Shhh…I’m making Dragons!

This week I got confirmation of my membership of the Victorian Branch of the Australian Tatting Guild. I am excited to be part of this guild and hope that, in time, I will be able to attend some meetings and contribute to this group.  Thanks for the welcome in the news letter!

This week I also completes my first Dragon, made from Anne B’s Dragon pattern. I made it for my sister, in dark green size 40 Milford Mercerised Cotton, and Mocha Brown Medium Lisbeth size 40. Thanks Anne B, once again a beautifully diagrammed and easy to follow pattern.

I had put off making this pattern for a long time as it uses SSSR (Single Shuttle Split Rings) and I hadn’t mastered these yet. Watching Game of Thrones recently spurred me to action, as I really wanted to make a ‘correctly coloured’ Dragon for my sister. This one replicates the green and bronze dragon described in the books…but I feel a thread purchase looming as I try to get closer matches for colours. I now feel very confident with SSSR and look forward to making more of the dragon bookmarks for friends and family. The wings were a little tricky, and I had to cut away the first try as I had the chains facing the wrong way.

I recall learning split rings to make Jane’s Sea Horses, and learning beading for a doily for the show. I wonder what patterns have you tried or learned a new technique for? Please leave your comments below.

Until next time, happy tatting!

Fiona T

 

 

 

 

Lots of little projects and some new inspiration from books.

In the last few years I have been quite focused on my ‘big project’ for the Melbourne Show, and this year I am probably not entering this competition. As a result,  I feel a bit disorganised with my tatting as I have begun several small projects, put them down and then found a new project to start. I did manage to finish the Russian Doily, but have yet to block this.  Rounds 5 and 6 of this doily were very quick to do. I really like this doily, and think it is very pretty, see below for the photo.

In one way this disorganisation has been liberating, as I have been trawling ebay and blogs and bought quite a few new tatting books. Each time a new book arrives, I pour over it and can begin trying patterns I like.

By attempting the Russian Doily from a picture, I have found a new confidence in looking at, and adapting, patterns to my own purposes. For example, the Phyllis Sparks book ‘Practical Tatting’ has a number of beautiful edging patterns. I have adapted one edging into a brooch for a friend. The picture below shows these lovely brooches. I think the flowers are a little top heavy, so I will mount them onto felt and reattach them to the brooch finding, before giving them to my friend. 

The ‘tatting 2000′ Ring of tatters book also gave rise to the mauve and green motifs below, which are a 2 colour adaptation of Gill’s Motif 2, from page 58. These will also make lovely brooches, pendants or embellishments, and could be joined easily into a small doily. This pretty motif is designed to be made in one pass. I am getting to the point with my tatting that I really prefer to make motifs that can be made in ‘one pass’ and don’t need to be cut and tied in smaller segments. There is a movement in the tatting world to re-work older patterns to incorporate split rings (and similar cleverness) to make small items in one pass…and I am becoming a huge fan of this movement. The tatters who can visualise and re-design these patterns are remarkable and inspiring.

Speaking of remarkable and inspiring, below are 2 bookmarks. On the left is a lovely bookmark from Julie Patterson’s 2006 publication ‘Just Marking Tome’. Made in one pass using split-rings, this pattern has an adaptation I hope to make next. I have found Julie’s patterns to be both remarkable and inspiring as she produced these when she was editor of the ‘Tatter’s Guild of Australia,  NSW branch, inc’ newsletter, designing to share with other members. Having dabbled in design I know how much goes into thinking of, designing, test tatting, tweaking and diagramming these patterns. I have a few patterns I am working on, and they are a labour of love. I have made many of Julie’s patterns recently for friend’s birthday gifts, and her work is lovely, making simple yet visually stunning items.

Perhaps less remarkable, pictured on the right, is a simple 5 x5 bookmark I made. It is called 5×5 because that is the pattern, all rings are 5ds-5ds-5ds cl, and the chains are 5ds-5ds (- = picot). It is a good beginners pattern and forms a mediation for me sometimes as I don’t have to check a pattern/diagram. Such a simple pattern can also be used to practice adding beads to rings and chains.

If you haven’t already, pop over and like the facebook page, we are getting closer to 150 likers. When we get there, I will be running a giveaway.

Happy tatting,

Fiona T

TIAS 2013 and other thoughts

The last few weeks haven’t allowed much time for tatting, with my main focus on completing TIAS 2013. My completed pram is below, and it was once again great to be a part of. I liked guessing (even though I was wrong) and the guesses have given me ideas for future designs and possible projects too.

This week one of my dear friends gave me an apron (pictured below) that her great-grandmother made. It is fairly simple gingham fabric, jazzed up with lively braid and bold embroidery. I feel quite honoured that she thought to pass this to me, not just because of my love of all things purple, but that she has trusted me to use and look after this. It got me thinking about my box of treasures that my great aunts, and my Nana made. So this morning I have dug out the box and photographed these treasures to share with you all.

These 2 are from my Great Aunts, a guest towel with a shell embroidered and a small tatted doily. The doily is similar to those commercially made today, but is different enough that I think one of my Aunts handmade this, as opposed to buying it.

Here is an oval doily one of my Great Aunts made, that my Nana often used for her scone and biscuit trays. It looks very delicate in Ecru. I think the pattern for this is in the only vintage book that was passed through to me.

I must check with Mum as to the story here, I think Mum embroidered this table-cloth for her ‘glory box’ before she was married…it has come to me as it is purple!

These doilies and tray cloths were embroidered by my Nana, and then she crocheted the edges. As Nana got older her patience for craft waned, and embroidery was one of the few things that she still enjoyed doing. We (my sisters and I) would buy her the tray cloth/doily kits through out the year, and she would complete the pieces and give then back to us. Her stitching was always immaculate, even taking these photos I had to check which side was the ‘show’ side. These give me joy when I look at them, and I really should put them to use in my house again. I have hoarded a few new tray clothes, under the illusion that I will embroider them and tat edges for gifts….one day I might.

So there are a few of the treasures I hang on to from one side of my family. I know my Great Aunts on my dad’s side of the family were brilliant seamstresses too, but I don’t know what has happened to the lovely dolls clothes and linen they made. Possibly they are in cupboards somewhere with my cousin’s families and will resurface one day to be enjoyed too. I wonder what some of your family treasures are, and if you pack them away or enjoy using them?

Until next week

Fiona T

Da vinci, Planet Earth maths and tatting

This year I am returning to full time work, and my studies will become part time. I have been reflecting on the place of tatting in my life this year. I have already decided that I wont submit a show entry this year, instead I will work on smaller projects, like bookmarks and motifs to send to friends for birthdays, and a couple of hankies for my Mum. Other than TIAS, I probably wont do many challenges, or focus on learning new techniques. This year I will consolidate and practice what I know, working through the many books I have.  Perhaps I’ll get to work on the patterns I have in the pipelines to publish here on the blog, or diagram the Norma Benporath pattern for the TROVE project. Tatting will be a relaxing pursuit this year.

A few days ago I was reading a blog: http://www.abc.net.au/science/articles/2013/01/23/3674843.htm, where the everyday use of math and calculus is outlined, essentially we use it so often people don’t realise they are using it everyday.  The comments are a good debate too. Just because we don’t sit down with paper, pen and a calculator doesn’t means we aren’t integrating calculus and numeracy into our lives. As a teacher, I am always on the lookout for examples of where we use math and science everyday to help students make real connections with their lived world. Also in this blog was a link to http://www.mope.org.au/, as 2013 is the ‘International year of Maths of Planet Earth’. It reminded me of the many conversations I have had with tatters (in the design class and on intatters) about the place of maths in tatting and design (beyong counting stitches, of course!). There was a challenge on intatters a while ago looking at ‘DaVinci tatting‘. This is too big a challenge for me this year, but it got me thinking about fractals and intricate designs in tatting. It would be good to do something with Math in this year…maybe I’ll add it to my pintrest board when I get a moment, as research of course

TIAS has been fun this year, and we are roughly half way through. I have to catch up on Day 6, but here are my pictures from day 2 to day 5:

My current guess is a hot air balloon….we will see!

What are your tatting plans for this year? Are you fascinated by maths and craft (if yes, please share in the comments)? Are you in TIAS this year (if yes, you can link to your blog in the comments too!)?

As always, Happy tatting

Fiona T

 

 

January Tatting

Look what I got for Christmas! My own copy of Mary Konior’s ‘tatting with visual patterns’, and it was reasonably priced too, under Thirty Pounds including postage to Australia (from Tatting and Design in the UK)   I have enjoyed pouring over this book during my short summer holidays and have made a couple of the flower fragments too. Lovely diagrams that are easy to follow and adapt, I can see why this book is so sought after and cherished by tatters across the world.

 

 

 

 

I have also had time to pick up my personal ‘Russian doily‘ tatting challenge. I have finally finished the inside round of flowers, and am nearly done on the outer round of flowers. After this (and sewing in the ends) there is a chain round, and the final sixth round which is a decorative border. I like the effect of these little flowers, and I am using a number of bobbins in my aero style shuttles and am enjoying seeing a range of colours as I work.

I also made an effort to finish off the hankies I was making for my Mum. The blue one I did while I was overseas, long plane journey’s are great for tatting this type of thing. The pink one I had in my handbag (inside a snap lock bag), and worked on it at different times, often while waiting to pick up LT from school.

Last year I had such fun being involved in Jane’s TIAS (Tat it and see) challenge that I hope to be able to do it again. Here is a link to the TIAS website if you would like to be involved, it is starting this week!

Happy Tatting,

Fiona T

 

 

 

 

Playing with a Motif Pattern: Challenge accepted!

In the previous post I mentioned I have been playing with vintage motif patterns to use as pendants. For a while now I have been looking for a quick and easy to remember pattern that I can use to make gifts. I found this pattern in a recently acquired vintage book (DMC Tatting book reprinted 1987). I started by making plain coloured motifs (see previous post) and then tried two toned flowers (the red and black made for a dear friend). Then I wondered about adding beads, and used an equal number of beads to picots, but the visual effect was clumsy (see aboveright motif, and below left motif), so I tried just 5 seed beads instead and was much more pleased with the results.

My next thought was to try and have different coloured flowers in the center. This required two shuttles, and I also added a ball thread. After starting this I realised that the ball thread wasn’t required, and I could have done this using ‘branching encapsulation‘ (Thanks Sherry Pence…brilliant book). I could probably also reduce the number of picots on the outside chain, and the encapsulation technique results in stitches that aren’t as tight together as normal flipped stitches. That will be my next ‘tweak’ of this pattern, as I am really enjoying playing with it.

Do you have a favourite pattern?

Until next time,

Happy Tatting

Fiona T

Facebook Giveaway winner and Christmas Presents for Teachers

First of all a HUGE thank you to Marie at Westpine Creations, for working with me to provide this prize pack. I really like that this pack would suit a new or experienced tatter, and Marie also kindly added a few bits and bobs to the standard pack for our prize. Congratulations to our 100 likers random prize pack winner Teresa!  Teresa has already put her new kit to use and has sent me some photos of the pack and her work, a lovely butterfly.  Next year I will be changing the format a little of the random giveaways, the next one will be at 150 likers on the FB page.  To be in the draw, simply like the ‘One mad tatter’ facebook page.

I was reading Retro-Mummy’s blog the other day and enjoyed seeing the quilt that she made for her daughter’s teacher. The quilt is beautiful and the effort that has gone into it I am sure, would be appreciated by the teacher. I still have gifts given to me by my students (except the chocolate, I ate that!), all had great thought put into them.

When LT started school last year I decided to make a tatted item for his teacher each year. This year he had 2 teachers, so I started working on bookmarks in August. LT chose the pattern, Nancy Tracey’s Sunflowers, and I set about making them. I have also been trying motif patterns from vintage books to use as necklace pendants. I wore one to school a week or so ago and one of his teachers admired it, so I decided to make these as well.

We gave the teachers their gifts this week, and they were very well received, with both teachers seen wearing the pendants for the remaining school term! LT was very excited. There were also the usual questions about how they were made and was it crochet . I did a couple of quick demonstrations with a project I carry in my handbag. You may notice I made three bookmarks, and this is so I can have a bit of a stockpile of bookmarks for gifts throughout the year in 2013. With the success of the pendants, I might make some of those too.

I wonder what crafts you give as gifts to teachers, friends and relatives? Or what you may like to receive?

Wishing everyone and Merry Christmas and happy and safe holiday season.

Fiona T

Counting down to Christmas!

The last few weeks have been busy again, with marking, work and getting ready for a conference. The only tatting I have been doing is the gift items I am making for my son’s (LT’s) teachers. I will post photos once they are all completed.

For those who were following the Russian Doily project, I am still completing the flowers in the fourth round…it is a slow process with so many other projects needing to be completed by Christmas. I hope to get a lot done over the Christmas holiday. Here is he most recent photo:

 

The facebook page is also gathering more followers. We are heading steadily towards 100. I have hinted on FB that the random giveaway for 100 likers will be different, and so here are the details!  I have teamed up with Marie from West Pine Creations, and the winner will get to choose one of the Large ‘Make it yours’ tatting kits. I really like the idea of these kits, and they suit beginner and experienced tatters alike. As the ‘one mad tatter ‘ FB page continues to grow, I will continue the ‘likers’ prizes for every 50 likers. As always, all current likers are in the random draw, so if you haven’t won yet don’t despair!

As it is now December, we have started out official count down to Christmas. The tree will go up soon, and the Advent calendar has already been started. Soon the baking will start, and hopefully I will get all these projects finished! I never did get back to those baubles…maybe better luck next year .

Happy tatting

Fiona T

Thinking about teaching tatting…

Recently I have had the opportunity to try to teach tatting to a group of interested students and another group of colleagues at work. I have a background in teaching science and am pretty comfortable in showing and talking about practical things….but the first group I tried to teach was difficult. Why? I think it is simply because, while I enjoy tatting and know how to do many of the techniques, I have never really had to break down the steps for anyone else. This blog is about the thinking and action process I am working through in my head for this task.

With the first group, I walked in with some wound shuttles and some books. I found very quickly with this group that giving them a shuttle only to work with lead to some confusion about whether they had ‘flipped’ the stitch or not. I needed to move around the group (of 10) individually to show each the stitch and talk them through a couple of their own. This was tedious and so I knew I had to rethink if I were to do this again.

A month later I had a group of interested colleagues. With this second group I made sure each person had a shuttle with coloured thread, and then a small ‘ball’ of white, slightly thicker thread. This helped to make it very clear when the stitch was being formed and was easy to see the flip if it happened. The second thing I did differently was send a clip from you-tube with the basic stitch to the participants before the session, so they had a visual of the types of movements required. When we met, I also did a few stitches to show them the movements before they tried themselves. Then I moved around the 4 people present and helped them, talking through the steps of the stitch and even trying to do it left handed to help one person (this is a good exercise for an experienced tatter…a good challenge to help you make some new brain connections!). I also bought along some books, for the few who didn’t want to try it but just see what could be done in this craft, the vintage books were a hit!). I think it was much easier with a small group too.

I wonder what tips you have if you have taught tatting before? It would be great to hear some of them!

Happy tatting

Fiona T

Playing with Metallic Thread

Wow, it has been a busy couple of weeks here! The facebook page got up to 75 likers, and the random craft draw winner was Bobbie from the US. She received her craft pack this week, and kindly posted a photo of it, as I had forgotten to do this before wrapping the parcel for postage. Bobbie is a new tatter, learning from her Mum, so welcome Bobbie, I hope you have many years of fun tatting all sorts of lovely things. The photo is below and in the slide show. There will be another random draw at 100 likers, and I am planning something a little different this time, more details closer to the time.

Facebook 75 likers prize

Last week I got some new metallic threads from Crochet Australia. I haven’t used any metallic threads for tatting before. These were on sale, and are ‘Altin Basak’ threads that I have heard about, but not tried before.  I didn’t blog last week as I wanted to use the time to find some quick patterns and test out my new threads. Here are some pictures of what I made as a slide show. I have also included a cobweb doily that I made a few weeks ago, but have only recently sewn in the ends!

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Until next week, happy tatting

Fiona T