An Exquisite Lace in Tatting by Norma Benporath

 After so many years since I last did one, I decided to try another Norma Benporath pattern from the Trove site.  This is the design that I have picked,

The pattern was published in The Australian on 1 September 1934 with the title, An Exquisite Lace Mat in Tatting. 

If you wish to join me as a tat-along for this lace mat, you can download the pattern from the site.  When you open the link, there is an option in the column on the left for the download, choose 'PDF'.  The full pattern in given in two parts. You may have to click 'Next', or the arrow > a few times to get the 2nd part of the pattern which is shown together with a recipe for Apple Cinnamon.

If you decide the try out the recipe to enjoy while tatting this lace mat, do give a feedback of it, 😊😊

The centre is a single shuttle daisy with eight petals.

Below are some notes on how I tatted this centre.

1. (top left) It is good to hide the tails at the beginning and prepare to hide the tails at the end. Before I start, I fold the thread to make a loop and hide the beginning tail with the first few double stitches (ds).
Jane Eborall described this method clearly in her tutorial, http://janeeborall.freeservers.com/StartRingCatchThread2.pdf

2. (top right) I leave the loop visible when I close the centre ring, which will be used later.

3. (bottom left) Make a lock join to the next picot of the centre ring before starting the next petal of the daisy. You will need to the the folded join method to join the last petal to the picot in the first petal, or this method used by Jane Eborall, http://www.janeeborall.freeservers.com/JoinlastRfirstring...

4. (bottom right) After completing the final petal, I cut off a length of thread (about 12-15cm) and bring it through the small loop that I have kept at the beginning. I then pulled the tail end of the loop to secure the thread, then I sew in the ending tail.
Note: You may use the magic thread method to hide the ending tail, but I am always comfortable sewing it in.

I am not planning to draw a chart for this pattern like I did the last time, but I will be sharing photos after each round.

Button Ornament No. 5

I am clearing up on of my shuttles and decided on another button ornament. Because it isn't a full shuttle, I decided to try the age-less hens-and-chicks design.  Here it is, with the stitch count included.

Donut size is 2.2cm. Thread is Olympus Special. Finished size is 5.5cm wide, measuring from the left tip to the right tip in the photo above.

Enjoy, 😃

 

Circular Medallion from Trove site

This circular medallion is the 2nd pattern given in Our Women's Section of the Weekly Times published on 8 October 1932, as provided by the Trove site.

 It is actually a triangle with scallops added on the straight sides of the triangle to give an illusion of a circle.  Very clever, I think.

I tatted this with two shuttles as at certain point you need not do reverse work, though it was not stated in the instructions.  I had to check the photo in the article a few times to make sure I got it right, after throwing away the first take.

A point to note, if you plan to tat this also.

There an inconsistency in the instructions for the middle set of rings. For the second ring, it asked to join at two picots, the 4th and 5th picots of the 1st ring, but the photo showed only one join at the subsequent repeats.  I went with only one join.

Square Medallion from Trove, 8 Oct 1932

 This square medallion is a pattern from the Trove site published on 8 Oct 1932, in 'Our Women's Section' of the Weekly Times.

Shuttle-tatted with #20, measuring 8cm square.

The square should shape out better with blocking which I have not done in this photo.

The original instructions were to tat this in three parts; the centre ring, the middle small medallion, and finishing with the outer border, cutting after each part.  

I have tatted with two shuttles so I can use the split ring and split chain techniques to complete this without cutting the thread after each part.

I tatted the centre ring and jumped out with a split ring for the small medallion in the middle.  To finish the 2nd part, I made a split chain followed by another split ring to jump out to part 3.

I am going to work on the round medallion next.

Another Donut Ornament

 Updated the free patterns with another button ornament design.

Donut size is 2.2cm. Thread size is #10. Tatted in rounds, shuttle-and-ball.

Update on the current WIP

 After a few tries, I decided on the look of the next round for this WIP.  I still have to think of a name for this.

There is still one-third of the way to go but I am already thinking if this should be the final round, or should I add a few more.  The current size is 22.5cm. A good size to stop, if I want to.

A WIP and a Bookmark

 My WIP is a doily that I started mid-2020 but put it away for a while, for the simple reason that I had no idea how to proceed after the round of splits rings.

Thankfully, some creative juice trickled in 2021 and I added the few rounds in yellow.  I had it washed, shaped it out and left it to dry while waiting for more creative juice to flow,

I also completed a bookmark which I started towards the end of 2020,

A simple bookmark with clean lines.  I find that I tend to draw towards bookmarks like this, with simple rings-and-chains and straight shapes.

Happy New Year & Tatting in Trove

 .... a bit belated, but with sincerity.

Looking back at 2020 craft-wise, here is a selection of my work.  I think I have achieved a lot during the self-isolation, except for the limited number of times that I had to go out such as doctor's appointments.

I managed to get a lot done, I think -

* hosted two tat-alongs,

* crochet two lap blankets

* started on a huge Jan Stawasz's doily which is still a WIP and I have no idea when I will finish it.

* worked on a few new tatting designs which I may or may not have shared the patterns.

For 2021, I had thought about looking again at some of the tatting patterns in the Trove site, and tatting them, maybe. Most of the patterns were published in newspapers in Australia years ago.  The most notable contributor of tatting and tatting patterns in the Trove is Norma Benporath. 

To browse through the tatting patterns and articles in Trove, look in the category 'Newspapers and Gazettes'.

Not just patterns, there are also tips and anecdotes or just opinions about tatting.   Here is an example, which I screenshot, of a page from the Adelaide Observer published in August 1st, 1868. Click on the link for a better view.

Looks like the person who wrote this is not yet a fan of tatting, 😁

I can spend a whole day just browsing through the articles and it is still not enough time, but that will take away my tatting time, 😀

I have bookmarked several pages with designs that I am interested to tat.  Will show them later, or when I have tatted them.