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.

fumble fingers

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 I swear if you watch me do beaded tatting you will forget how to tat with beads! My fervent wish is that a beading friend sit beside me and help me use the tools and materials I have effectively and efficiently. I simply fumble my way through, taking a ginormous amount of time even for simple patterns. And nothing comes simpler than this earring pattern!

Remember I told you about receiving many gift patterns around ITD this year? This simple one-shuttle earring pattern is a special gift from Jill McLean! Here is my journey ....

1. My first trials with new metallic thread (Natvarlal brand) failed. The single thread broke soon after starting my 1st attempt. 

So I used 2 threads above, but while closing the ring, one thread broke. Had to be abandoned.

2. Played safe on my next trial, using size 20 metallic thread.  

My only variation was using 2 different coloured beads. The yellow ones (up beads) went around the hand on the ring loop, while the blue ones (down beads) were pulled from the shuttle. 

Stringing beads didn't require too many brain cells - load all of one colour, then all of the other!

TIP : One can work the small ring as a SSSR hiding the tail without any sewing! (Miranda pictorial ; Marilee video)

3. Friends urged me to use my silk threads. So here's one Opella silk skein (all 6 strands) along with faceted bicone crystals in 2 colours - the inner green are a tad smaller than the outer silver crystals. 

I used metallic silver thread to make jump rings for the 2 teardrops. Huh, they don't look too bad in the pic, but I had a tough time getting them into shape, especially doubled up. 

Here the large ring took patience while closing - had to slide the stitches to the left in batches till the ring finally closed. 

This time the small ring on top is a split ring, sewing in tails on either side after making an overhand tie. 

TIP : But there's a way to end on a SR without sewing, too.

4. How would it look if the size of beads was inverted? So, large black wooden beads on the inside and small seed beads (17/0) on the outside! 4 seed beads per wooden bead. 

This time I decided to make a mock ring and was going to make onion rings, but switched to a red Swarovski crystal surrounded by seed beads instead. Both used Floating Beads methods.

The black beads are strung through 5 strands of Anchor silk thread on shuttle1; and silver metallic thread with seed beads on shuttle2. 

My idea was to have the red colour show up in the stitches between the black beads. How wrong was I! Unless I used reverse (unflipped) stitches, the red is hidden. Felt like a fool, but didn't feel like undoing the first few stitches, so continued.

QUICK TIP : Tatting with Metallic thread 

This metallic thread is pretty much a wire with silver thread wrapped around it and it was difficult to get a flipped stitch, especially the first half stitch.... till I hit upon a little movement!

1. Floating beads at the start, and an open chain in progress which will be joined back into a mock ring using a lock join.

2. Making the 1st half stitch. The silk thread does not have enough strength to make the metallic thread flip. With any free finger/thumb, gently push the loop indicated by arrow ... push it upwards and it's a Flip!!!

[The inset shows how direct tatting would've worked.]

3. And there it is - the 1st hs. The 2nd half stitch poses no problem. 

And that's it for now. Other ideas percolating in my head will have to wait for another day.

Isn't it amazing how simple variations and combinations can create a range of effects?!

Design TIP : The size of the down/inner bead, besides the size of thread used, affects the size of the earring as is evident above. The up beads do not affect size of ring. 

The double layer of beads adds stability of shape and structure, besides the visual effect.

And this is such an easy but versatile pattern that one can make a pair for every dress!

Many many thanks, Jill, for your gracious, exciting, and enjoyable gift ...

made me push my beading boundaries 💖

lounging by the sea

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...if only ;-D But one can always bring the sea home or a friend can send us the sand and waves, sprinkled with pearls!  

This is a slight adaptation, in trying to manifest Ninetta Caruso's Heart by the Sea in thread, which is the reason for this unusual colour combo. An island surrounded by the sea and pearls, and palm trees!

It'd been ages since I picked my shuttles and you can see how my first attempts failed due to uncooperative threads. The yellow one is in metallic-wound size 20 which was no fun this time. The beige one got stuck while closing! 

So, in my 3rd attempt, I worked the hearts as mock rings (SCMRs). Worked. Notice the extra hearts? I wanted to show partially open oysters with a pearl inside. Not my best effort, but Dr Downplay came out to play :-) I really just wanted to enjoy some tatting time.

And for fun, I used a CWJ to join the small heart to the lower large one. Hmm, please don't, unless the picot is long! While the small heart had a smooth outline, it distorted the large one slightly.

I love the flower she inserted! I chose tinted green to represent a palm grove and the brown crystal could be coconuts?

The tiny seed beads represent the frothy waves on pristine blue waters, hitting the shores! The almost white sands and brilliant blue sea is an image stamped in my mind from the outskirts of Perth (Australia).

TIP: If you start the heart frontside, the pattern will move counterclockwise unlike that indicated in the diagram (starting with A). I was following the diagram only, and hence all my subsequent rings were worked backside. It is only now that I noticed her stepwise pics showing her counterclockwise WIP pics!

In Anchor Pearl cotton size 8, the heart measures 5cmsx5.5cms.

TIP: I started the green motif at the ring marked E in diagram, moving clockwise, so that there was more open space to close out the motif in the end.

Beads used - size 10/0 pearls (rescued as can be seen in their darker tinge!); 2 pearls - 4mm; crystal size 9/0; silver seed beads size 26/0.

For all pearl beads, I used my Floating Beads method - no need to load beads on a shuttle! However, I added one more step - capturing the bead within the first half stitch as in this onion rings method. It was Kathleen Minniti who captured the 'floating ring' in our round robin doily instead of simple FB method. 

This lovely pattern and instructions can be found here - https://ninettacaruso.blogspot.com/2021/02/hearts-friends-and-flower.html I had not realised until I read her post, that the heart is derived from her doily - one that was already on my to-tat list! 

Many thanks to Ninetta for sharing her pattern and also for creating a lovely pictorial for my Block Heart ( I need to update the post). Both were chosen for the Un Coure Per Te event in the very active and inspiring Italian facebook group - Chiacchierino:Filo, Amore e Fantasia. My heart is late for the event, but I'm happy to have tatted something! And there's an event every fortnight, so join in!

beaded SR braid part 1

Pin It now! Before delving back into the Endrucks Project, I had this strong urge to learn a few techniques/effects that are floating around for pretty beaded split ring bracelets. Keep learning, keep trying. 

Turns out I got only one method done before succumbing to that heart motif idea I shared in previous post and other behind-the-scene commitments. 

No progress on the heart and none on this study, either. Turns out there are too many methods and no time to go into each nuance at present. But hopefully a step here, a step there ...

    

Disclaimer: This is not a serious study of origins, primacy, etc. of technique and effect. It is my whimsical & random exploration and experimentation. I will keep adding to this personal learning journey as and when I can. 

I try to avoid stringing beads whenever possible ;-D - a logistical problem with the smallish Pony shuttles. Now Jon had once incorporated a separate string of beads into her tatting. So many lovely applications, but not on a split ring braid (SR braid). Called for some adaptation.

Beaded SR Braids

In order to clearly differentiate what comes from where -

1. shuttle 1 has pink thread strung with yellow seed beads;
2. shuttle 2 has green thread with purple seed beads; and,
3. where needed, a blue thread with pearl beads.

1. beads on third thread. 

Adaptation of Jon Yusoff's Beads on a String .

(http://tatsaway.blogspot.com/2016/03/beads-on-string.html)

I thought this would be easy. Turns out the 3rd thread needs to be anchored before starting next SR! Here is what I tried -

1. Weaving: The beaded thread weaves up and down between alternate rings. 

Well, it leaves a colour blip when brought to the front, (notice the blue between SR1 & SR2) unless using fine, invisible, or same colour thread. Further, the string would be too loose.

2. Encapsulation : To avoid any colour blip I prefer the first of 2 ways to encapsulate the beaded string.

NOTE:  KEEP beaded string at back of work throughout. 

2A. Encapsulating Within SR (in last half-stitch): Make SR but do not close yet. Move bead to center, make final half stitch and pass beaded string through the open loop (parallel to core thread) of half-stitch before tensioning and closing ring. Thus string is held tight through the last hs and start next SR.

TIP: do it through the 2nd half-stitch, then move string to the back again. It does not leave any imprint!

2B. Encapsulating Outside SR (in unflipped half-stitch): Close SR, move bead to center, then make an unflipped or wrapped stitch with SH1 encapsulating both remaining threads, and start next SR. (I did this before the 4th and also the 5th SRs above). 

This will leave a tiny space between 2 SRs, but it can become a design element.

In both encapsulation methods, the beaded string is not locked and can be pulled to adjust. I went to town pulling away (see above), but the braid can be smoothed back into shape easily.

Despite being invisible from the front, encapsulation simply moves the blip to the back as seen in above pic. Obviously, we need to choose a string that will not be seen as pointed out earlier. I used 3 contrasting colours for purpose of learning. 

3. Knotting: In order to lock the beaded string in place, knotting is required. 

3A. Knotting with 2 threads: We can make an overhand tie or SLT between 2 threads, one of which is the beaded string. In above pic, after closing last SR with bead in center, choose any one shuttle thread and the beaded thread to make the knot, then continue with next SR.

3B. Knotting with 3 threads: Or we can make a knot using all 3 threads (as seen at end). This makes a larger, more visible knot and increases distance between SRs, but can act as a design element.

This is it so far - all my own 'ideas'. 

But before posting, I did a bit more research and found the following !!! 

• https://web.archive.org/web/20160323004842/http://www.georgiaseitz.com:80/2002/beads/Hameedbrac.html - Saundra Hameed's Beaded Bracelet (2002) 
• https://web.archive.org/web/20160329114616/http://www.georgiaseitz.com/2002/beads/beadbasics.html - Saundra Hameed's Guide for Beaded tatting 2002 (scroll down to lower half) 
• https://flickr.com/photos/ninettacaruso/6289552896 - diagrammatic compilation by Ninetta Caruso

However, none of these resources make any reference to anchoring the 3rd thread (I didn't check any class logs for possible discussion).  

....to be explored further

my first roses

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 A comment in the previous post served as a reminder of my very first roses! I had designed these several months back for the Lock Join Plus series. The next in line was to be the Dora Young Join (DYJ).

That presentation needs a few finishing touches, but I keep getting caught in something or other ;-P So, detailed pictorial for later, hope you like these rose motifs for now - good for gluing to cards!

All you need is only one shuttle and leftover thread. String seed beads for a beaded version.

This beaded version was made second. Beads not merely decorated the rose and added texture, but also serve to estimate (and communicate) the length in the absence of stitches!

This is the first, made with variegated size 3 thread. Start with a central ring, then each subsequent round grows larger, spiraling around, joining to previous bare thread space. Why not a Lock Join, you ask? Because it is not very stable - it tends to twist the thread.

I've done this before, moving from the out to in and substituting the lock join with a DYJ - https://tipsaroundthehome.blogspot.com/2019/03/dyj-instead-of-lj.html 

But more about the DYJ when I continue the series and post the tutorial. For now, I'd love for you to share your impression and feelings about this rose.

Since the rounds move spirally, one can easily replace the bare thread with actual stitches. A project for future.

charmed, I'm sure?

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a very happy Diwali! ek diya jawanon ke naam

Charmed Cross pendant / earrings

click to download pattern pdf

While rummaging for my old notes, I came across a loose sheet with the sketch of the Charmed Cross pendant. It is certainly stylized, but I wasn't sure if it came across as a cross. I thank all my facebook friends who responded enthusiastically - clear majority wanted status quo! Since time is at a premium, I have decided to postpone any experimentation but invite you to play and experiment as you wish.

Here is the journey so far - 

 

• design process ; 
• bookmark prototype and Denise W's variations ;
• ice drop/cabochon center idea with inverted tatting .

And the pdf of course - Charmed Cross pendant or earrings pattern. 

'Charmed' because one can fill in the large empty center with Any charm, cross, gem, or teardrop of course.

I used Floating Beads method for the teardrops. But I know most will prefer to use their own methods ;-D

One can repeat the top motif on the side arms and lengthen the base to make a more defined cross.

As a couple of tatters said it looks like a kite - so fly away with your shuttles in hand!

For earrings, make 2 of course. Simply work the same pattern if finer thread. This model is in Anchor 20 which is similar to Lizbeth 10.

For the Bookmark prototype, here's the count for the 6 extra rings and chains:

R1: 6+4-2. rw

Ch: 8 rw

R2: 6+(R1)3-3. rw

Ch: 5 rw

R3: 4+(R2)2-2-4. rw SS

R4: 6-6 dnrw SS

Ch:5 rw

R5: 3+(R3)3-6 rw

Ch: 8 rw

R6: 2+(R5)4+6 

I would like to improve on this at some future date.

Hope you enjoy tatting and playing with this pattern. And don't forget to tag me when you upload your version!

                          Many thanks to all respondents and comments

tree in time

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Digging through my tatting stuff for another project, this tree pattern sprung up! I had sketched the pattern in January, but didn't get around to uploading.  

Wonky  Spunk  Tree   

free pattern pdf

This was the final motif of the 25 Snowflake Project from last year. All patterns are listed in my patterns page, as well as in the Snowflakes' Google-Docs file (which needs a bit of updating).

This is tatted in 3 parts, though one can climb out with split chains to avoid cutting and joining. It is based on a sketch I showed here.

Worked with one shuttle and a Red Heart size 20 ball, ctm. 

Final measurements : 6 cms wide and approx 8.5 cms tall.

This is a prototype, but worked quite well the first time round! It is very wobbly since most rings are unattached. It was deliberate, so that I could insert a string of beads later, as desired.

Under fairy lights, shadow play gives it a 3-D appearance. Despite being floppy, it is good to glue down on a card or to sew as an applique.

Here it is with a string of assorted size 10 to 12 beads. Notice that there are 2 strings. I used a sewing needle with firm thread, joining to each free ring, as well as at other points.

Finally, these larger size 4 beads in assorted colours were sewn in. I thought they would work as baubles :-) With a bit of pre-planning, some of these 'baubles' could be left to dangle. However, in this case I needed them to join the free elements between layers.

It can be used as a tree ornament, but will require stiffening.

This time I simply inserted a couple of the model pictures to my pattern image and converted it into a pdf. Each of the 3 parts (A, B, C) is in a different colour. Here's the pdf link again.

This is kind of freeform - easy to change size and shape. making each model exclusive and unique, as in Nature! Hope you enjoy tatting and gifting.