Dedicating my 1000th

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For this 1000th post I kept musing on the choice of subject. And I finally decided to dedicate it to some of my favourite people who have shaped and inspired my tatting journey. This is a symbolic gesture to ALL the tatting teachers, designers, innovators, experimenters, explorers who have shared their own learnings and experiences. 

Three Geniuses and a brand new stitch in tatting!

Two years back I stumbled upon two drawings that gave Ninetta Caurso's treble tatting stitch a basis in tatting history! 

A drawing on page 31 in Anne Dyer's 1994 book, To Boldly Go Where No Shuttle Has Gone Before, showing the decorative chain picots. 

A drawing on page 85 in Rhoda Auld's 1974 book, Tatting: the contemporary art of knotting with a shuttle showing her twisting the thread (this twisted picot is something I had pointed out in my pictorial) and passing the shuttle through it. Her tatted model is what we now call the vapour stitch.

Well, our very talented Ninetta engineered the two movements to create her treble tatting stitch (tds) all on her own! At the time she did not posses either of the books and till I pointed it out to her, she had not noticed! Basically, the chain picot became the 1st half of the tds while the vapour stitch became the 2nd half of the tds! 

💧One of the reasons for the delay in posting this was ambiguity about whether I could share the diagram pic from the book with due credit. Anita suggested I ask Tamie Montgomery, who now runs The Online Tatting Class and is very mindful of such issues. She was very receptive and we discussed it. Although she said it was okay to use the accredited pics (like Georgia had done) since it was a 'technique', I still wasn't comfortable, till I hit upon the idea of showing it in thread as above. 

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Auld is gold bead effects!

Last year I found some new beading effects by Rhoda Auld in the same book and took the liberty to give them each a name based on words used by her.

Framed Bead - The diagram on page 107 has been in circulation through Georgia Seitz's classes for several years now. Georgia pitched it as a way to add a bead in the center of a ring and I used it in this butterfly. 

However, Rhoda showed it as a way to add a free bead on a long picot with bare thread framing the bead on both sides when slack is removed. Makes for some good possibilities.

Piggyback Beads - Now this was fun to discover! On pages 99-100 Rhoda shows how to place two free beads one over the other using simple movements. I tweaked it a bit to make it easier to tat.

Instead of loading the bead on the core thread where she has to move the chain stitches, I loaded it on the knotting thread (teal in above sample) and the rest of the process remains the same. On an earlier page, Rhoda makes the teal picot longer and ties up both picots till required for joining. Hence there are many options depending on the pattern.

My sample is a bit wonky, but you get the picture, right?

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Generosity knows no bounds!

💧I can't thank Anita Barry enough for gifting me so many vital books on my list. Without these I wouldn't have been able to review and edit Net Best's, Six T's of Shuttle Tatting, not with any satisfaction or confidence. These have helped me to confirm, correct, or refine terms for her glossary, and even understand and discover so many gems, some of which I took the liberty of adding to the glossary.

💧Judith Connors has been taking an active interest in the glossary, too, either as an answer to my question, as a reaction to my blog post, or reaching out on her own privately. You can imagine what a treasure trove of knowledge she is and how lucky we are to benefit from her skills. 

Judith sent me a copy of her 2000 book, Creative Tatting with beads, shuttle, and needle. It has some of my all-time favourite patterns besides numerous interesting effects and applications. While I read the book, tatting models will be later in the year. 

💧Late last year I received a wonderful digital book by Carin Jansen, Riego ReTatted (2023).  She needed some advice on selling the book through the USA, not being sure of its reception. With permission, I sought Anita's advice and we both gave our respective take urging Carin to put it on the market. Eventually she decided against it for personal reasons, though she has shared her Dutch version within her group. It is such a labour of love and we hope she will change her mind in future. Carin has chosen patterns from each of Mlle Eleonore Riego's books (1850-1886) and shared detailed steps and modernised versions/tips in a pleasant format alongside diagrams and written patterns. 

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I'd like to think that my blog has stayed true to its name to the extent that almost 95% of my posts have a tip of some kind. Unfortunately I couldn't stay true to the url since this blog soon turned into a tatting blog ... not that I'm complaining, LOL. 

Hope you continue to follow my blog and read my posts. 💞

You will find tutorial links to terms in this post here - https://tipsaroundthehome.blogspot.com/p/tatting-resources.html and you can use the search box on the right panel to look for past posts on the tags used here and much more.

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Many many thanks to all the wonderful tatters mentioned here and also to those not mentioned who have influenced, inspired, and improved my tatting journey and maintained my eagerness to blog.

o happy day

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What better than International Tatting Day, to remind us of the collaboration for Endrucks 1920 Project where tatters from around the globe have volunteered to modernise the 100 year old patterns from her German book ‘Die Schiffchen-Spitzen’.

article by Carin Jansen in Kantbrief March 2021

One such contributor we’d like to thank today is Carin Jansen who you will recognise immediately as the designer of the beautiful Angel Doily TAL. It was only because of this Endrucks project that I became aware of her blog and work and found the doily pattern that led to another small group tat-along I've been posting about!
She not only contributed, but also got us published in Kantbrief, a Dutch lace magazine (pic above).

Carin volunteered for first one, then a second pattern (happily, we’ve had many such volunteers!) and did an amazing job of putting them together with clear diagrams and a bilingual presentation – both in Dutch and English.

She first chose pattern #32 since there was no block tatting. It is worked continuously from one end to the other and then returns back to complete the symmetry. I love the mock 2-coloured onion ring effect between motifs - and here it looks like a bead connecting the rectangles!

Diligence is never far from a tatter. Two pattern #19 models worked in different sized threads but by switching the colours, a completely different effect emerges! As with most of Endrucks’ patterns, this can easily be worked in one pass by crossing over to the other side on the return.

Here she has designed a new end and this adaptation would work great as a bracelet or necklace with the addition of beads and clasp! The large rings can encase a button or cabochon!

Both patterns have thrown rings, which tatters can do with a 2nd shuttle or needle, without breaking the curve of the chain below.

Even though the direct pdf links to both patterns are listed in the Project doc, I urge you to visit Carin’s blog. She is a talented 60 year young designer, author, blogger, and multi-crafter from Netherland. Get to know her better here! Her blog has some wonderful articles including Designing Takes Time and What is Tatting? as well as a couple more free tatting patterns. I've only been able to read her tatting posts so far, but there's a lot more.

And to repeat myself, we're published! Carin contributed her article on the Endrucks 1920 Project to a Dutch lace magazine ‘Kantbrief’ March 2021 and graciously sent me a physical copy! Wow, right?! You can read her article in her blog where there is an English translation alongside.

This is the only article on tatting, all others being devoted to other lace forms such as torchon, needle lace, etc. along with several schemata and patroons (patterns) which are inspiring to transform into tatted lace! 3 cheers for diagrams and images! But there is one article with an intriguing title – ‘Lacemaker and young gamblers’! Wish I could read Dutch.

And below is the sweet handwritten letter she sent .... the pleasure is mutual, Carin!

Her lovely letter that accompanied the magazine!

It has been a pleasure and honour collaborating with her and exchanging notes. She has been a real sport, enthusiastic and supportive. We sure hope she blogs more often and we wish her luck and success in publishing several more books and articles. And hope the future holds more creative contact between us 🌷🌷🌷

To paraphrase Ninetta Caruso, this is a community project and we invite everyone to join in. Please let us know where we can find your renditions and derivative tatting and use the hashtag #Endrucks1920Project on facebook.

You are welcome to join in any time, with shuttle or needle, as a test tatter or creative tweaker/adaptor. Contact either Ninetta or me - we'd love to include your work. All information, with links and updates, is compiled in the Endrucks 1920 Project doc here – https://docs.google.com/document/d/17LEVftXweztBIOWh4sL4BB7bX65ssoOsOn4oXIgCepY/view
A new heading – With Gratitude – is now in the Project doc. It lists our gratitude to each contributor with links to respective blogpost.

🌸🍫💕 Wishing everybody a very special and creative ITD 

– enjoy tatting, chatting, and chocolate! 💕🍫🌸  

🌺🌻🌼🌻🌺 A very special thanks to all project contributors 🌺🌻🌼🌻🌺

muskaan & Ninetta

waltzing home

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Carin Jansen’s Angel Choir doily TAL 

pattern - http://handwerk-fee.blogspot.com/2020/11/engelenkoor.html

tatting completed by ANITA  BARRY

As the final strains of the angelic melody dies down, the waltz comes to an end. It was an exhilarating and learning experience that will be treasured for years to come. We didn't just tat lace, we built memories, which is what tat-alongs are all about.

Ah, but it was not an easy romp home for Anita Barry, but no means! You remember her fixation anecdotes here and here? She wasn't wearing 6 inch heels while tatting, so why did more missteps and stumbling follow, despite having the finishing line in sight?!

Round 6 struck again, this time with 2 of the 3 rings in a trefoil missing (arrow in pic above).

Some colourful language followed when she noticed the miss! And who can blame her ;-P

Where there's a mistake, there's a fix!

Anita shared her tools of the trade...I like to call it tools of our craft ;-D

 

The strange looking pick top left is a thorn from the Agave Cactus! Cool, right?!

And on the right is the needle as picot gauge in action.

' The above are "self-threading" sewing needles used for sewing in thread ends. There is a slot above the eye of the needle to slide the thread down into the eye of the needle. '

' And my fabric Ort Bag (scrap bag) for my thread ends. It's a tiny trash bag.'

Round 7 in progress. She followed my example of making the picot at tip longer.

Whoop Whoop waltzing home finally ... 

' The angels are helping me learn more ways to improvise and showing others I Tat like they do with 'do overs'. '

One would think her doily is riddled with fixes. But look what emerged from it - 

We have her husband to thank for this inspiration - he wanted the angel from Carin's doily to have "More Heart"!

I think this quote sums it up nicely since Anita will be sharing this experience in a speech titled "Fear Knot" at the IOLI Convention this year, showcasing the international cooperation this doily embodies, as well as 'bumps and grinds Tatters get themselves into'. 

        Don’t carry your mistakes around with you. 

        Instead, place them under your feet and use them as stepping stones to rise above them. 

                – Anonymous © Source: quotespedia.org

It was Anita's idea early last year, to tat a doily together. We had zeroed in on the Mystery doily whenever we could. On seeing this doily, I just felt we could all use some angels in our lives during these weird times, and Anita graciously accepted. Who knew this doily would come to create so many personal memories for her, besides the ones we made mutually!

And we had the added pleasure of several other tatters tatting along. Use hashtag #AngelChoirTAL to find the doilies on facebook as well as in Just Tatting group. If you type 'Angel Choir' in the Just Tatting search engine, it will throw up more versions by tatters who uploaded their finished doilies. Do take a look at their beautiful work if you are a member there.

Many many thanks to my buddy Anita and all my other tatting friends who joined us in our journey!

Perhaps we can plan another joyful journey next year!

Thanks once again to Carin for sharing her lovely pattern.

All related posts, with joint notes on this doily tat along - 
https://tipsaroundthehome.blogspot.com/2021/01/two-to-tango.html 

https://tipsaroundthehome.blogspot.com/2021/01/a-quadrille-or-more.html
https://tipsaroundthehome.blogspot.com/2021/01/dance-nonstop.html
https://tipsaroundthehome.blogspot.com/2021/01/dancing-continuously.html
https://tipsaroundthehome.blogspot.com/2021/01/the-dance-continues.html
https://tipsaroundthehome.blogspot.com/2021/01/fixtrot-to-foxtrot.html
https://tipsaroundthehome.blogspot.com/2021/02/treading-lightly.html
https://tipsaroundthehome.blogspot.com/2021/02/all-song-and-dance.html
https://tipsaroundthehome.blogspot.com/2021/02/waltzing-home.html

all song and dance

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 Ta-Da !!! Doily completed.... 

Carin Jansen’s Angel Choir doily TAL – Round 7 (final round) 

pattern - http://handwerk-fee.blogspot.com/2020/11/engelenkoor.html

I love it and hope you do, too. I enjoyed tatting it very much especially with a few more friends joining in!

Worked all from the front, clockwise. Chain-only round, hence I used a ball and shuttle, ctm. All joins are lock/shuttle joins.

For continuous tatting, you might have exited Round 6 with an 8ds split chain. Climb into this final round with a tiny mock picot and 2ds connecting chain and work clockwise. 

Easy to remember count with a picot after every 2 stitches almost throughout. I found it easier to remember that there are 5 picots on the 4 side chains and only 3 picots on the topmost arch.

Despite her instructions, I did not use a picot gauge - nothing new there ;-P

I used graduated picots on the topmost arch with the center picot especially long for a slight point. I  forgot to mention in my earlier post - I had made joining picot small in round 6 so it was easier to keep track of where to join. Besides, a small picot would mean a more pronounced/rounded chain arch.

Although this colourway had been my original plan at the start of doily, at this final stage I felt it might be too overbearing. So I started the round in green, which looked too understated, and had to be unraveled. Went back to this autumnal variegate and am very happy with the result. Hubby was part of the entire decision-making process for this round. 

Appears almost as if angels are merrily singing and dancing in the center of a large flower – very summery, too. We had wonderful sun after almost a month when I took this pic.

Materials/tools used : Lizbeth size 80 threads in #100, #138, #180, #186. 2 shuttles (or shuttle and ball). #11 crochet hook for joining through very small picots. Size 28 tapestry needles to whip stitch ends; I always start knotless, tatting over tails. Scissors. Occasionally a magnifier or a book light.

It measures 17.5 cms finally.

In her coloured version, Carin used 2 colours, one in each shuttle, and used a SLT in the middle of the short 2ds connecting chain to switch colours. It has a nice framing and dimensional effect since in the previous round she had used the same 2 colours alternately.

Many many thanks to Carin Jansen for sharing her delightful pattern. Her presentation is excellent – with clear diagrams, written notations, along with thread lengths and other tips. RW and SS were the only 2 notations missing in the instructions (for tatters with limited pattern-reading skills). 

It is a lovely pattern to practice and perfect long chain tatting! Some rounds can be worked continuously while some can be worked from a shuttle and ball. Mostly employs basic techniques. 

I found the entire pattern engaging and learned a few tricks to design and present! 

Join us on Facebook using the tag #AngelChoirTAL on your timeline and/or the group Just Tatting. 
All tutorials can be found here - https://tipsaroundthehome.blogspot.com/p/tatting-resources.html

Related Posts :
Notes/thoughts on Round 1 ; Round 2 ; Round 3 ; Round 4 ; Round 5 ; more on Round 5 & Round 6 ; more on Round 6 ; Round 7. 

treading lightly

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Yes, even an accomplished Master Tatter can make missteps and need to retrace her step. This post is filled with possible pitfalls and respective remedies as well as alerts and tips from Anita Barry. So, tread lightly as you dance along. The screenshots are straight from the horse's mouth ;-P

Carin Jansen’s Angel Choir doily TAL – Round 6 (continued) 

pattern - http://handwerk-fee.blogspot.com/2020/11/engelenkoor.html 

more notes on Round 6 - https://tipsaroundthehome.blogspot.com/2021/01/fixtrot-to-foxtrot.html 

Notes by Anita Barry -

Threads used for this project - DMC, Lizbeth,
and vintage J&P Coats size 80

1. Number of stitches per centimeter in size 80 -

First, a quick tip, since this doily has a lot of long chains.... This image is from Round 5

I checked mine after receiving this info from Anita, and turns out I had similar tension. This is a good way to maintain uniform tension on chains throughout the project. Design TIP - It is also a good measure for a designer to convey in such patterns (along with thread size).

2. Started Round 6 from wrong point and untidy attachment -

The left pic was shared at end of previous post ...

3. Missed a join and the fix -

4. Tools of trade and Marking frontside -

If you remember, Carollyn Brown ties a tiny thread bow to identify front of doily. These 'charms' are really helpful when working with fine thread in single colour, or if we use blipless joins. I generally work in multiple colours so the colour blips help me identify back of work.  

5. Missed a ring in trefoil and the fix - 

 

She almost snipped off the knotty segment, but wisdom prevailed ;-D At least one angel was watching over her shoulder, whispering in her ear!

I would've made a true ring, but Anita's solution goes to show the range of options we have! She also saved a few stitches on the chain.

TIP: Thread comes out in front from a 2nd half stitch and in back from a 1st half-stitch. Follow the opposite movement to untat stitches. Easy-peasy. Loosen the stitch loop, pass shuttle front to back through it to untat shs, and back to front to unravel fhs. These pics might help.

6. Uniformity and symmetry of arches -

Let's all wish a few of the angels from this doily keep Anita's tatting in check so she can dance freely rather than 2 steps front, 1 step back, right?! But as she wisely says, the take away from all these oops is Growth.

I've been receiving these pics and emails for the past several days and I completed my own doily 4 days back. However, some other collaboration has kept me too busy to post. Hopefully I'll be able to do a back-to-back post with my finale. 

I will also try to share pics of how far our tatters have progressed.

Join us and post your doily pics on Facebook or Just Tatting group using the tag #AngelChoirTAL.

Related Posts - 

Notes/thoughts on Round 1 ; Round 2 ; Round 3 ; Round 4 ; Round 5 ; more on Round 5 & Round 6 ; Anita's Round 6 ;