tatting n chatting

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You know how it is with most Japanese/Korean blogs – such beautiful tatting, yet it is near impossible to leave a comment there. Thought I’d take a few minutes to ‘introduce’ a couple of such bloggers.

Recently I stumbled upon a prolific & skilled tatter ‘moondrops’ and scrolled back to all her tatting posts. Wow! She has made so many large projects and multiple times ( Mystery Doily, many magic square patterns), too! Do take some time out to visit her blog and be amazed. And it tickled me pink to see Ninetta's treble triangle motif and also my spiral snowflake worked just as beautifully.

Then there’s sekiraralace. You just Have to see this cute yarn ball bag she tatted. Such a simple concept really – 2 small doilies/coasters attached with an insertion! Check it out. I did manage to leave a comment there by clicking on the heart sign, but it shows up only as a number….I couldn’t retrieve my text, but hopefully she got to read it.

Now here’s a site that gets me laughing. John Atkinson is just so creative with his hands, brain, words, images! Nothing to do with tatting, but a good dose of intelligent (mostly) and irreverent (always) fun. From the time I came across it a few months back, I wait eagerly for his next cartoon.

And last but not least, Helen Walters created an entire wreath of poppy ice drops (my secret fb correspondent sent me a screenshot) inspired  by my tiny heart poppy which in turn is a 3D adaptation of Mónica Manceñido’s heart!!! Isn’t it fantastic how patterns move and inspire?! The poppy ice drop pattern is now shared on the Shuttlebirds site.

I read that this year jute poppies were sold/gifted in the UK to mark the contribution of Indian troops during WW1.

I absolutely love the poppy flower - the colours, the elegance, the independence! Should really make an effort to tat this one again and diagram the pattern properly. 

till next time, then .... have a great weekend with tons of tatting for the coming season!

scrappy doily and scmr

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For the last few days I hadn’t picked up a shuttle. Housework was partly to blame, leaving me too tired to continue with my Blossoms motifs (I was on a whirlwind spree and the count is now up to 20 - halfway mark reached!!!). So, I took up sewing the edging on the saree – somebody (meaning me) has to do it!

Last evening, I didn’t even have the concentration to sew. But Madhur Dadlani's Unending Doily had been at the back of my mind as a wonderful way to empty shuttles and use up all the scraps! Picked up a shuttle and started.

My rings are ( 4-3-3-4 ). I started with 3 normal rings (white), then switched to SCMR.

Why? With scmr, I can use up almost every last bit of scrap thread, since they will only form the stitches. Can you see where I have a part purple part blue ring? Easily possible with scmr.

And I can have a continuous core thread throughout, not having to refill the shuttle every time.

To secure the scmr, I made an unflipped half stitch at the base.

I had first thought of making it rectangular, but I think with random colours, it is best to go circular. Although, here I am aiming for an oval and will decide on how to fill the center later. Hope the shape will hold.

It’s still scappy, fresh off my shuttle, with no blocking.

So far these are Anchor size 20 scraps, and the 2 rounds measure 2”x1½”.

Do you see this turning into an Ice Drop?! A future project :-D

SCMR - self closing mock ring -

And on the topic of SCMRs, a Japanese tatter (kukka tatting) has been applying the scmr to small medallions and so far she has reached a count of 91 lovely medallions/motifs using scmr!!! I've been following her journey from the start, but it's a pity that I can't leave any comment on her blog. Do check it out. 91 scmr motifs !

Split SCMR
And Tim Kaylor has worked out a way to split the scmr in regular tatting (ie. when working with only 2 threads!). Randy Houtz’ split/scmr uses 3 threads. Tim has put up a video too. Now to try it out…

(added later in the day...) 

After some thought, this is the realisation I’ve come to –

Tim pulls open the scmr, exposing the core thread, then uses a split chain to cover and bridge the core thread.

Which is similar to what Dora Young did in her KM Ring (Knotless Method Ring). And Rachael Mohler did a slight modification by not closing the ring completely, then covering the open core thread with the knotless method (i.e., a split chain in modern terms).  

So it is basically the modified Dora Young’s Knotless Method Ring (a mock ring worked in 2 parts by anchoring with a lock join & doable with a single shuttle) on a SCMR! 

Clever, nevertheless, and opens up vast possibilities.