sunny palms

 Been a while and I don't get too much time to tat. What time I get is often divided between other projects. So this tree has been taking it's time to grow. And since the individual motifs were getting difficult to manage, I have finally glued them in the formation that looks best.

Mind you, I glued each motif only at one tip, leaving plenty of play for any later adjustments.

I have made a couple more fronds but that's for another day.

Also, there is a lot more I want to do before I 'complete' the game. The coconuts are still to make an appearance ;-D  I have a whole scenery planned from extracted motifs. Oh, but I did share this sun a while back -

This motif is deliberately made with 5 Anchor embroidery strands in 2 shades, and 1 metallic thread strand. There could've been 2 metallic strands for more shine.

This is the 3rd motif extracted from Endrucks' pattern #25. More extractions in the works.

Meanwhile we've had some awesome extractions in the group, including 3D!

Related Posts -

https://tipsaroundthehome.blogspot.com/2022/09/game-of-extraction.html

https://tipsaroundthehome.blogspot.com/2022/09/idea-in-progress.html

https://tipsaroundthehome.blogspot.com/2022/09/palm-or-plant-help.html

https://tipsaroundthehome.blogspot.com/2022/10/no-truncation.html

Evviva! and Ouch

I've been on cloud 9 for close to a fortnight now! And I still haven't caught my breath. Ninetta Caruso, my partner in crime, sent me the world!

And read on to see what my hubby had to say and why the 'ouch' with the 'evviva' ....

This is her first published book in Italian. Ninetta Caruso is now a published author in tatting and I have my own complimentary and autographed copy to gawk at!!! It covers the history of tatting from an Italian viewpoint; treble tatting (finally the Inventor gives it to us in a book form); and the Swirling Butterflies doily pattern.

Many thanks to Alessandra Caputo for the critical role she played towards the publication.  

As a surprise, I had worked the outer round of her beautifully designed doily as per pattern this time, and haven't yet told or shown her ;-D  More about that below.

And look at all the other stuff that accompanied the book! ALL made by her! But this is such a jumble and each piece needs to be admired individually. 

Most of items shared here are already is Ninetta's blog with lots of details. Scroll down to the end of the page and look under respecitve Labels https://ninettacaruso.blogspot.com/ 

Hubby still cannot get over the fact that this is indeed tatting! He absolutely loved this pair of earrings. Notice how tiny they are compared to my thumbnail.

Each pair is so dainty and small, so elegant.

I need a magnifier (or a microscope, seriously!) to see and understand what she's done here. 

Her own hand-painted bookmark with a tatting insert.

Her Bosa's filet lace bookmark above and a tatted motif below.

Such a cute sampler of her Bosa filet lace, and so tiny, so fine. The net is first knotted by hand, then embroidered over.   

These beautiful feather-light tatted beads on my palm are barely 1.5cms!!!! Wonder if I've ever seen such tiny seed beads either. How did she string them?! I fumble with much larger seed beads.

Another gorgeous motif in pleasant colourway with a doodad in the center.

More tatted motifs, the beads, and the Bosa's filet work. And she flawlessly fit in 4 Heart Squares in the same space as my single one! I don'e whether its the threads or her tension, but her motifs are all fairly stiff.

Comparing Ninetta's and my tatting, now hubby says her work is like a 5-star gourmet meal to my dhaba (roadside food) style fare; like Rolex to HMT (Indians upto my generation might remember those bulky wrist watches). This is where the "ouch" of my post title comes in, LOL. Suddenly my fawned-upon lacework is reduced to ashes ;-D Oh yes, my confidence has certainly taken a beating!

She bought me a 1920 vintage bobbin lace frame, too! It is perfect size to sew on a cushion cover, but after consulting with Nin, it might not stand the strain and wash. I'll have to think of some other way to display it - it cannot just be stashed away.

Hand-painted shuttle by Nin ...

.... and the other side of the same shuttle.

And her 2nd hand-painted shuttle with her favourite butterfly.

A 3rd hooked bobbin shuttle is decorated by Dali L'artista (or Lina) and I can't wait to use these shuttles for size 80 threads. 

The 2 pouches above and the needle case are all sewn by Nin, too! Perfection again. Such a multi-talented lady with perfect stitches and strokes in each craft.

A nice pop-up card with her warm message. She chose it because the flowers seem to be placed on a tatted doily.

And metallic threads galore!

I had asked for only a sampler of Sanbest which is so popular and works wonderfully for tatted jewellery, and she sent me all these!

A couple from Edda Guastella, etc., too.

I really have no excuse now to not tat jewellery, right?

The moment Nin told me that the book will definitely be published, I snipped off the leaf motifs joining the flowers, and set about tatting the outer round as per her pattern. You might remember my dilemma with what colour to use which is why I veered from track. This time I simply picked up the cream and went to work. 

Ninetta honoured me by asking me to write a Foreword for her book. We hope the book wil be published in English as well, though several non-Italian tatters have already bought either the physical or digital copy and are translating it.

I left the 7 extra butterflies, though. Perhaps 7 more wouldn't look  bad either? 

https://tipsaroundthehome.blogspot.com/search/label/swirling%20butterflies

In Anchor size 40, the diameter is about 40cms.

The colours are more vibrant in real, but this will have to do for now.

Oh, and I'd had the immense pleasure of suggesting a name for the doily which Ninetta accepted! 

I placed Ninetta's size 80 motif over my size 40 one for a comparison. 

When I'd sent Nin some of my tatted lace, I told her it would be gigantic and bulky beside her own work since she prefers finer threads and doll-house sized lace! Yet I NEVER thought I'd be transported to Lilliput. My photos don't give much of an idea of how tiny her pieces are and how well-made. I actually need magnifiers to really see some of her stitches. 

It has been my good fortune to be around when treble tatting was invented in 2018 and to see it evolve. Ninetta changed the entire tatting scene by giving us a 3rd stitch. 

Never ever say that tatting is a dying art with  such a revolutionary invention.

Never every say that tatting is made only of 2 stitches...proudly boast about the tds. 

I am still too overwhelmed with this bonanza and with the sweetness with which my friend and partner  has gifted it all. I seriously believe I need at least one more lifetime only to try, learn, tat, and experiment with all that she has shared in Less than 10 years!

grazie mille mio cara amica

🦋💝🦋

treble stitches

This post is a response to a request by Tatting with Sherri who wanted a visual comparison of treble tatting with crocheted treble, etc. It started when a confused tatter posted a pic in a group asking whether the arched chains between rings were made of tatting (treble stitch) or crochet, especially since the image was a bit blurred. Unfortunately I cannot share that pic here. Verdict was divided between crochet and treble tatting, with most tilting towards crochet.

Just a reminder that the treble tat stitch (tds) was first invented by Ninetta Caruso in June 2018, to resemble the crochet stitch, and evolved into an all-encompassing 3rd stitch in tatting! https://ninettacaruso.blogspot.com/

The picots on the left chain should've been longer for the effect to be seen clearly. You might remember 

Wally Sosa's Maga Hibiscus https://www.needles-n-shuttles.com/free-patterns where the long picots were anchored with a round of crochet. 

Crochet and Tatting have been used together occasionally. Wally also has a Heart pattern with a crocheted heart in the center, surrounded by tatting.

This is pure crochet where a chain was worked first and then part of the 2nd round is made with trebles (double crochet) and partly with half trebles (half double crochet).

NOTE: This crochet can be done over a tatted chain (eg. the blue chain on the right in the next pic) instead of a crochet chain 

As pointed out above, #3 can be worked over a tatted chain.

Cro-tatting is another option. eg. in the above sampler rings are tatted over the cro-tat hook (needle-tatting fashion) and the chains would be crocheted using the same tool. Then one has an option to cover those chains either with treble tatting or treble crocheting.  

On the right side are close-ups of each option.

In the image that started the discussion, the 'chains' were arched. Above is one example of how arched treble tatting looks like. Pattern - https://tipsaroundthehome.blogspot.com/2020/05/double-trouble-motif.html

This is another pattern with graduated treble tatting, but a more gradual arc compared to the pointedness of the previous motif. https://tipsaroundthehome.blogspot.com/2020/05/peacock-in-snow.html

A close-up. 

Pattern pdf - https://drive.google.com/file/d/1rcOCAAP8u-LQxPwJazzevTxQ9oCvKws_/view

You will find links to Cro-tatting and Treble Tatting here - https://tipsaroundthehome.blogspot.com/p/tatting-resources.html

Also check out Hybrid Tatting - https://tipsaroundthehome.blogspot.com/2020/08/hybrid-tatting.html

no truncation

Remember when I asked whether to truncate the WIP fronds or not? (https://tipsaroundthehome.blogspot.com/2022/09/palm-or-plant-help.html) Firstly thank you so much for enthusiastically responding and coming to my help 💖

 Palm tree was the huge majority vote! There were a few who said both but one single tatter who chose only snake plant. 

Finally, here is the trunk - 

This is also an extracted motif. However, in order to get the shape and texture I visualised, I constructed it differently from that of the original Endrucks' pattern #25. Instead of making a long foundation chain with picots to which the next tier of the chain(s) will join, I tatted each block starting from the top and moving down.

Worked in one pass. And although I had loaded 2 shuttles, I ended up working with a single shuttle, using direct tatting in every alternate tier. 

To get a gradual taper, the outermost chain in a few center blocks are worked as a Lock Chain. Lock chain is narrower than a regular double stitch chain. The last 2 blocks at the bottom have 7 chains. The penultimate one has 1 lock chain on the right side but 2 lock chains on the left side in order to bring the threads in position for the last block which has regular chains. 

3 strands of Anchor embroidery thread.

Related Posts -
https://tipsaroundthehome.blogspot.com/2022/09/game-of-extraction.html
https://tipsaroundthehome.blogspot.com/2022/09/idea-in-progress.html
https://tipsaroundthehome.blogspot.com/2022/09/palm-or-plant-help.html

And before I sign off, take a look at the right panel. Topmost you will find direct links to follow me and the Endrucks Project on different platforms (encircled in red) ...... 

Everything is just one click away!

not just an edging

Oooo là là

This stunning necklace is tatted by Ninetta Caruso for our Endrucks 1920 Project. An adaptation of Endrucks' 1st pattern!

But let me get the nitty gritty out of the way first, some of which has already been shared.

Edging pattern #1 from the book German book ‘Die Schiffchen-Spitszen’,1920, by Frau Eleonore Endrucks-Leichtenstern. The pdf shared earlier is now updated with a lot of cleaning up and additions. 

Above we have a straight edging, a circular edging, playing with 2-colours, and with a modified pathway for mirror imaging.

Happy Hands pdf: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1IRlJ7bnx-c27PYtgXymx_ps-KL2pen_m/view 

This collage shows some of the several paths ranging from 

1. the simpler but unsymmetrical original. However, it starts with a chain and moves from right to left;

2. the modified symmetrical adaptation which starts with a ring. This central ring is worked as a thrown ring from 2nd motif onwards (hence different colour) and the edging moves from left to right;

3. playing with some colour positions using Reposition Methods, and where the 1st motif is worked with 2 small side rings and each subsequent motif with only the right side ring to be made. Ninetta finds that this is easier than making the left ring in repeats.

4. (see square edging below) 2 small rings on each motif also makes it easier to keep the threads in place. 

These are but a few options and each tatter can follow their own path. 

This is Antonia Lai's adaptation of the edging as well as the addition of a corner, giving us a nice square or rectangular frame. - https://drive.google.com/file/d/1fsiET9ZJvXSD0kcAMKsuUNZt-rznFkO9/view

Happy Hands Linked Bookmark was shared here - https://tipsaroundthehome.blogspot.com/2022/03/one-month-several-years.html

Pattern notes are included in the updated pdf above.

Happy Hands Linked Bracelet is almost exactly the same as the bookmark, except for using numerous colours and beads, and a different tail, etc. I made this specifically to represent our common efforts to create, complete, and continue the Endrucks Project.

If only the gold and silver beads sparkle in the photos as they do in real, sigh.

Pattern notes included in updated pdf.

 

This is my sampler from 2019 in Lizbeth 20 where I conceived the idea of a necklace and played around with bead arrangements. However, I knew I would never do justice to it, hence asked Ninetta to step in and she did so willingly and in such a spectacular fashion!

And now for the awesome part! This is a very short video Ninetta sent with her Happy Hands Necklace pics. And here is the link, in case - https://drive.google.com/file/d/1dOwk3l0vei-RApDrBPeJCe06FzpBeaqC/view

These are her work in progress pics. She used treble stitches to add height and texture to the chain arches between motifs.

She substituted the hand rings with swarovski crystals.

This is the clasp at the back.

And a close-up of how she used tatting to join the necklace to the clasp.

The cabochon is attached later using this pattern - https://ninettacaruso.blogspot.com/2020/06/pattern-for-tiffany-bezel.html

As seen from the back.

The clasp and part of the necklace. This could so easily also become the front!

Notes, as well as tutorial links, are included in the updated pdf.

And Ninetta tatted yet another as a gift! 

Remember all these goodies are included in the updated Happy Hands Edgings and Adaptations pdf - https://drive.google.com/file/d/1IRlJ7bnx-c27PYtgXymx_ps-KL2pen_m/view

The Sunflower coaster ( https://tipsaroundthehome.blogspot.com/2021/03/happy-sunflowers.html )  which was earlier a part of it, has been removed. I am in the process of adding diagrams to the pattern and cleaning up the presentation as a stand-alone. For the impatient tatter, I can send you the old pdf; although I'd prefer patience ;-D  

All modernised patterns and so much more can be accessed from the EP doc - https://docs.google.com/document/d/17LEVftXweztBIOWh4sL4BB7bX65ssoOsOn4oXIgCepY/view

Ninetta, my true partner in crime (PIC), thank you from the bottom of my heart! 

I'd also like to thank Winnie Ho for her feedback which made me 

re-think and re-do the presentation. Hopefully, it is now better laid out

with plenty of choices to work the pattern.