springing flowers

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...and surprise emails… Stay at home orders have truly unleashed the learning and creative founts of tatters! Emails asking for help have increased, too. One such was a request to test a 2-colour re-writing of Julie Patterson’s Spring Flowers bookmark in order to help out a friend.  

Got on it right away and experimented with a few little spring flowery effects. 
Though not mentioned in the original pattern, it is best worked with 2 shuttles.

Mogra Gajra (garland)

In order to get a feel of the pattern, I worked it in single colour, 2 shuttles. This is the easiest to accomplish and simply by switching shuttles, one can keep all elements flat and in position.

TWoT Notes : This pattern moves en bloc like Mary Konior’s glass mat or Sushma's bookmark. I’ve come across a few such patterns where shuttle 1 is the main shuttle for a block of work and then shuttle 2 takes over for the next block and so on. This is especially evident in frontside/backside tatting. 

Palash / Flame of the Forest Twig

My next red and brown version is the flame of the forest (Butea monosperma or palash) tree in full bloom! One of my favourite flowers to draw in ink.

In order to get the colours in position, shoe lace trick (SLT) had to be used. I am not a fan of this and later tried many little tweaks, including capturing the brown thread in the single red ring to avoid SLT. Nothing worked to my satisfaction since the twig does not remain in the same plane as the flower. It tends to start beneath the 4-ring cluster.

I ended the twig with padded double stitches, getting a straight, thick branch.

Lavender Sprig

My final version is clearly lavender! Love the colours here. 

In this case, I used an unflipped half stitch in place of the SLT. Unlike regular reverse stitches, it is manoeuvred in such a way that the half stitch faces in same direction as the ensuing chain. Images 3A to 3C give an idea of what I did - twist work in reverse stitch. The shuttles switch position!

I like this method best for 2 colours as you can see that every element lies flat in the same plane.

UPDATE: one page pictorial for Twist Work - https://drive.google.com/file/d/1To6YwZSkh2ffQH3XBcKZ-Ed3l4myW34c/view

To compare front and back views of all three -

view from the back

All 3 are worked in Anchor Pearl Cotton size 8 and are 1” wide. Length depended on the thread left on shuttles. Due to this narrow length, I'm going to use these as tails in a future bookmark(s), hence left the tail threads uncut.

I love the pattern – the clean lines and turns – it is exciting to work. However it is floppy (the SLT one is floppier than the others) unless sewed down. So stiffening will be needed or inserting it into a sleeve. Or one can add a joining picot to the 3^rd ring and link the chain to it.

Beads can add colour and sparkle, and decorative picots can change the look of the flowers. Something to try in future.

Many thanks to Julie for sharing her pattern and 

Jill for throwing the opportunity my way :-)

chipping and churning

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..... but chip in please.

For over a month now, on and off, I’ve been chipping at the Tatting Resources page.

It was being neglected, and also becoming disorganized what with increasing links.

Updating it seemed like a good opportunity to overhaul. Reorganising into neater compartments, more logical categories, and consistent font.

It is tedious and time-consuming. The bright spots are when I stumble on to posts with 'forgotten' tips/techniques or 'new' ones. During my search I came across plenty of interesting posts and sites (quite distracting ;-D). And this one tops them all – images of Mary Konior’s very own tatted lace, many of which are in her books. They got to actually hold the lace at Tat Days!!

Categorisation is not easy. My friend Jane McLellan readily answered my questions, clearing the path. And I now see that she has added her tips and pictorial links on the right panel of her blog. Thanks, Jane :-)))

Mind you my page is Still very much a work in progress – with loads of links still left to add. There will also come a day it will revert to draft in order to systematize the formatting before uploading again. Just thought I’d share and ask for your opinion as well as input – if you find something missing, or would like change or to add, chip in please.

Soon there will be a new page dedicated to Designing – tutorials, lessons, process, diagramming, and so on.

6 months since I asked your opinion about my posts. Time to review - do you think there has been some improvement in my presentations? I've tried to consciously reduce the text. All left-aligned now ;-D I could put fewer pics, but it is so difficult to choose! 
And sorry, Carollyn, I have too much of a backlog to leave the posts up for long ;-P 

new and old

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metallic thread, background, snood

As promised yesterday, this is the medallion (not blocked) I started immediately, using Red Rose metallic thread.

The thread is nice to tat with – soft and smooth - but very strong. It is so much easier than using 2 or 3 strands of metallic embroidery thread.
I did consciously loosen my stitch tension. And no extra half stitch at end of rings. 

TIP to close ring: While closing rings, pull evenly till almost the very end, then another tug towards the left (for right-handers) to close that final gap.

TIP to retro-tat: I had to un-tat a ring. It felt safer & easier to undo half stitch at a time (using the blunt head of #10 crochet hook) instead of forcing open the ring. After a few stitches were taken out, it was easy to pull open the ring loop wider and quickly unravel the rest.

ùùùù

Playing with camera settings for background using same metallic thread medallion. Didn’t know my phone camera had such a wide range – these are only a few I selected to upload. The top right is 'autumn'.

 

 

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And a UFO from mid-2016! I kept finding and losing it in my closet. But this time when I found it, I felt energized to complete it. Perhaps Eliz's perseverance rubbed off on me. Also, I need to replace this 2017 snood because some of the end chains have frayed due to daily friction.

It measures about 5½ cms across (in size 40) while I need at least 7 cms. So off to the drawing board to chalk out some rows. I intend to use a dark shade - brown or black - to keep the spinning wheel in focus. Now to decide how to fill that space - a daunting task.

ùùùù

a cool warm-up

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The weather has taken a turn for the better, at least for now. We had a storm & rain Monday evening. So I got back to working at my desktop a bit. Lots of piled-up emails to answer still …

I was going to delete the previous post which was a mere notification; but how can I do that now ?! Your support, concern & advice through comments & emails has touched me so very much .

But I did get a lot of tatting done during this sojourn. Besides the Wiosna, I worked a bit on the Spinning Wheel snood, completed Ninetta’s bookmark with a bit of floral flourish, caught up with some more picot effects while learning a couple of new ones too. 

But this post is to get back on track :-)

(words in blue are direct active links)

Wiosna 2016

A doily tat-along by Renulek

Rounds 1-8 of tat-along Wiosna 2016 designed by Renulek

ROUND 7 :

I liked the way Renulek used picots on one side of the rings. Reminded me of a kitten’s face ! The floating rings were pretty tiny, though. Worked clockwise, exactly as inked in her sampler image.

It was easy to guess where the next round would join. Hence I climbed out with a split chain & split ring.

Techniques I used : directional tatting (fs/bs), floating rings, SCh & SR to climb out.

Measures < 8½”  in size 40

I actually forgot to take a pic of Round 7 before starting Round 8. So the doily here is un-blocked & only a wedge pic.

ROUND 8 :

I immediately fell in love with this round ! The overlapping rings, a reflection of the central round, with their chains, looked like a lotus in half-bloom ! The stitch count was very easy to memorize.

Tatted all from the front, but going counterclockwise because I used direct tatting (reverse stitch) for all the chains; rings were all normal.

Unfortunately this round has ruffles. We have had different ideas on Craftree about why it is so or how we can rectify it. My own feeling is that the joining picot in round 7 should’ve been a normal picot which would increase the circumference & allow the chains to lie flat, without tweaking the stitchcount. On close inspection, even Renulek’s model seems to have a bit of ruffle. She does seem to suggest in one of the comments that the next round(s) will correct that.

I tried to lay the second ring over the 1^st & 3^rd rings throughout. But I think the opposite might look better. Will try it later & take a pic to compare. 

Midway through the round, I ran out of thread in one bobbin and used Marilee’s Lark’s Head Knot trick as the last stitch of a ring to add new thread. It worked great, especially since single colour is being used !
As seen in pic, the last chain is yet to be tatted. Depending on how the next round is laid/joined, I will either climb out with a split chain, or complete the chain & start round 9 afresh.

Techniques I used : direct tatting, lark’s head knot to add new thread

Measures 9½”  in size 40

Spinning Wheel snood (an adaptation)

Mary Konior

Following Batty Tatter's example, I have doubled the repeats in the original glass mat in order to use it as a snood or hair bun holder. I use simple crocheted ones in black. But how can one hide such a beautiful pattern in black (there’s still some way to go before my hair turns grey ;-P). So I chose the next ‘sober’ colour that would work with any colour dress. There is a very slight difference in shades between this ecru & the Wiosna one, which is a richer cream in reality.

I’m working on this in very very small steps as something to fall back on when no thinking or concentration is required… a snail tatting !

The diameter appears to be about 4” to 4½” in size 40, which should work fine. Let’s see …

happy tatting :-)

Related posts : Wiosna 2016 Rounds 1-3 ; Rnd 4 ; Rnds 5-6

Strawberries & Leaves for bookmark

the Spinning Wheel of Time

Look !

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Look what a lock join unlocked !!! Access to my very first MK pattern. My head was literally spinning with palpable excitement when this popped out of the Tatter Chatter newsletter last week (March)! Thanks to Bev, and her wonderful team at The Tatters’ Guild of Australia (NWS Branch). Their newsletter was the first to officially publish a post of mine - How to Unlock the Lock Join.

And just as I was finalizing this post, Another Huge gift arrived, just in time for ITD. Once again from Australia & probably partially connected to my Joins in Shuttle Tatting series. Judith Connors sent me a copy of her book ”An Illustrated Dictionary of Tatting” *! WooHoo – can you see me doing the happy dance ?!

In Hindu mythology, we consider Time as a wheel (‘samay / kaal ka chakra’) that keeps rolling … The Spinning Wheel glass mat symbolises how tatters across time, space & nations can come together through their continuing love for this beautiful art. We are truly joined, interlaced :-)

So what better way to celebrate International Tatting Day than dedicate it to Mary Konior, the queen of visual tatting.

I also want to dedicate this to the Wonderful online tatting community from where I have learned so much in such a short time & the community continues to inspire me in so many ways every single day, and in particular to Judith, my inspiration & guide.

Spinning Wheel Glass Mat

Mary Konior

The Spinning Wheel glass mat looks great irrespective of which colour(s)/colourway one chooses. But Diane's charcoal mat here threw up such interesting negative space designs tempting me to choose black.

In Anchor Mercer cotton size 40, black, it measures 4” in diameter.

Techniques I used :

2 shuttles CTM fully loaded bobbins .

Directional tatting

Switching Shuttles takes care of the change in chain directions (reverse chains).

It was interesting to note that directional tatting changed en bloc : while going up an arm, the rings were RODS, while returning back, chains were RODS.

If one stops at 6 arms or 7 arms, one gets a nice bowl shape – perfect for little truffles & treats to share on ITD :-)

There was a tip on Craftree to start the mat from an outer ring, so that it becomes easier to join back & tie off in the end. However, for my first mat, I decided to go as per directions.

I intend to tat another, with increased diameter like this, for my snood.  I've been collecting possible patterns but this one is exactly what I wanted !

Happy Tatting and nibbling on chocolates while you distribute tatted goodies :-)

I chose some symbolic tatting for the lead pic, alongside the Spinning Wheel glass mat –

Bonds of Love rakhi bracelet ,

Hold My Hand heart ( for the interlaced rings) ,

Anne Bruvold’s Hearts of Hope , and

Super 17 Butterflies to give away (one has already been given away on Sunday)

* This edition of the book is available at Lacis.com 

Related Posts : ITD 2014 - pattern

ITD 2015 - poem