playful tatting

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I had started tatting these cute balloon dog doodles couple of days before ITD and realised that there were a couple of elements left to tat, which started off my 'shagun tatting' for the day! Of course, I later found the time to tat the heart, too! Actually my list had contained a different heart which I still haven't gotten around to tatting. Some other day, soon, perhaps. 

Sarah Nielson shared two versions of her Balloon Dog Doodles - 2D & 3D. You can download the pdf from her blog here - https://laceandbees.blogspot.com/2025/03/balloon-dog-doodle.html

Quick to tat with lots of split ring practice. And one doesn't have to hide ends! Simply tie an overhand knot and snip close for the nose or 'balloon' end. 

I chose this tinted colourway for the added fun factor. Size 20.

The model starts at the tail end. 

My piece doesn't much resemble a dog here, does it? Is it how the shades spread themselves out ... how the darker shade pooled at the lower half? Or is it my tatting tension?

Now this 3D version I like. It does look like a dog frolicking in the park or flying high! Very happy indeed.

Technically, the highlight of this 3D doodle is the Folded Split Ring. 

• Sarah suggests folding one half against the other before closing the SR, a method she learned from Jane Eborall's Turtle pattern (2012). My two attempts on the legs didn't give me a sharp fold. [http://janeeborall.freeservers.com/SwanTurtle.pdf]
• Hence for the ears, I chose to do the half moon split ring by Sabina Carden-Madden (2003) [https://web.archive.org/web/20110625190617/http://www.paradisetreasures.com/hmsr.html]. I got a much more defined fold or crescent. 
• We are spoiled for choices! I had used Martha Ess' (2007) folded rings method (node stitch) to fold the SR in my jasmine braid here - https://tipsaroundthehome.blogspot.com/2017/03/fresh-fragrance-of-jasmines.html. 

Overall, I am happy with these doodles - fun and quick and excellent doodles to embellish cards, etc. Some time in the future I will paint some background to give them a context, a story ;-D

Many many thanks to Sarah for these innovative and fun doodles!

Related Posts -
https://tipsaroundthehome.blogspot.com/2025/04/shagun-tatting.html
https://tipsaroundthehome.blogspot.com/2017/02/in-fold.html

barely in time

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This pattern was long since completed and waiting to be blogged on the 14th of Jan when we celebrate the entry of the sun in Capricorn. generically called Uttarayan (movement towards the northern hemisphere), a harbinger of spring and summer. A pan-Indian festival with numerous regional names and slightly different ways of celebrating. 

unblocked motif

It also indicates the beginning of the harvest season. Diversity apart, sesame or til and jaggery or gur are the two common ingredients throughout, though the resulting sweet is prepared differently in different regions, but distributed around. It is only in Punjab, where a bonfire is lit to celebrate 'lohri', that corn, too, is popped and distributed. This is why I was waiting to share the pattern. This year both 14th and 15th were celebrated, hence I'm really not that late, LOL.

pinned picots

You might remember the range of design possibilities of one motif from Endrucks' pattern #15 shared here - https://tipsaroundthehome.blogspot.com/2023/12/the-power-of-15.html

uncut picots

This time it is another doodle called E15 Ear of Maize, which with minimal changes can become a lavender sprig, any other inflorescence, wheat or other cereal spikelet, or even a feather. Perhaps you can come up with another idea?

snipped and trimmed picots

I have used 3 colours, but only one shuttle throughout. And you don't even need to hide the tails of the husk and stem! By force of habit, I forgot to do it in both models and hid most tails. Just leave ample lengths at the start and finish and trim later.

Hope you like this and enjoy tatting it. 

E15 Ear of Maize pattern pdf :  https://drive.google.com/file/d/1GEms2X1Xmk1YHwrDz_3F7FiDLgIVpmz-/view

second motif

The motif actually jumped out when I saw Paola Emilia Rotuletti's E15 Star pattern worked in shades of yellow by other tatters!  

Add findings and we could have a pair of earrings or pendant? Perhaps even add beads to the kernels?

Related posts -

https://tipsaroundthehome.blogspot.com/2023/12/the-power-of-15.html

https://tipsaroundthehome.blogspot.com/2023/12/lets-flourish.html

https://tipsaroundthehome.blogspot.com/2023/12/lighting-up.html

https://tipsaroundthehome.blogspot.com/2024/01/unlimited.html

wish to be a fish!

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Oh yes, you read it right! I do wish I could be a fish and stay in the water. It has been so horrid – hot and humid – here for the last 3 weeks that all one wants to do is laze in cool water or swim about like a fish. All energy is sapped out. We have been facing temperatures in the 110°F or 44°C range and no respite in sight.

So as I was saying, this adorable little fish tat-along came at the right moment!

I’ve admired this cute Kiss Kiss fish all along. Loaded my shuttles with thread and beads.

UPDATE : click to download Kiss Kiss Fish pattern pdf.

designed by Carollyn Brown

Size 20 Lizbeth – 132 Tropical Punch and 

pearl beads which are slightly larger than the required size 11

Day 1 – the tail fins and ventral part of the body.

Two long tails from each shuttle act as the padding for the body to allow the fish to keep it’s shape. I really like how she used the tails instead of adding thread separately!

Needless to say, the stitches are unflipped here (reverse stitch for encapsulation or padded tatting).

Day 2 – eyes, kissing lips and dorsal half of body.

With beads for eyes and lips in place, the encapsulation continues on. Dorsal and ventral fins are made with decorative picots.

After joining & knotting back to the tail fins, I simply tied a bow with the thread ends instead of hiding ends. Yup, lazy!

I thoroughly enjoy patterns that can be worked all from the front! And a sweet cute little fish is just so much fun! I do wish I could’ve taken pics against better background with seaworld props. But the weather does not permit all the physical activity involved ;-P I'm fried fish here ....

I intend to make this again with thread & bead sizes complementing each other. Perhaps then I will exert myself for a better background.

Carollyn has explained everything beautifully with stepwise pictures. She has given me permission to draw out a diagram for her patter pdf. So stay tuned to her blog !
It may be a small fish, but the designing is very clever - no small fry !

Thanks a heap, Carollyn, for this wonderful tat-along & pattern!

I still wish I could be this fish :-D

hooked !

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on TIASes, tatting on paperclips, and block heart !

Fish Paperclip

Phyllis Schmidt

Georgia has a great new surprise project every month on the Online Tatting Class. Phyllis’ tatting on a paper clip – a new pattern every month through this year ! The first one for January is this cute fish.

I had thread left over from a recent project – a size 3 or 5. So the fish is a bit large, but my first on a clip and I like it ;-P And it was such a quick tat, too, except that I forgot where to add the bead and ended up having to undo the half-tatted ring. Bead has to be on the shuttle, Not around the hand, silly me ! See, I can even make it stand upright  :-D  

Hmmm, I just noticed. See, instead of printing the pattern, I had quickly sketched the diagram and jotted a few things. Only now, as I compare her tatted model with mine on the large screen, do I notice the difference in tails (compare the caps).

Please note : To be sure, RODS is reverse order of a normal Flipped double stitch, not the unflipped second side of split ring, which is called a Reverse Stitch & it subsumes a reverse order but of unflipped half stitches.

Tat It And See 2017 – Day 10

Jane Eborall

Sniggering BC3 

thinks we're 'over the bend'

Clueless still

my Day 10 I send 

All my guesses

didn't pass the test

Setting it aside 

I'll, errrr, take a rest

I'm still going with a lady in a gown and this is her hair/hat/hood ; the rest of her ensemble shawl or cape will appear next, crossing over the neck with an alligator 'pin' (join) and tying off at that tiny little picot on the right !



Large Block Heart ....

I have so much lined up to share, but don't want to make this too lengthy ... so we'll all just have to wait a while longer ;-P But here's a peek into a single Block Heart - a larger one that can be used as brooch, pendant or lapel pin, or perhaps something else. This was the project with size 3 or 5 thread with which I made the fish above. It's still a work in progress, though, and I used a different join.

Many thanks to Jane and Phyllis for sharing their delightful patterns and I look forward to tatting more of them !

happy tatting, till then

A bit here a bit there

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a medley of tatting, as the title suggests, and in no particular order …

Floral Fantasy Doily 

Kathleen Minniti 

pattern posted on Craftree here

Round 7 – measures 6¼”

Rings – 0289 (2 strands) ; Chains – 4054-0359 (size 40)

 

I began the round using the same yellow crochet cotton as in earlier row. But the picots were airier & distinct. Cut it off & replaced with embroidery thread to imitate the orange flowers.

Very quick tat around !

Pics & details of rounds 1-6 here. 

Fresh off the shuttles; no blocking. Will block only at end, when fraying picots...
Now need to figure out the next rounds. No stitch count posted yet, but before that I need to figure out how to tat the 2 rounds - probably tat them together.... let's see.

The Sixteenth Day of December Snowflake

Lene Björn

from 24 Snowflakes in Tatting

for 2016 Snowflake Challenge on Craftree

finished size : 3½”  Size 40

threads : 2 colours in Anchor size 40 (Art 4054) : dusty pink - 00033 & ecru - 00887
techniques : 2 shuttles, self closing mock ring (SCMR), mock picot, reverse join, picot gauge, ball thread join (lock join with other shuttle)

Started with a SCMR and climbed out with a mock picot. Noticed too late that it had twisted while closing.

Again tried to experiment with 2 colours & the reverse join really helped to switch colours/shutles. I made only the 2nd half stitch after the join, counting the join as 1st half stitch.

Ball thread joins helped when connecting the arms, maintaining some symmetry with picots on each arm in each colour.

With some experience gained tatting the earlier snowflakes, especially the Day 10 snowflake, I tried to keep the picots ‘normal’. Could’ve been just a tad bit shorter still (since these become double in length when ball thread join is used).  

All frontside tatting in clockwise direction.

I rarely use a picot gauge for regular tatting. But this time I decided to challenge myself & used a picot gauge for the decorative picots on trefoil rings.

1st ring of the ecru trefoil is a mock ring (SCMR) in order to make a proper ball thread join.

I’m not happy with my chosen colours, but these balls have to be consumed as well. Tatting-wise, I could’ve done a lot better, too – some basic errors should’ve been avoided !

This makes 11 snowflakes completed, 10 posted, & 1 that was half-finished but needs to be re-started. Lagging behind on this tat-along, but I’m fine with that. Snowflake season will soon see us all shift gears & speed up ;-D

Spiderwort Doodle (3D)

This teeny tiny 3D flower (a mere ½” in size 20 thread) is inspired by part of an edging in Lavoro Chiacchierino #11 (which was catalogued in Craftree here) The edging had a row of rings that seemed to be filled-in or 'solid'. I tried to figure out how they were done, following a 'distress call' from a dear friend ;-P

These are true rings, including the leaf. No chains or mock rings. 

Tip to tip, the doodle measures just over 1½”.

happy tatting :-)

trials and tribulations

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WARNING : Dear seekers of beauty & tatting purists, peruse at own risk. The blogger takes no responsibility for hurt eyes & sentiments.

My tatting is not always up to the mark. But even I am ashamed to show these pictures in public. Yet it is all part of the learning process, and each step helps as we comprehend & practice a new technique.

Ninetta’s Whimsical Curls ! *

These are Ninetta’s latest Alternate Method of Curling Rings, especially small rings. I had the good fortune of getting first peek into her brilliant tatting brain. However, when Georgia announced the class for April 25, I scrambled to try them all out during the weekend. This time, curling the small rings were a bit tougher than when I did the Curled Rings series. Curling itself is easy. It’s just that I could not always get them to face in the right direction :-( . So I stopped jotting down notes & focused on the why & why not. You can see all the failed as well as successful attempts interspersed throughout the chains.

Small Curled Rings (sCR) over Chain :

Trial 1: My first mistake was to try to tat the chains from frontside going in clockwise direction, thus keeping the curled rings in front.

In clockwise direction : 1^st chain has the FR & CR,

2^nd  chain - half moon curls,

3^rd chain - heart curls ,

4^th chain - button curls

Some ‘succeeded’ in wrong direction, some failed, some simply twisted around & curled over the chain refusing to budge !!!

Lesson – apply scientific method and change only one factor at a time. Also, use a size 10 thread when learning (Thanks, Mel)!

Trial 2 : Much better , yet many were still ashamed to face me ;-p. Ninetta came to the rescue & sent me this video and Then it Finally clicked !!! An Important point, which is clear in the stepwise tutorial pics, but didn’t register in my dense brain : turn the small ring at an angle of 180° before pulling the encapsulated thread to curl !!! The curling picot/space in the small ring should face down. Now I get it ! I was more focused on the instructions & not enough on the pics.

Lesson – read & look, look, look, and follow !!! That is what pictures are there for.  

Small Curled Rings (sCR) on Ring
Besides sCR on a chain, there are numerous ways to curl small rings on/through/over rings ! These are also included in the same pdf.

These Curled Onion Rings were made way back when Ninetta sent me her very first draft. I was very happy with the way the second one turned out.

Bracelets Capriccio : 

Now I felt confident enough to tackle her beautiful bracelets, which incorporate many of curling effects of small rings.
I opted to do all 4 in one continuous braid, with about 4 repeats each.

Anchor size 20 thread used (SH1- brown; SH2- cream) & wooden beads.

1. Version with balanced sCR

I reduced the stitch count here, to better enclose the bead. But more practice needed. Ninetta shared this video in class.

2. Version with unbalanced sCR

I like this pattern the best.

3. Version with sCR over a chain

The second  brown chain & sCR turned/twisted for some reason ; the cream ones came out fine. But I should've reduced the stitchcount for chains.

4. Version with CR

First ring came out wrong. Thought & thought, then pulled a down loop through the CR from below the split ring to curl it. It worked (this was my AHA moment). But Ninetta demonstrates a better method of pulling the to-be-curled ring through the split ring and then securing it with a picot join.

I still have a lot of practice to do on these whimsical curls, but am more confident now. This exercise & interaction, and then the videos, also taught me how a set of instructions &/or format can be read/understood/perceived differently by individual tatters because each of us has a different way of tatting – slight nuances in ways of holding, making the formations, tensioning, and myriad other details. What seems ‘easy’ to a writer or designer may be very difficult to a reader. I will no longer call any of my patterns or tutorials ‘easy’. Major lesson learned.

UPDATE : All videos have been uploaded to Georgia Seitz's Online Advanced Class videos

Many thanks, Ninetta, for sharing your immense talent . 

Hopefully goofs in my trials will be rectified in future :-)

*************************************

Practice Doodle – What technique ?!

And to end on another note of whimsy – here’s a doodle I made a year back while learning another new technique. Using 2 shuttles, I went where my shuttles took me. Can you guess which technique I was practicing (there is a ‘tell’ if you look closely)? Can you trace the path ? 

And a lucky coincidence - in the left Ninetta’s Quad 13 I made just before.

happy tatting and curling :-))

Related posts : What are Curled Rings

Some Ways of Curling Rings

More Curled Rings & cross pattern

Final options & earring pattern
List of All links to Curled Rings Tutorials

Trials and Jubilation

Tatting Doodles

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Tatting for Holi 

It’s Holi time – a festival of colours, of advent of  Spring, of start of lunar New Year (for some Hindu communities), a washing away of the past & starting afresh, ….

A while back when I searched for tatting related to Holi, I couldn’t find anything; so decided to try something myself. 

This doodle composition, which makes a nice greeting card, too, gradually took shape as well as symbolic meaning. 

I visualized 2 pichkaris (pronounced as pitch-kaa-ree), the quintessential image of Holi with water curlicues in Spectrum colours. I have deliberately not used the term ‘water pistols’ or ‘water guns’…. Later I added a 3^rd pichkari doodle. 

Made with Bliss variegated threads, perhaps a size 3 or 7. Main body of each measures approx 1½” x ½”

Floating Chain, Block tatting

Floating Chain, Block tatting.
The longer piston has picots for attachment

Lock Chain piston, Twisted picot handle,
Lock Chain Block tatting 

Techniques used & Tutorials referred 

(click on each for link to page)

Block tatting -easy way 

Lock Chain BlockTatting  (although I did it a bit differently, using 2 shuttles & switching at each row)

Floating Chains / SSSCh video tutorial 

Twisted Picot for handle bar of 3^rd pichkari doodle

Each pichkari spouts a different colour of water, one each of the 3 basic colours, red, blue, yellow. 

I used fine Rayon &/or silk threads & worked almost blind (stitches based mainly on experience & tactile decisions). 

Floating chains (SSSCh) for water

The tiny ring in some chains
is a water droplet

Yellow thread kept breaking ;-(

In a later post, I will detail out the process & stitchcounts (wherever possible). It was a continuous process of learning & tweaking & adapting. Not happy with the Lock Chain Block Tatting in this instance, but persisted because I wanted to add to my ‘new technique learned’ list.

A little cheating here. Simply tied a secure knot & snipped.

A greeting card for Holi, 

using tatted doodles & symbolism 

So, what do you think this composition, and it’s elements, signifies ?

Happy Tatting :-)

Motif # 15 / II for 25 Motif Challenge