picot me roundup 1

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 Zhuzhing the butterfly - that's what it was all about and boy did our participants rise to the occasion! 

This is where it all started #PicotMeEndrucks - 

pattern: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1F_2y-JQn-noKF2AvegujNQIP4IYXRqWZ/view . Our April game was about adding ornamental/decorative picots to Antonia Lai's Life is Bliss butterfly, a pattern derived from Frau Endrucks' pattern #32 (E32). We even compiled a pdf showcasing several decorative picots. https://tipsaroundthehome.blogspot.com/2024/04/no-excuse-to.html 

Many of our participants first tatted the butterfly so as to get a feel of the motif, and then went on to embellish it in their 2nd or more versions. Let's see all the entries that were shared and as usual a few new offshoots emerged as well  (entries listed alphabetically).

1. Anita Barry - sent in 3 versions. She wasn't happy with her first two attempts but graciously shared them - we all learn from experience.

The top model contains twisted picots, knot ring picot, and several bead effects.

The 2nd model has tuft picots.

This 3rd version sports several double picot effects such as overlapping double picots, triple picots, and broomstick picots.

2. Antonia Lai - also participated despite her life engagements.

Her version has adjoining and graduated picots.

3. Brookie Heightsmen - tatted two models. 

She went for a steam punk look, using tiny gears inside the rings and seed beads in her first model.

Her 2nd version is quite a rainbowish colourway.

4. Carol Parry - shared her notes here - https://lelia-stitchesoflife.blogspot.com/2024/05/endrucks-1920-project-picot-me-endrucks.html

A beautiful colourway, she embellished with beads and beaded dots.

5. Claudia Mahnke - returned to tatting after 40 years and is in a relearning phase. 

She did get it right, in her 2nd attempt, and identified areas that needed improvement and practice. 

We love that our group has such an eclectic mix of skills, talents and enthusiasm.

6. Cynthia Dooley - sent in two models in needle tatting.

Her first 'flight attempt' was the original.

This is what she says about her 2nd model - "A combo of picots. Looks like a hot mess. Loop over picots on ring and chain. Then ribbed ring in lower quad. Kind of reminds me of Fraggle Rock Butterfly"

7. Cynthia Mullinax - used her butterfly at the end of a bookmark. 

Her adjoining picots outline the wings on top.

She says - "I made the butterfly with thread I was playing with. I didn't have a pattern or plan at the start so I picked it up again and put a butterfly on the end."

8. Jacqueline Roth - made three!

Her top two versions are weighted down with large crystal beads and Celtic knot picot for antennae. 

9. Julie S Villegas - was at a non-tatting phase when she spotted this game and was immediately energized and inspired to pick up her shuttles again!

The first butterfly tatted as per pattern.

2nd version with double picots and additional free picots on the rings.

3rd version with broomstick picots, Josephine rings, and graduated picots.

And what a flutter of butterflies! 

10. Katherine Calvey-Steward - sent in two. 

In her first regular version, she learned the Catherine wheel join.

Our games are often the source for new learning!

Her 2nd version with lots of long double picots is a lovely shade.

This is the first batch with two more batches to fly in! So stay tuned....

..... to be continued

Many many thanks to all our participants for their enthusiastic beauties!

the foster child

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Reworked patterns from Frau Eleonore Endrucks-Leichtenstern’s ‘Die Schiffchen-Spitzen’, 1920, for Endrucks 1920 Project.

Don’t these look like folk dancers with frilly skirts and knocking elbows! Now add a head to each to complete the ladies…. A single motif, with a bit of addition, could become an angel or Crinoline lady.

Endrucks' pattern #7 pdf (click to download): https://drive.google.com/file/d/1UDNg-1W6LJ3pyrn_Umz5f33BF01_92-E/view

This little pattern has interested many tatters and each ‘foster family’ loved and groomed it to their best ability. But each home wanted something even better for the foster child that they could not provide, hence the child travelled, leaving behind a virtual trail of trials and learning, until the final adoption.

adopting, not foisting, the foster child...

House #1 (Ayşe Özgür): An enthusiastic & immediate start but life halted for 10-11 months.
        Starts with chain and work moves form right to left. Good use of 3 colours.
House #2 (Douglas Hill): Enthusiastic choice in the 2nd volunteer list, and mutual collaboration, # 2 conceded that #3 (adaptation & tatting) was better.
        Starts with chain, with inward picots for bilateral symmetry, and work moves from right to left.
House #3 (Julie Santos Villegas): An immediate & willing response but later needed help which #4 provided, but health forced another shift.
        Starts with a ring and work moves from left to right..
House #4 (muskaan): Formally adopted and continued to maturity.
        Starts with a ring and work moves from left to right. With options shared.


TWoT (This Way or Tat?) and Diagram Notes :

original model

Considering Frau Endrucks did not like decorative picots, all her edgings have a line of free picots along the top side (as seen in her tatted model pics) ostensibly to sew down the lace along that side while the other dangled.

original diagram

However her diagrams are ‘upside-down’ and this line of picots lies along the bottom.

But there is a 3rd aspect. Her diagrams are read from left to right. Most of the patterns start with a chain, and when we actually tat a chain normally (not direct tatting) and continue, the working progresses from right to left (as in Houses 1 & 2).
I find myself doing mental & physical callisthenics in order to sync her diagram with the work in my hand. I like to know where/how my very first element faces, and where the threads emerge to continue – this orients me correctly till the very end. This is especially true for her patterns which involve frequent changes in direction.

Hence there are 2 solutions I have employed –

original diagram flipped

1. Try to start the pattern with a ring. It has obvious advantages, including CTM and hiding tails. It is how I presented this pattern, shifting the start from a chain to a side ring. (Julie had first started her adaptation sampler with the central ring and diagrammed it accordingly, moving from right to left). Now the work progresses from left to right as in the diagram. 

2. Draw a working diagram where we follow the pattern exactly as Endrucks has written starting with a chain, but the diagram shows this first element on the right instead of left. And the diagram then moves leftward (as in the flipped diagram above). No need for any brain callisthenics – simply lay the work against the diagram and you are facing the ‘right’ way.

One more common feature of several patterns is that the central ring at the base (from which chains radiate) is tatted at the end of the motif. The only reason I can think of is to make it easy for a designer to estimate how large the ring should be and avoid multiple prototypes. Anyways, several of our pdfs show this ring as per the original. I have always shifted it towards the start of the motif joining chains to it, rather than joining the ring to chains.

TIP:  Potential Pitfall : Joining to the wrong picot!

 

This is one area where I frequently made a mistake and had to retrace my steps! This final one I noticed too late but fixed it by carefully snipping the joined picot (and glued the cut ends), and sewed the correct picot in place. 

This is the 1st motif I tatted in early October to understand and explain the pattern to House#3. By November, I had to tat one more (no pic) to refresh my short memory and then went on to the sampler below ...

Each motif, especially with decorative picots, has the shape of a petal. 

Gather up a row of motifs to create a 3D flower! Alter the length and width 

and you get more layers and visual variety!

Of the 4 motifs in the sampler, the first 2 follow the pattern, each colour giving a clear idea of which shuttle forms the core thread, in other words, which shuttle is in the hand.

In the 3rd & 4th motifs, I added decorative picots along the top edge of the rings, and Catherine Wheel Joins in some chains for a smoother look. Remember to count the CWJ as 1 stitch (as in 4th); notice how smooth and symmetrical the inner negative space is? I also played with colour placement, using Reverse Join, Twist Work, etc. (see Lock Join Plus for more options).

This is one more idea I had – tat the entire motif with bilateral symmetry. The best part? No need for paper clips and inward picots - no BBT (block below tatting)! Notice the central ring is worked as a split ring and the innermost left chain is tatted first. 

But some tweaking is required especially on the right side ... when I get my bearings back ;-P

Before signing out, let me quote my partner Ninetta -

“I would say one more time that this project taught us a lot also in terms of collaboration. The n.7 changed family but each time "we" added a new piece in the puzzle, that is always an improvement, for both understanding the pattern and learning how to present the modernized version.”

Remember, you can find all of Endrucks' patterns (& derivations) in English here - 

https://docs.google.com/document/d/17LEVftXweztBIOWh4sL4BB7bX65ssoOsOn4oXIgCepY/view

willing non-volunteer

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Sounds crazy oxymoronic? Read on …

We have just thanked our very first volunteer, Mariantonietta here https://ninettacaruso.blogspot.com/2021/11/willing-volunteer.html and now we take equal pleasure in thanking Julie, our last ‘voluntary non-volunteer’.

In Nov 2020 volunteers had chosen pattern(s) from Endrucks’ book to tat and present in modern forma,. Over time 3 of our volunteers had to step back for personal reasons and mid-2021 we opened up their selections for pickings. They were pounced upon and selection was closed.  

Direct link to pdf (updated version) - https://drive.google.com/file/d/1SmqcWxtPAlvveValWZmTlq-tHucSa6wr/view

It just so happened that Julie Santos Villegas was in neither of these volunteer lists. Yet, she could not contain her enthusiasm and almost overnight she tatted pattern n.7 and shared her sampler which was slightly modified from the original. When asked if she would like to present her work in a proper pdf with pattern, she readily and whole-heartedly agreed, roping in her son to diagram it too!

Does ‘willing non-volunteer’ makes sense now? Turned out Julie was the last person to make it to the community project since all patterns were finally chosen at the time. Few changes occurred subsequently but the story will continue in respective posts. Mind you, we still have to introduce and thank many more contributors since we are not following any chronological order. And new ones are cropping up in our FB Group, too!

Throughout our collaboration and engagement, Julie has been enthusiastic, responsive and receptive in equal measure -  a true team player. It has been a pleasure to get to know her. Her son, Robbie, has been instrumental in drawing the diagram(s).

Julie had started her first sampler from the lower central ring (starred in above pic) instead of with a chain as in the original and we uploaded the pdf in July. Since then she altered the start to the side ring and also tatted a 2-colour sampler and included a written pattern so that more tatters could benefit. Robbie had to alter the diagram. They make a good mother-son team and we thank them both! 

She graciously shared her tatting journey …..

“I learned tatting in high school. I remember having a good teacher who constantly reminded me of my thread tension. I enjoyed the craft so much that I tatted a green edging for a blouse collar. It was just rings and bare thread. College and adult life followed and tatting was completely forgotten until I retired in 2008. Thinking of what to do next to occupy my retirement, I looked back to what I enjoyed most doing when I was younger. Thankfully the Internet was already dominating our lives. I googled “tatting” and the rest is history. Through you tube I learned from generous tatting masters how to make chains, cluny, split rings, onion rings and many more. There is a lot more to learn but I am not complaining. I think tatting and I will grow old together.”

Her last sentence is quite philosophical and a good way to ‘grow’…

Ninetta joins me in thanking Julie for her willing contribution, team spirit and enthusiasm.

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Endrucks 1920 Project is a community project, we welcome every one of you to join in and enjoy the modern-style pdfs that have been uploaded! Please let us know where we can find your renditions and derivative tatting!

We created the hashtag #Endrucks1920Project, so please use it for your pics to show up in a search.

*** NEW! *** We have a Facebook Group (please read the group’s description and rules before asking to join) – “Endrucks 1920 Project”: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1235560633606162   

We all enjoy sharing and experimenting and the group is waiting for you!  All info and links (original and modern) are in the Endrucks 1920 Project Document, here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/17LEVftXweztBIOWh4sL4BB7bX65ssoOsOn4oXIgCepY/view

Remember there are many more modernised patterns, derived and extracted patterns/ideas, already listed in the project document, with more still to come! So, do visit and scroll through.

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With love and gratitude,
muskaan & Ninetta