A sad loss for the tatting community

February 16, 2012February 16, 2012 DW1 Comment

One of the things I love about tatting is the tatting community. While I’m a bit of a lurker really, I think the community is wonderful. They’re enthusiastic and kind, encouraging and patient with beginners and always up for sharing the new techniques they’ve learned. I think everything I know about tatting has come from reading tutorials and blogs, or watching the videos produced by different members of the community.

I read tatting blogs every day, just to see what things people are making and what they’ve discovered. I pick up tips and get inspiration and a little insight into other people’s lives. One of the blogs I read was Gina’s, and so I was shocked to see in January that she’d been battling cancer, but was so pleased to hear it was in remission. Yesterday I read that she’d lost that battle on Monday.

It’s such a shock to read news like this, and such a strange situation. I read her blog, and she was kind enough to comment here – compliments, encouragement and places I could look to find out more about the things I’d been thinking about. I wasn’t lucky enough to know her in real life, but the shock is still there, along with the sadness.

Reading through everyone’s blogs last night, I thought what a wonderful place the Internet is, and how brilliant people can be. The shared kindness of strangers who grow to feel like friends. A little light has gone out in the tatting community, and Gina will be sorely missed.

Tatting & crochet update

February 12, 2012February 12, 2012 DW8 Comments

I’ve had a busy week in terms of train projects. I started the week with the above — it’s the middle part of a wreath. It’s the wreath at the bottom of this post, in fact. Once I’d finished it, it wasn’t in any way flat. It was like a 3d circle – rather than a flat ring – if that makes any sense? So I quickly blocked it before I raced in to work and hoped that it could be cured. Luckily, it could, so the Storm Trooper up there is providing not only a sense of scale, but acting as a security guard until I get a chance to do the next round. (I’m also hoping he’ll take it upon himself to sew in the ends, but I’m not holding my breath).

While the wreath-middle was blocking, I needed something else to do on the train. I’ve had this sitting about *forever*. It’s tatted in Valdini thread, and it was probably one of the first tatting threads I ever bought; it’s between size 80-100 I think. This is the Mary Konior pattern (again), but I only ever got round to tatting 3 squares, because I just wasn’t that sure about it. This thread is an odd one. I don’t like the way the colour variations work up, it’s a bit busy, and there are white patches occasionally which make it look really messy. I actually bought it because it looks like autumn leaves, and the weird thing is, it feels like them when it’s tatted up. It’s quite dull (no sheen, not boring!) and feels almost dry and papery – like leaves do.

So I forced myself to tat the last square on the train. I finished it on a Friday night on the way home from after-work drinks. I did question the idea of doing this with thin/breakable thread after several g&t’s but luckily it all worked out fine. Does need blocking though, as you can see.

And finally, there’s this. Do you ever get that thing where you have to make something IMMEDIATELY? I had that with this. I bought someone a cowl (from Accessorise) last weekend as a last minute birthday present. It was really nice, and I suddenly decided all I really need in life is a cowl. I had to have one, literally how on earth have a been living without one? HOW? I decided I should make the Calm Cowl – (a ravelry link) and I should use up the 4 balls of yarn I had left over from my mum’s scarf. Not sure how I overbought by 4, but my gain is… my gain. I have a feeling this might really need 5 balls, but I’m not concentrating on that right now…
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PS – anyone know if there’s something up with Blogger? I’ve tried to comment on a few people’s blogs and it keeps saying the captcha word is incorrect. ie – the word you type in to validate the post. no matter how many words it gives me to type, they’re always incorrect… Just wondered)

A half hearted Li’l Heart (from Birgit Phelps’ pattern)

February 5, 2012April 26, 2021 DW11 Comments

UPDATE: 20 Feb 2021 – sadly the pattern for this heart is no longer available online. / UPDATE 2: 26 April 2021 – Anke pointed out in the comments that you can still find this pattern on the Wayback Machine!

A little while ago, the lovely Katy commented on a post saying that she wished she could finish a tatted motif. I blithely commented back that she should make Birgit Phelps’ ‘Lil Heart’ because it was small and wouldn’t take long. Then I realised I’d never even made it myself!

Feeling guilty, I got on with it. Luckily, I was right – it doesn’t take long! Also, it’s really pretty – as you can see up there. As ever, I wound too much thread on to the shuttle, and when I’d finished, I wasn’t sure it was enough to make another one – so I thought I’d try something out. I halved the stitch count on everything, and made a smaller one (below):

It worked a treat! I must say, I did sit on the train congratulating myself for my sheer brilliance. I do appreciate it would be a bit more brilliant if I’d actually made up the pattern myself, but you can’t expect miracles at that time in the morning.

That’s what they look like both together. It’s size 80 thread, and so it actually makes quite a dense heart when the sizes are halved. And just to provide you with an odd photo finish, this is how big it is really:

Fits on the end of your finger. I’m not 100% sure what to do with them now, if I gave them to my other half I think he’d think I’d lost my mind. But I really enjoyed making them, and so if you’re a tatter and haven’t tried this pattern yet, give it a go.

Tatting shuttles for giants

January 22, 2012 DW14 Comments

I’ve only just developed a shuttle obsession. The internet is to blame of course, because I’ve only ever seen about 2 shops with shuttles in the UK, and usually they’re the Clover ones with a pick on the end, or the Pony ones with a hook.

On the internet there are loads. Vintage, modern, plastic, wood, Bakelite, celluloid, silver, brass. With hooks, with picks or with a gentle point.

I’ve always been intrigued by the Boye shuttle, purely because it’s metal. And actually, it looks a bit brutal. It’s not an airy fairy messing about shuttle for frivolous lace. It looks like a shuttle that means business. The only thing I’ve always wondered about was the flat hook. Looks a bit… well, dangerous, obviously, but not that practical. Looks like it would catch a bit.

Anyway. We all know where this is going – I bought one. It was listed as ‘vintage’ and came with a celluloid shuttle too. To be honest, I have no idea if either of them really are vintage, (you can still buy metal Boye shuttles brand new), but the price for two was the same as the prices I’d seen for one, so it seemed like a fair enough deal.

And here are all the types of shuttle I own. On the right is the Boye shuttle, and next to it the celluloid. Next there’s the blue Pony (like an Aero, but I have a feeling, not as good) and then there’s the good old Clover. Until now I had no idea how small the Clovers were. LOOK AT THE BOYE SHUTTLE! It’s GIGANTIC.

Usually I use the Clover as my main shuttle, and the Pony as a hook. I did try the Pony as my main shuttle for a while, but the bobbin got a bit loose and it annoyed me. Anyway.

The Boye arrived this week, and I started to use it – it was already loaded with thread, all be it rather brittle. It takes some time to get used to. I found I was holding it with my fingers further to the back, and when you pull it through a loop, you have to sort of hold it more upright than normal, to clear the hook from snagging. There were moments when I thought it was ok – having a hook attached is brilliant – and moments when it was not ok.

As expected, I didn’t love the flat hook. The rounded one catches less – and should the thread catch, it slides off. With the flat hook, if you get caught, it’s more effort to un-snag yourself.

I did like the fact it was metal though – feels more like science than craft! There’s also something nice about the bobbin tension – it’s actually pretty tight, so wont let out thread unless you really want it – which is the problem I had with the Pony.

In conclusion – I think it’s just too big for me. I love that it’s metal, and I like that it has *a* hook – I just don’t like *this* hook. Having said that, I hate to be defeated, and so I think I’ll persevere a bit longer. In between speeding along with my Clovers, of course. (Also, now I’m hankering after a small David Reed Smith wooden shuttle with a hook but I’ve notice they have flat hooks too…)

Talking of persevering and stuff that is bigger than expected – I decided to try again with the size 40 thread. Above you can see the same thing in size 80 (left) and 40 (right). I was using up some of the 40 thread I had left on a shuttle (just didn’t have enough to finish this). I’m not in love it with it. It still feels too big for me. That was a test to see if this motif would be more useful in a bigger size – and I’m not sure it would, especially if I don’t like it!

One thing I do like size 40 for, is clunys. I’ve still not really mastered them, and so I’ve given myself cluny homework. I’ve made this pattern before, but I still don’t think I’ve mastered it. The finished one was made in one pass, with a large split ring at the top. Not sure why but it never seems to come out quite the right shape – the clunys might have too few passes? (Should they be bigger?) Also the joining picots in the middle are too big and it looks really messy.

The ones in the middle of the half finished one are a much better shape. The one sticking out is a bit rubbish as I finished it on the train. If you’re a tatting commuter, this is an FYI: if you can get away with the embarrassment of getting your fingers into the right position for a cluny, then that’s awesome – but do remember they’re a lot harder to chuck in your bag unfinished when your train arrives! Packing away a half finished ring – or even a join – is ok, not so sure about a half finished leaf.

If you fancy learning clunys, there’s a bunch of links to videos and tutorials in the tatting pattern section. They’re by no means exhaustive, just ones I’ve found that have helped me.

New year, new-ish tatting and crochet

January 8, 2012 DW12 Comments

Hello, happy new year! I can’t believe new year was only last weekend. It seems like a lifetime ago already. It’s been a tricksy week this one… Two steps forward, and while not quite two steps back, not really the four steps forward I was hoping for.

I snapped this little pile while I was packing up. Look at the colour of the ecru thread on the white cotton! It looks so yellow. I know it sounds odd, but I love looking at little piles of tatting like this. I still can’t believe that my fingers can make something this delicate. I’m not a delicate person. I’m a jeans n’ trainers girl through and through – about as delicate as a herd of elephants.

Anyway. I digress.

I was hoping to be able to be able to present a finished baby blanket this weekend, but sadly I need a bit more yarn:

All I need is half a ball to finish the shells on two sides, but sadly, despite ordering from Texere on Tuesday and paying extra for first class post (and the fact that it’s listed as in stock) I’ve yet to receive a even a dispatch notice, let alone any yarn, which is really frustrating. I’m hoping it comes this week, as I need to give it to my friend next Saturday. Tempted to order another ball from someone else as a fall back…

That aside, the blanket came with me to my parents for the Christmas holidays and to friends for new year. With all the travelling, I put my billions of lavender bags to good use, and stuffed them in with the blanket each time I packed it in a bag. It smells great!

These are two I made but never blogged. They’re made from an old sheet, and I gave them an extra seam around the edges. I put less stuffing in than some of the previous ones, and they look quite different I think. (Still not that straight though, which is why I didn’t give them to anyone!)

I finished the other beaded posy I was making – just need to sew in the ends and block it:

These beads are TINY. I thought the red ones I’d used for the other one were small, but these are about half the size of those. They’re bronze, and actually only show up against certain backgrounds, but I really like them.

I’ve been back to work this week, and so back to commuter tatting. As ever, I didn’t have a pattern ready, so I thought I would make use of my ingenious pre-planned project.

Yeah. Not so ingenious when it’s in size 100 thread and you’re working in size 80! So I might have two ingenious pre-planned projects to carry with me in different sizes.

Incase you’re wondering, the ingenious part was that whenever I got stuck on a journey, I could work on a new square if I hadn’t had time to look up a new pattern. I know this pattern off by heart, and it’s a good travelling project. Foolproof, even. Or not, as it turns out.

Anyway. Onwards! I’ve just ordered a new tatting book from Susan Schwenke. There’s a snowflake in it that a lot of people have made recently, and I love it. I had a plan to make a load of snowflakes *now* so I don’t have a panic next Christmas. Will that actually work? Who knows. (It wont, will it?)

We shall see…

Broomstick lace scarf no: 2

December 22, 2011 DW2 Comments

So, a while back, a Ravelry friend happened to mention that Kemps had a big sale on baby bamboo yarn. I have to admit, until that point, I’d remain blissfully aware of Kemps – but if you’re in the UK, and you don’t know them, keep an eye on their newsletters, as they have great deals for all kinds of yarn.

I bought 12 balls of blue baby bamboo and decided I’d make a broomstick lace scarf for my mum for Christmas. It’s been an ongoing project for a while – it’s a good TV making project, really. I’ve made one before – if you haven’t and you’re looking for a tutorial, I used this video – it was the first one I found when I searched!

Like the previous scarf I made, I decided to edge this, as I worry about the bare threads catching. (It’s unblocked in all the photos, incidentally). For this, I did one row of single crochet, one row of double, and finished off with a picot every 4 stitches. It’s a really chunky scarf – which I like, but actually, now I’m worried it’s too chunky for my Mum…

I really like the raised rows you get on one side of the scarf. I usually do the row of looped stitches, and then two rows of single crochet above that. I know some people don’t do the rows in between but I like the texture. Overall, this kind of crochet is great – it looks really clever, without being too over the top, and it’s very easy to do (and quite forgiving if you miss a stitch or two here and there).

In the meantime, I’ve also been making a scarf with laceweight yarn. Actually, it’s a bit thinner than lace weight. Stupidly, I decided to make quite a dense scarf:

Having said that, it looks really nice. For some reason the colour is really hard to get with my camera, but take it from me, it’s a beautiful mossy green – hand dyed, so different tones. It took forever to make this – to the point where I ended up sacrificing tatting on the train for a while to get it done. (I really missed the tatting, way more than I’d expected).

Frustratingly, the scarf looks so nice and delicate in real life and just rubbish in pictures. But anyway, after all this, I think this one will be the gift for my mum, with the option of swapping it for the other one. I have a feeling she’ll like the green one more… We shall see.

December snowflakes

December 20, 2011 DW2 Comments

How did it get to be December – and so close to deadline for Christmas post? Yes, it’s that time of year when you wish you’d started making things for Christmas in August. I’ve been a bit quiet on here recently, but I have been making things. I’ll try and get some pictures over the next day or two – if we actually get some decent light. For now though, a tatting update.

Just like everyone else, I’m manically making snowflakes. Well, more or less:

As it happened, I had some spare (size 80) thread on a lone shuttle that I needed to use up. So I *had* to make one of these really. And for the first time, I’ve used beads! I really like it actually. Looks a bit spiky in real life – like a snowy holly wreath. Umm, I also had another shuttle of thread to use up so I’ve got another one on the go, with different beads. They’re coppery, and really pretty. Next year though, must find an addiction for a different pattern, this is getting silly.

So this one, I started, or attempted to start at the local Ravelry group meet up. We met for breakfast (sensible breakfast, in a pub, at 10.30am not too early), and I just couldn’t get to grips with it. For a start, I hate leaving bare threads when I make small flowers like the one in the middle, and so it worked out at 5 rings, not 6. Then trying to chat and read the pattern proved impossible, as it’s not worked in the way I’d worked out in my head. So I came away with nothing done! Managed to get to grips with it at home, and then finish it on the commute.

The one sort of centre in this shot, everyone who tats/blogs has made recently, and so I decided I should make it too. It’s a lovely pattern. From the look of it, this is size 80 thread though (I’ve forgotten), which makes it a bit weeny. Having said that, I’m still tempted to make another one, but with beads added. The beads for that size are too small to thread any way than on the thread at the beginning though, so I can’t do anything too tricksy. Also if you’re adding beads to your tatting, this is very useful to read. It talks about the difference between adding beads to the core vs shuttle thread. (Sadly, on the posy with one shuttle, both threads are the same!)

And finally, I bit the bullet and bought some size 40 Lisbeth thread. I noticed Fox saying she liked it, and recently I’ve been thinking some of the things I tat are a bit tiny to use.

This is one of Jon’s patterns. The left is size 80 and the right is size 40. (I made another of Jon’s patterns in size 40 too, but I’ve sent it out already). I dunno. I’m just not sure about tatting with thick thread. For some reason I just don’t enjoy the feel of it so much. Everything just looks gigantic! I’ve got a few things in mind to try next (like clunys, which always get twisted at size 80), but on the whole, while my eyes are able to cope with it, I think I’ll stick with smaller thread, I’ve got used to it now.

Blocked and unblocked

October 16, 2011 DW6 Comments

I finished the little piece I was working on before. I was pleased with it actually – it blocked really nicely.

It’s size 100 thread, and the pattern is from a beautiful Japanese book I bought via etsy. Look at the patten on the cover! It’s so nice. The whole book is beautifully photographed, and they’ve actually managed to make tatting look stylish, rather than like some kind of 70’s interior design horror, which is what most UK books seem to favour.

As ever with tatting, once you’ve made one, you might aswell make two:

This is one blocked and one unblocked — and I still need to sort the ends out. The second one I started on a week off, and finished on the train & bus when I got back. Once you know the pattern it’s not bad for commuting. (I sat next to a man on the bus who didn’t appear to look in my direction, but as I stood up for him to leave, he said ‘I just want you to know I think what you’re doing is very clever’. It confused me for a second, as i wasn’t sure what he was talking about!).

Anyway. I need a new pattern I think. Back to the books.

Tatting with quilting thread

October 11, 2011October 11, 2011 DW3 Comments

I went to the Knitting & Stitching show at the weekend, in North London. I had a great time – and an unexpected companion. Originally I’d planned to go with my mum, but various things conspired against us, and so I ended up thinking I’d be going alone.

I seem to be one of a small number who actually ends up talking to people on public transport. Over the last 5 years or so I’ve acquired a few ‘bus stop friends’ and a ‘tram friend’. We’re a bit of a gang at times – there can be up to 5 of us on the way to work in the mornings. After a chance conversation I found out a while ago that my tram friend makes lace! Odd thing to find out on a tram. So, after another chance conversation last week, in which I found out my tram friend wanted to go to the show but not alone, we made a hot date and went on Sunday.

And a very nice time we had too. We walked our legs off. Me and a lady I’d never spent longer than 15 minutes with before.

Anyway. All that aside, I bought some quilting thread, which I assumed was around size 100. It looked like very shiny Valdani thread – especially as there was nothing else on the stall to compare it to.

When I took off the wrapper I couldn’t wait to get started and see if it was tattable – and so, as ever I started on the train on the way to work. (I have no train friend – the trains are too irregular, so the people are rarely the same!)

Needless to say, starting on the train doesn’t leave you with a ton of pattern options available, so I tatted a pattern that was already in my head – good thing about that being that I have alternate thread versions available for comparison..

So the white you see here is size 100. Looks huge by comparison.

After holding my breath and being very careful all the way round, the thread snapped on the last ring, so I had to join in new thread. It’s very shiny, so slips along easy-ish, but very thin, so breakable. You can also see the thread separating on the picots, which is annoying – and another problem is making the picot big enough to get a hook through.

Still, I enjoyed making it, and it’s nice to see it finished. I have a ton of this thread (it’s rayon) so if you want to try it for yourself, leave a message in the comments and I’ll send you some in the post.

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ps – I did finish the piece in the previous post, will blog it next time!

A bumpy picot ride

September 22, 2011 DWLeave a comment

Well – it’s getting there slowly. Actually, they’re digging up the road so my bus journey is very bumpy. A little too bumpy for tiny picots, if you ask me, so I did a bit of this at home tonight. I’m really tired though, so quitting while I’m ahead!

Occasional Crafter

Crafting, occasionally.

Tag: tatting