i have a sewing machine (Singer, handcranked, reconditioned from the 1930’s – an inheritance from a kindly neighbour), I’m going to… well. Make a few odds and ends. They will only be things that need simple stitching in straight lines, as that’s all I can do, and all the machine can do, but it and I will have fun together. I hope.

In the meantime, what to tat on the train? Same again but bigger? We shall see.

And then there were two

April 10, 2011 DW2 Comments

It really feels like these have taken forever. And after all that, I’m *still* not sure I like them that much. One minute I think they’re ok, and the next, I think… ‘meh’. Not sure what i was expecting – but everyone else’s on Ravelry look so CUTE. These just don’t seem as nice in real life.

As they were for a gift, i sort of feel like I need to make something else to go with them to make up for it – so much for a quick gift idea! I already made one complete shoe in different wool that didn’t work – AND changed the tongue on the shoe I posted previously. I think the wool just wasn’t chunky enough. Oh well. Live and learn I guess.

Tiny crochet flowers

April 3, 2011 DW3 Comments

Hello – it’s been a wee while, but I am still here. I’ve managed to lose the charger for my camera, so have to wait until I can twist someone’s arm to take shots for me at the moment, and luckily, today was the day.

After making the charm I mentioned in my previous post, I got a bit addicted. I switched the pattern to one I found for crocheted coasters, and with a bit of adjustment, found they work really nicely as a little bracelet:

I tried it with more than two flowers – but it gets a bit too much. One or two flowers works best I think.

Only problem with that is that they are really addictive. If you’ve made one, before you know it you’ve made at least four. I was using DMC size 12 and size 80 thread – the blue variegated one is hand dyed thread, from Yarnplayers store. (I actually bought it for tatting but am in the middle of a project using an ecru thread, and was itching to try it!).

Aside from that, I’ve been wrestling with these baby moccasins. The pattern is great – but I’m having huge problems finding suitable wool, for some reason. I made one shoe with wool I thought would be ok, in the biggest size, on a bigger hook, and it was still a bit… flat. So ditched that, bought some new wool, which is lovely – but I still think it could do with being thicker. (The laces are also too long – ignore that for now).

I’m really in two minds about this. It’s ‘ok’ – but I hate the thought of giving people something ‘ok’ that they’re then forced to be enthusiastic over. Do you know what i mean? I’d rather not give people something that’s secretly a bit rubbish. We’ll see.

Aside from that, I’m making a bigger piece of tatting on my daily commute (a Mary Konior repeat pattern) and a crochet hook case, which I’m just about to block, before I attempt to sew the inside… It’s my first sewing machine project, and a chance to try out my reconditioned hand-cranked Singer, so wish me luck… (I’m scared of sewing machines). Oh! Also, I managed to get to April’s Ravelry meet, which was really nice. I really hope I can make a few more this year.

A crocheted charm

March 3, 2011 DW3 Comments

As I mentioned in my previous post, I’ve been playing around a lot recently, trying things out. I’ve been doing a lot of crochet with thinner thread – from size 12 DMC perle to size 80, which I usually use for tatting. Generally, I’ve been using a .75 hook, which seems to work well for both thread sizes.

I spotted a great adaptation of a bookmark pattern on Ravelry. The bookmark itself is really nice, but I spotted someone had made it into a necklace, which works really well. Momocat – the maker of the necklace – graciously said I could try out her idea myself (only polite to ask!), and so I did, using a DMC Perle size 12.

As the thread is so small, I decided to make a charm which hangs off a chain, rather than a complete necklace – and I think it came out quite nicely…

(These photos are snapped with my ever reluctant camera – an over head light and TWO desklamps, so forgive the colour variations.)

I made a chain with a loop at the end, and crocheted a simple disk to pull through as a closure – seemed to work quite nicely…

I’ve made a couple more too – but they’ve not photographed well, so you’ll have to take my word for it. They’re actually quite addictive.

Trying out puncetto

February 27, 2011 DW4 Comments

I haven’t posted in a while, not because I haven’t been doing anything, more because I haven’t been able to take pictures of the things I’ve been doing. My camera only functions when the light is 100% perfect, which in a UK winter is… never, actually.

I’ve been fiddling with stuff, to be honest. Having a go. So I don’t have anything spectacular to report, but I’ll report it anyway in bits and pieces.

First up, puncetto. Puncetto is a form of needle lace. I’ve mentioned needle lace before – but until recently, still not got round to having a go. There are of course loads of different types, but I someone mentioned using a puncetto technique to finish a tatted piece over on Flickr, and it piqued my interest. Also, the lovely lady who blogs at No Moose Today has been making leaps and bounds in progress herself, and so I thought I’d try it.

I do love this video:

You have to love a video that shows you the tiniest fraction and then PING! she’s done yards and yards of the stuff. It’s also gobsmackingly frustrating as you think you’ll be able to pick up how she does it, but it always cuts away just as you think you’re getting somewhere. To be fair though, it’s not meant to be an instructional video.

Anyway. I managed to pick up the general idea – the foundation chain is almost like embroidering chain stitch in mid air. I also found these tutorials, which are very helpful – although I make the foundation chain like the lady in the video, not as the tutorials suggest – personally, I found it much easier.

I don’t have a pattern, and so far I’ve only mucked about. I got this far:

Tatters will spot that this is Lizbeth thread, size 20. I’m not sure it’s right for this, but it’s pretty chunky so made it very manageable. I wasn’t working to a pattern here, literally just thinking ‘Ill try this next’ – and I think I’ve got the stitching correct.

That is as far as I’ve got though – because it dawned on me that even if I got to be great at this – what would I *do* with it? I already tat for love, not the finished result, so thought maybe I should nip this in the bud… for now at least.

I posted about all this really so anyone looking for puncetto tutorials could follow the link and find them.

Occasional Crafter

Crafting, occasionally.

Author: DW