Sunday 29 July 2018

giving and receiving

…. thanks q

According to the Hindu calendar, Guru Poornima is celebrated every year on full moon of the 4th month - this time it fell on the 27th. As per scriptures, it is a day to offer respect and gratitude to one’s teachers. So this may be almost a 3,000 year old legacy! 
Thought I’d give my thanks to each tatter/blogger I’ve had the pleasure to meet online – I always learn a little something and add to my knowledge, be it from a beginner question, peer consultation, or expert advice.

Firstly, I’d like to thank the extremely talented Mari-jan. We got acquainted, and have been in touch, when they asked to publish my pattern in their publication, De Frivolite(k)ring . Recently she celebrated her 1st blog anniversary and surprised me with this lovely handmade silk plum blossom and handwritten card. 
  
Update : Mari-jan has posted details about this technique here.

Next, as a thank-you gesture for helping her out with some tatting snags over time, Jean Gordon shared this joyful bookmark pattern! I got down to tatting it almost immediately, spurred by her tatted models.
This is the Butterfly Bookvine designed by Kimberley Donohue 
published in #16, KNOTS tatting newsletter, March 1997. 
Jean made a few tweaks and re-wrote it.
I really liked Jean’s colour scheme above! 

I chose the closest I could get from my Anchor size 40 stash. I want to make another with more colourful butterflies and vine using embroidery thread.
It measures 13×3cms without tail.
Butterflies are superb in that there was no need to hide ends at all since we end with a split ring! Instead of using 2 shuttles, I left a long tail in the beginning to use for the 2nd side of split ring and one antenna.
There are 2 versions of the butterfly in the pattern. I chose the more decorative one. 
For the vine, instead of SLT, I used the Reverse Join to switch threads, thus ending up tatting it with one shuttle and green ball thread. 
One has to keep track of the joins, though. I kept making mistakes linking to the butterfly and ended up retrotatting.
You know I like tails on my bookmarks. So a lock stitch chain it was. But for the tassel, I have to thank Stephanie Wilson. Last year, when she was test tatting one of my patterns, she shared her wonderful idea – collect all the scrap threads and make tassels! 

I finally remembered in time, and am so happy with the result, even though these were the only scraps left from recent projects in my tiny collection box. I added a green border on either side of the wrap-around -- ALL scrap!!!.

Here’s another of Jean’s tatting sample (still unblocked). She’s been tatting for just over a year and already learned interlaced rings (the 4-shuttle braid) & the floating twisted picot!

Blogging has brought me so many extraordinary friends!
Many many thanks to this tatting circle of friends qYq

9 comments:

  1. Replies
    1. This tradition is followed by Hindus, Buddhists and Jains (both of which essentially branched out from Hinduism). Part of the guru-shishya tradition, Jane :-)

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  2. Wonderful tradition! Beautiful bookmark, I love butterflies! So many beautiful patterns and so little time!

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    1. and ancient, too ;-P
      I think this bookmark is an idea that can be adapted to all kinds of butterflies (and flowers, as in the Down the Garden Path bookmark), Nin.

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  3. Excellent and very old tradition :)

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  4. Thank you, Anetta & Sue :-)))

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  5. Thank you 😘 so much for your gratitude. It was a great pleasure to send you a small gift. Thank you for your kind words about me and my blog. I really appreciate it and I am still blushing :) I feel priviliged for our friendship and I hope it will continue for many years to come.

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    1. Mari-jan, you are always so sweet ! I wish the same :-) It is so interesting how friendships can be forged 1000s of mile away!

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