updates

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I have often updated a post (highlighted as 'UPDATE') without any separate notification. This time I thought a special post would be good for those interested since there are quite a few. Yet as I list them, I find some should be accompanied with a photo. Hence while I rectify that omission, here is part 1 of the updates in no particular order ....

DAL Celtic Snowflake challenge. Pattern (diagram) for Padma Mandayam's adaptation of Mariola Siwek's version is now uploaded to this Google doc - https://docs.google.com/document/d/1pVqM6S5Ng49xk6erSsDyRm3y7SdV2tCIUOCgltze4lM/view for you to enjoy. 

Original post -https://tipsaroundthehome.blogspot.com/2024/12/and-more.html 

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I was very impressed with the way Ninetta had started her ring seamlessly without making any 'join' by using the same joining loop as a ring loop. Well, forgetful brain did not put two and two together especially considering I have used this method before. It is basically the Ring on Picot technique which Patty Dowden demonstrated in this video -https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=LmMxIBrDpRI 

Original post -  https://tipsaroundthehome.blogspot.com/2023/10/awakened.html

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When I wrote about Fringe Tatting and the Tatted Fringe I did not highlight that beads could be used for the fringe, too. Eventually I made a beaded fringe inspired by and following Corina Meyfeldt's directions for Beaded Stem. Nina Libin called it Single File Beaded Picot.  The beads are pre-strung on the shuttle or ball thread depending on the pattern and each fringe or beaded picot is moved in place when needed. 
Original Posts - https://tipsaroundthehome.blogspot.com/2024/08/on-fringes.html
https://tipsaroundthehome.blogspot.com/2024/11/soup-catcher.html

Here's an old model from 2017 - https://tipsaroundthehome.blogspot.com/2017/05/rising-month-late.html

This method is fine for a limited number of fringe elements/picots with a limited number of beads on each or if all the beads are on the ball thread. 

One more method is the Floating Beads method but it has severe limitations -https://tipsaroundthehome.blogspot.com/2017/09/floating-beads-part-4.html

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And finally splocik's Small Decorations 2024 since I won't be participating in her 2025 verion - December gallery (https://splocik2.blogspot.com/2024/12/male-dekoracje-2024-galeria-grudniowa.html ) and collages of entire year's works by some participants (https://splocik2.blogspot.com/2025/01/male-dekoracje-2024-podsumowanie-i-3.html) ... links added to my final post (https://tipsaroundthehome.blogspot.com/2024/12/a-no-glass-ceiling.html). I am happy to have been able to submit 13 decorations.

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I had sent the vapour stitch bouquet pic for PICOT Bingo, but couldn't complete the game in the way I had intended and imagined. 5 boxes still left to cross out. Natalie, too, has uploaded a 2025 bingo card, but I won't be participating. See how disciplined I am being this year?! ;-D 

This is it for now. More updates will follow with some exciting revelations/discoveries!

And I still have to update some of the original posts with new links/details. Tomorrow. It's time for bed now.

fulgent and folly

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This month Ninetta has hosted the Bead Me Endrucks game in the Endrucks 1920 Project FB group. Simple and single rule - to choose any pattern from the original or derivatives and bling it with beads. Here's my fulgent attempt...

I extracted a motif from Endrucks' pattern #10 and worked it into a complete circle. Since I haven't decided what to use it for - so many possibilities - it's a medallion for now.

I used Wally Sosa's version (page 4) in the reworked pattern presentation by Ninetta Caruso here - https://drive.google.com/file/d/1YFBYqbgssthqDKYi8YkTX-fvAPmIYbm-/view. After taking the length of bugle bead into account, I doubled the stitch count in the rings. Since the bugle bead covers the chain length, there are only 2ds on the ringside and 1ds, p, 1ds, bead, 1ds, p, 1ds on the inner side. See TIP below.

Materials - This is a pic after I gathered all the supplies needed. I chose to go with a ball and shuttle instead of 2 shuttles. Red Heart metallic thread size 40; yellow seed beads size 16/0; red beads size 5/0; twist bugle beads #4. And beading needles and crochet hook #11. I selected beads from my stash, though I do need to buy more in different sizes.

As per my visualisation, I pre-strung the bugles on ball thread and the red and yellow beads on the shuttle. However, the shuttle beads didn't work out the way I had hoped. Hence all the beads were removed and re-strung differently. One yellow bead between a pair of bugles on the ball thread and alternating 1 red and 2 yellow beads on the shuttle.

This is how I ended up doing the effect I had in mind. On the ring, a long picot holding 14 yellows...

I loaded the beads using sewing thread and size 28 tapestry needle as seen in the background. 

Followed by 1ds, red, 1ds, join to the beaded picot, continue. This centered all the beads beautifully.

Can't say how much of the brilliance and shine the camera caught, but in real it is quite the shining medallion!

Folly - not one but many! If you look closely, most are easy to spot.

• I should've used pure metallic thread instead of this single metallic strand twisted around perle cotton, size 40. Tons of trouble with the metallic strand breaking while closing the large ring even after I started working the stitches loose. Had to start afresh many times! Took the shortcut but tying a slip knot and tatting over both tails. The number of rings you see in the final medallion are only half the rings I tatted, LOL. 
• Once I forgot to work the twin ring and had to cut off two repeats. 
• Not making a lock stitch at the end of the bugle bead to avoid the core thread from being pulled too tight. Did it for the last few beads. 

TIP: If the bugle bead is not on the core thread, it may be a good idea to add an unflipped stitch at the end before continuing, so as to lock in the core thread and bead.

• Noticed the difference in bugle bead size in one arm only in the pics, LOL, though I kept wondering why it wouldn't stay even. And not to mention the space between two rings where the thread got pulled while closing the ring and I didn't notice in time. Dr Downplay at work here, though lessons learned for future.

It measures a wee bit over 7cms across. 

Mr Meticulous is not happy at all, but Dr Downplay rules the day. What's your verdict?

Many thanks to Ninetta and Wally for their work on the main pattern and thanks for organising the game, Nin!

see the Cs

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June 28th is the 139th birth anniversary of Frau Eleonore Endrucks and what better game than to use her own patterns to spell her name?! Her patterns are so versatile that within minutes of opening her book and scrolling through it, I discovered 3 letters - 

• E jumped right out from E2 without requiring any change; 
• D could be extracted by rotating E5; and
• C was visible in E17 when flipped over! 

Not wanting to spoil the detective work for our participants, I simply stopped scrolling. But Ninetta sent me another which was again in plain sight - 

• N from E24 by flipping the pattern and two possibilities.

And thus began our game of the month for June 2024 - Name Me Endrucks, with Ninetta creating this fun cover pic! You can find all details about how to go about it here - https://drive.google.com/file/d/1zpZaumcrLJQyexy68EAZr2AhyGBi0pRg/view

Details of all our past games can be found in this active EP Events doc - https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ZiNdE53cvqj2cLlxVP-wlga8aocPtzs5/view

I was supposed to take a backseat for a couple of months since my PIC (partner in crime, Ninetta) was relatively free to host games. But along came the International Lace Day on 23rd June and it was too good an opportunity to pass by. Why not accomplish two tasks in one stroke!

Here are two 'C's I tatted all within a span of a couple of hours while watching 'Twelve Final Days' of Federer's countdown to retirement. A wonderful morning. Tennis has never been the same since his retirement, though, and while I generally know what's going on, we rarely watch it.

Two shuttles were already wound the previous day with Olympus size 40 thread and the pattern sketched with stitch count as preparation too. This year ILD celebrated it's 10th year and at start of event, there were 1558 registrations from 59 countries! It was my third year participating and all 3 ended up with Endrucks' patterns! Lacers are still uploading pics of their individual or group participation with gorgeous laces.

I think next year we should enter the Endrucks 1920 Project FB group in the ILD, too. We can all participate as a unit from our individual locations. If only the idea had come earlier...

This is from E17 with minor tweaks in the ring stitches to make them smaller. I like this one and it tats up quickly. There is a short bridging chain between the two rings at the bottom in order to work the motif in one pass. I will share the pattern when I can. It can be worked with a single shuttle and ball and can easily be used to create an entire alphabet and numbers.

E17 pattern - https://drive.google.com/file/d/1sStHg5IQmuwizC7QcKRaX951CvVoURbn/view

And this second C is derived from E10 (version 2) with very little change. It was inspired by the superb letter D tatted by Manju Talekar from E10. I consider this a prototype trial since some tweaking can improve it especially if used as a monogram. However if a complete alphabet can be created, it might fit in. This letter can also be worked with ball and shuttle.

E10 pattern - https://drive.google.com/file/d/1YFBYqbgssthqDKYi8YkTX-fvAPmIYbm-/view

Future Ideas - Looking at the E10 letter C image later, do you C what I C ....

1. an upright tortoise (rotate it 90 degree clockwise and complete/connect the lower part of the body)

2. a bent old person with a walking stick

3. a lady pushing a pram

C U soon!

string of inspiration

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 You never know when, where, how, from whom inspiration will strike. Which is one of the reasons I like to blog about all my baked and half-baked ideas, hoping it will catch somebody's imagination.

Stephanie Wilson was inspired by the beautiful Zinnia Flower - an Endrucks' pattern #10 derivation by Ninetta Caruso, from my previous post. Not merely the beauty of the design, but the clever picot join at the start of a ring (read her comment) , and also the of variegated colourway. 

Here's what she says -

"Abandoned all my other projects and when I had time to tat, I worked on this one until it was finished. My color choice wasn’t the best, but I wanted to use the variegated thread….with a pink solid color, except I HAD the ‘right’ pink….but in the wrong size thread. So it’s a variegated ‘heavy’ weight quilting thread that’s about the same size as DMC 80 (but it was discontinued several years ago, unfortunately) and white Lizbeth size 80."

And look at the pretty flower that blossomed through her shuttles! She chose to tat Anna Tedesco's variation where the dimpled rings are substituted by normal rings. 

And since we're on the topic, let me share Lyn Clements' version that inspired my own use of the best variegated fit I could find in my stash.

Isn't is just such a happy flower! Unfortunately she ran out of the colourway at this stage and hasn't been able to complete it. 

However it is great to see inspiration flowing from one to the other!

Mind you, there are several other beautiful versions using two solid colours. We'll blog about those later.

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Have you noticed the tiny pics are back?!!!! Yes, blogspot has restored the blog feed with those thumb-size pics from each blog we follow, yay! It was a dismal feed with only the text and no accompanying pic.

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Many many thanks to all you wonderful inspirers!

awakened

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 The curious student, researcher, and teacher in me was awakened about 4 days back! My shuttles have been lying idle for several weeks, except perhaps a sampler here and there. But last month Ninetta posted a beautiful derivative pattern and some tatters were kind of stumped despite their best intentions and efforts. Some persevered, and some sailed through. Anyways, I was curious why some gave up, and loaded my shuttles for a stepwise pictorial after taking Ninetta's permission. The teacher in me beckoned!

This is Ninetta's Zinnia Flower derived from Endrucks' pattern #10 (from 'Die Schiffchen-Spitzen’,1920, by Frau Eleonore Endrucks-Leichtenstern).

I was privy to the development of this beautiful design back since April. There was cupping initially and through trials and tweaks, she finally had it laying flat. However I did not have any time to test tat.

Anna Tedesco stepped in and even created her own slightly tweaked version without dimpled rings (on the right)! It was Anna who suggested the name Zinnia.

Pattern (for both versions) of E10 Zinnia Flower by Ninetta Caruso ---

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1TmGlBbn1z7khele2a6g-djMlVZ8oRBFw/view

And as so often happens with Endrucks' derivatives, we have tertiary extracts or 'grandchildren' as Anna and Paola B like to joke! These are Anna's Zinnia Petals earrings.

Pattern for E10 Zinnia Petals earrings by Anna Tedesco ---

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1wjm5jpwgu7hCDNopJUxOtHY5xQXSKM-C/view

I worked my model in Red Rose size 20. The variegated was inspired by Lyn Clements' model; not as cheerful as her's, it was the closest I could find in this size. For pictorials, it is best to use thicker thread for clarity.

Pictorial for Ninetta Caruso's E10 Zinnia Flower by Muskaan ---

https://drive.google.com/file/d/13vIapAG6XSvBgOeWJr32PxvpoOIr-I_5/view

I love the way Ninetta joined the ring right at the beginning with a normal picot join! We would probably have made a lock join after the chain, RW, and then start the ring....

However, this method of joining is almost seamless and so smooth! However I fond it easier to do the join. remove slack, and then start the ring by pulling out the loop behind. 

I don't remember doing this before; always something to learn!

UPDATE (Dec2024): This is Patty Dowden's Ring on Picot method ... video- https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=LmMxIBrDpRI

The entire pattern is worked in one pass, moving inwards and outwards. Right up to the stage shown above, the work moves clockwise and remains free. Only this final 6th inner ring starts the process of joining the last repeat to the first.

Another view of my model. It measures 9.5 cms tip-wise and 5 cms as side of hexagon.

A collective of Anna's models worked in metallic threads. 

As Ninetta writes in her pdf, Zinnias symbolize friendship. This motif again reinforces the collaboration between friends and tatters which is the cornerstone of the Endrucks 1920 Project!

Many many thanks to Ninetta, Anna and our enthusiastic Endrucksians ... 

we inspire each other!