literally out of the box

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and functioning as a threader holder! Why didn't I think of this solution ages ago?! Here's the full story ...

Going back a few weeks, Anita showed me a vintage edging she had picked up at a thrift store. A single shuttle trefoil/clover edging with a curious way of joining the rings. It looked so good, too. Thought I'd work a sample but somehow I let my shuttle take over and ended up with this medallion.

Now I wasn't in the mood to use a picot gauge despite having a few handmade folded picot gauges, which is why the bare thread spaces are not perfect.

Nevertheless the highlight of this medallion is the little twist at the base of each ring. 

All I am doing is attempting to make a 1st half-stitch (ie. bringing the thread from Under the previous thread) without actually transferring or flipping it. This leads to all that twisting. One has to be careful with it. As you can see, the stitch is not tensioned and snugged completely since I wanted a loose twist. 

There is ample scope to play around with the effect, adding more half-stitches, etc.

It then reminded me of something that Ninetta had done. Turns out she used a lock join to simulate a twist in this vintage motif here - https://ninettacaruso.blogspot.com/2020/08/locked-in-old-corner.html - from Emmy Liebert's 1916 book.

So coming back to the problem that was awaiting a solution. I whip stitch tail ends using tapestry needles and a threader to thread the needle. The latter is kept in a different box within the larger project box. I wanted a way to have both the needle container and the threader to be together - pick them up in one go. Didn't want to use tape; couldn't use a magnet; couldn't glue it down for obvious reasons. 

This medallion which happened to lie over the circular box struck me as the perfect solution. I glued it down with a spot of glue at 3 points, that's it! 

Being so open and airy, the threader easily slips through any space yet stays put! And no fear of the wire being bent or getting caught anywhere. A safe haven!

Anita called this the Threader Keeper!!! Now she's one to think out of the box and guess it is rubbing off on me, LOL.

Oh, and I am submitting this BTS medallion (my 5th submission) for Natalie Rogers' Picot Bingo 2026 Level 2, crossing out one box -  

• Use Bare Thread Space. 

(Details here - https://www.patreon.com/posts/happy-new-year-147124370)

too clever by half

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or too lazy ... take your pick, LOL. So I actually completed a motif from scratch today as celebration of the International Tatting Day! Wanted to tat enough to upload to our Endrucks 1920 Project FB group and then continue tomorrow along with a blogpost. Wonder of wonders, my smart take meant I 'finished' the motif et al much before the end of the day! 

I had decided to tat a butterfly when I realised it would mean a line/row bingo as mentioned in my post here. And my first search was in the EP directory of butterfly derivatives. This was one motif I hadn't tatted, so mind made up. That it would happen so soon, well .... and that it had block tatting was something I hadn't planned on either.

This is the E16 Grazia Butterfly derived and designed by Pina Pinto for the #Endrucks1920Project; pictorial and written pattern by Ninetta Caruso. with a bit of input from me. Here is the direct link to the PDF - https://drive.google.com/file/d/10mqdUjIcdRADIuGt5il0C2PUvGn0HthK/view

And as you can see if you compare the models in the PDF to mine, this is in profile! After tatting two wings it looked pretty complete for a butterfly in profile! I think it looks good even though it is only Half the pattern. Folded the central (body) ring and added one more antenna and voila, it's ready to fly or alight.

The decision was possible because I followed my alternate path (diagram on page 9 of PDF) and tatted the wings separately. However, I also followed my own tip to tat the antenna in one pass which is why the first antenna is too long. Shortened the 2nd one at the end, though.

In Anchor and Red Rose pearl cotton size 8, the butterfly is 3cm high and 5.5cm wide (without antennae). In Lizbeth size 20, these measurements should hold true. I didn't want the ombre tinted colourway to overwhelm the pattern, hence paired it with ecru/cream.

And so I submit my 4th motif for Natalie Rogers' Picot Bingo 2026 Level 2, crossing out two boxes and one line, yay!

• Block Tatting
• Tat a Butterfly

Here's where I stand at present ... please note that I have a couple more motifs already tatted but not shared, which is why I did not cross out any of the respective boxes.

PICOT BINGO for the last row, teehee! (Details here - https://www.patreon.com/posts/happy-new-year-147124370)

Hope you had or are having a great ITD. Ciao for now!

Happy Tatting

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A very happy International  Tatting Day to all tatters! 

While I will be tatting and also gobble up some chocolate today, what I am sharing here is a coaster or mat I worked on recently. It is a tessellation pattern by Karen Bovard from her 2013 book, 'MORE Fun With Split Ring Tatting'. 

It is made by joining individual houndstooth motifs on the go and there are slight differences in the motif depending on where it is positioned - whether in the main body or on a side, etc. The tails in the above piece are hidden but not trimmed. These acted as markers for my own comfort.

While the tatting itself is easy if you are comfortable with split rings, the arrangement of where each motif is attached needs careful attention. At least I needed that and had to cut off or retro-tat a few times.

The diagram was for a rectangle but I cut it short to a square. Which meant eliminating a row in the main body. To mark my place I marked the finished motifs in the diagram.

While I like the shape as is, it is not practical to use with all the arms sticking out. Hence I will be filling in the gaps, following Karen's pattern, but also outline it. Trouble is I can't decide the colour! Hubby suggested black or brown (the dark shade here is purple, not black) but I haven't made up my mind. Do you have any suggestions?
 

I had bought this book almost a decade back and so glad to have finally tatted something from it. The instructions at the beginning are very clear and detailed and make it easy to read the diagram-only patterns. There are myriad possible arrangements using some basic motifs as blocks or tiles and their niched arrangement in several patterns reminds one of MC Escher's tessellations. Of course, Karen has a lot of other designs, too as evident in the book covers. There are several I would love to try.

Karen even has a tip about making the split rings more circular. Huh, it just confirms why my own ring was circular too! (https://tipsaroundthehome.blogspot.com/2026/02/who-knew.html)

However, the spine of the book did not allow the book to remain open at the desired page. Hence I scanned and printed out the necessary pages and consulted them. 

UPDATE: (April 2, 2026) Karen has a new site which unfortunately does not show up in my feed. All the material from her old blog are also included in this new site. And she has some great tatting memes going ... looking forward to more. Here's the link - http://www.theshuttlesmith.com/

And I submit this as the 3rd piece for Natalie Rogers' PICOT Bingo 2026 Level 2 (https://www.patreon.com/posts/happy-new-year-147124370). Only one box to cross this time, though this too is a rings-only pattern, viz.,

• Tat from a diagram