Spring, Summer and now Autumn is coming

and I have not fnished my Renulek's Spring 2015 Doily. Here is a report of my progress so far.

After having issues with the small flowers, as in the last post, I snipped off that round and started over and the result is much better. Rounds 6 and 7 went smoothly.

And just when I thought Round 8 was going to be a breeze .....

Opened up the group of rings and chains and re-tatted - took me two days, in between doing other things. Now, this is what I learned from this episode.
If your first thought was to snip the mistake off, do it immediately. Don't even think about opening the stitches because if you do, you will have to do them all. Once you start un-doing even one ring, you'll keep telling yourself "I'll do one more", and by the time you decided that cutting off is the better option, there will be only a couple more left to do. By then you'll be thinking, might as well do them all! Have you had that feeling before?

Anyway, here is it is after Round 9, which was without any mistakes, Yippeee!

This doily will definitely need blocking when done. Notice how the rings in Round 8 have a slant in them.

Now, I tried something slightly different for Round 10, which you can see here,

I decided to alternate the curve of the chains between the rings. Not sure of the end result but I think it will turn out okay.

and next, the happy-dance news.

Remember this post about my yard sale find? When I was at the yard sale, the homeowner mentioned that she came across a few shuttles while sorting out her late mother's things but can't find them. She promised to call me when she comes across them again. I was not placing mcuh hope that she'd remember.

True to her words, she called me last week to tell me that the shuttles are found and would I like to come and pick them up? Would I? Would I? That needs no answer. 

I picked up them up the next day and was grinning ear-to-ear when I saw the shuttles. Wouldn't you too, when you see these?

Now I have three of them.  The first was my mother-in-law's that surfaced during packing when she had to move house. Growing up, I learned tatting using this type of shuttles but that was more than 40 yearas ago and have lost them somewhere.

The Needle, the Shuttle and the Book

I tried, honestly, I tried .... but, I am giving up on it now after turning out something like this,

This is as far that I can take of this bookmark, tatting with a needle. Certainly not my best work.  I finally gave up after the clover at the top turned out all wonky.  I will never be a needle-tatter.
Dear needle-tatters, how do your work all come out so neat and pretty?

It was supposed to look like this, tatted with a shuttle, of course

Then, I went over the brink and splurged on shuttles, one in each colour of the Aerlit shuttles.  I don't know what came over me ... as if I needed any more shuttles!  And I don't tat with bobbin shuttles much, preferring my post shuttles.

And now, the best part of this blog,

This

Out of the blue, Liyarra offered me this book, 

Every Woman's Complete Guide to Tatting Illustrated

by Norma Benporath

The book jacket is all worn out but the pages are intact.  The paper of the pages feels 'crispy'. I feel that I have to be gentle when turning the pages, afraid that it will tear. I was looking in the inside pages to see what year the book was printed but I cannot find any. 

There are so many beautiful designs in there, over 100 designs it says in the book, from edgings, medallions, doilies, mats and many more.  I don't know where to start.  There is also a picture of a square table-cloth with insertions of the suit of card that I blogged earlier, one on each side.  

This is totally unexpected and I can't thank you enough, Liyarra.  

T-shirt yarn and flat shuttle

I made my first t-shirt yarn and used it to tat.  It is unfortunate that the only t-shirt that I have that can be cut up is black, so you can't really see the knots in it.  I had my daughter take a video of me tatting with the yarn, so please excuse the amateurish result.

I started as a free-tatting, going round and round, making the lark's head knots around a centre working of the ball.  Then, I decided to try making a ring, which turned out okay except that the yarn broke when I pulled to close the ring.

I made the ring with the direct tatting method, as explained by Rebecca Jones in her book, The Complete Book of Tatting.

I made the t-shirt yarn by following this tutorial.

While searching for images of flat shuttles, I came across a post by the late Gina in her blog about some interesting shuttles that she got from Palmettos way back in 2005.  I was particular curious about the one with three posts in it. Doing a google image search did not help because it appears that the picture of it is only from Gina's blog.

My tatting books are now available from Roseground in UK.  This should be convenient for tatters in Europe and UK especially as I think the delivery will be faster from there rather than from Malaysia.

Thread position and starting a doily

It appears that my earlier post about not looping the thread round my pinky when making chains has got Fox mystified and Zarina curious.  Fox seems to have another thought about it as she explained in her blog post.

Anyway, to give a clearer picture of how I hold my thread, here are some photos as I explain the method.

I only loop the chain thread once round the little finger at the second notch of the finger.  The thread then goes round my forefinger.  My forefinger controls the flip of the doublestitches.

When tatting, I pinch the work with my thumb and my middle finger and curve my pinky and the ring finger.  Curving the pinky keeps the thread in the fold of the finger.  This position keeps the tension in the thread.  If I need to add more thread for the chain, I just stretch out the pinky a bit, and pull up more thread with the forefinger, and curve it back again.

While I am at it, I might as well show how I hold my thread when making rings. I think it is no different from how I normally see others hold their thread.

The work is pinched with the thumb and forefinger and the shuttle thread looped round the other fingers and back to the pinch.  For rings, I manage the flip with my middle finger with the ring finger and the pinky curved.  I use the pinky to pull more thread from the shuttle when the loop gets smaller as I tat, without having to let go the shuttle.

Here is a picture of some tatting that I have just started.  There are other projects which can't be shared right now, one of which is for an exchange.

This doily is a tat-along project that I have started with Zarina and Surya. This is the Clover Doily pattern by Eileen Stafford (the link is via the way-back machine, so it may or may not work when you click on it).  I am using a 'vintage' thread for this doily, the thread label is shown besides the doily.  I don't know what size it is, I guess 50 or 60.  For a rather old thread, it is wonderful to tat with.  The rings close very smoothly and there isn't much twisting at all.

I am just starting Row 4 out of 9 rows. With some other on-going projects, I am not sure when I'll finish this.  There is no time limit to complete the doily.  You may join us with this tat-along if you wish, and post your progress as you go.

The Wedding Pt 2 & Singapore

Got all my material ready for the tatting to make the bunga rampai container to be used as part of the wedding gifts.

I made another design for the bunga rampai container.  This time I used a small cup/glass and designed an edging to surround the cup.

I tatted the same pattern for both green and purple but somehow it turned out differently when I place round the cup.  When I placed on the green one, it turned away from the cup.  Then I tatted the purple one and  place it on the cup it hugs the cup.  Now I am not sure which one looks better.  I plan to tat a smaller edging to place round the lip of the cup.  I don't have the design yet for it though, maybe I'll use the evergreen hen-and-chicks.

The thread that I will be using for this wedding project is Milford Mercer size 20 which I bought in Singapore.  I like the Milford thread because it is 6-ply. Over here, only the Cebelia has many colour choices, but thay are 3-ply and I don't really prefer tatting with 3-ply thread.  Getting the milford was not the only reason to go to Singapore, though.

Sheila, Jessica and me

I was not able to meet with Sheila when I was in the UK at the end of last year, even though I had planned to. As Sheila regularly visit Singapore, I decided to make the trip to meet her there when she wrote to say that she will be coming over. We agreed to meet in Spotlight, where I bought the Milfords.  As I also wanted to get some beads, Sheila suggested that we go to Arab Street for them.  That is where I got the green and purple beads.  I could have spent the whole day at Arab Street, if only for the beads and the findings and the notions, but that will have to be for another day.

From Arab Street we adjourned to Raffles Hotel for some tatting talk over tea.

Sheila and me at Raffles Hotel cafe chatting over tea

That was when Sheila brought out all the goodies.

Tatted hankie from Sheila

I received this pretty hankie from Sheila with tatted edging. Sheila then challenged me to produce something equal of her high quality work by giving me the pattern for the edging and a blank hankie.

Note: the tatting is not the edging for the hankie

Jessica showed a very pretty and delicate doily, about 10 inches wide, made with size 80 thread which I forgot to take a picture of.  I was ashamed to admit to both of them that I don't tat with size 80 much. Then there are these wonderful books by Pam Palmer.

Tatting Treats and Festive Elephants by Pam Palmer

That was one happy tatter who returned home that day, he he he ....

And happier still when, on the next day,  the postie delivered my pop-a-bobbin shuttle that I had ordered from Jane.  This one is in ebony.  This new pop-a-bobbin is slightly slimmer in size that the earlier one that I bought.  I like the new size better.

Same thread, different pattern

Bringing your attention to this blog post that I wrote in April this year.  It was about my reaction to a certain type of multi-coloured thread that was giving me (and a few others) a headache just looking at it.

The thread in question is Lizbeth Jewels #113.

I was looking at it again the past few days and decided on another attempt with it.  This time I was a little wiser and decided on a pattern with a simple layout.  I made a bookmark using a pattern that was published in Jane Eborall's blog.

The result is very much better than the one in the earlier blog post. 

You may notice some striking features in the finished bookmark -
I started the bookmark at the turquoise shade and manage to end also in turquoise.
The turquoise divides the bookmark into sections of plum and purple.
The plum and purple alternate with each other in each 'section'.

I did make a point to study the colour changes in the thread before deciding where to start, and the the overall effect turned out quite a surprise in a nice way.

This is also the first time that I used the single-shuttle split ring (SSSR) to hide my ends.    Using the SSSR, I tat over the tail of one thread for the first part of the SSSR.  The other end was hidden inside the second side of the SSSR as I close the ring.

I find it a neat way to finish off the ends and may be using it more often in the future.

The Thread Exchange

The place to swap threads.

Fox of Tat-ology has come up with an idea to trade tatting thread which I think is quite ingenious.  This is unlike the standard form of exchanges where one will be assigned a partner and you are then to send to that partner whatever item that is specified for the exchange.

It has received encouraging response and a special blog has been created to facilitate this swaps/trades/exchanges .... whatever term you want to use for it.  I am not going to say more about it.  Click on the picture below to go to the blog. Explanations on how this exchange works are there.

There are already a wide selection put up for trade.  So, if you are wondering how a certain thread feels like tatted, you can try and get a sample through this exchange to see if you like it.  Then you can go ahead and place that order ... or not.

Pretty Posy

My latest finish ... which I am going to name Pretty Posy

Thread used are "Fern" by Yarnplayer and "ChocoRasberry" by Tatskool both in size 40.

The Pretty Posy was a second attempt.  My first tryout of this design is this one below

The thread used is Altin Basak polyester thread.

This is my first time using polyester thread for tatting. It is rather smooth and 'slippery'.  The stitches have a tendency of coming undone.  I had to pinch them real close, otherwise there will be gaps between the double stitches that appear like very small picots.  

The rings close very well if the thread is pulled in the right direction.  Let me explain.  I read somewhere that for polyester (and maybe silk, too), when you run the thread between the pinch of your thumb and your index finger, it will slide smoothly in one direction and you will feel some roughness if run the opposite way.  I don't know if this is true, but that is what I felt when working with this polyester thread.  Hopefully, someone who is more knowledgeable will be able to confirm if this is true and give a better explanation.

There are still four more days for you to submit your name for the giveaway draw.  Leanna asked if I really want to give away the Primrose Path.  

 Yes, I do.  Then there is a reason to tat it again at another time.

EZ bobs and floss threaders

In my previous post, Tatting-marie asked about the EZ bobs and how they are used. Here is a picture of the EZ bobs that I received form PaulaC.

I have heard of EZ bobs before and seen pictures of it but have never used one.  I was rather excited when Paula C sent me some. They are made of soft plastic, round-shaped with a hole in the middle like a doughnut, flat on one side and curved on the other.  They can be clicked on to each other and stacked up for neat storage.

As for how it is used, they are nifty gadgets for storing threads especially my HDTs.  As you can see in the picture, the curved side of the EZ bob can be turned over and you can wind your thread or yarn round the middle.  When not in used, the curved side can be returned to its original position and the thread is enclosed in the EZ bobs, safe from dust or accidental unwinding. Neat, huh!

Coretta asked how the I used the floss threaders.  Well, they are for stringing beads on the thread when I tat with beads.  Here is how I use a floss threader for beading.

 

The floss threaders can also be used for hiding ends the Magic Thread method.  You can see how it is used in my earlier post here.

Thank you to Crazy Mom Tats for a more detail instructions on how to use the floss threader in the magic thread method of hiding ends.  Click here to read it.

Mary Konior's Cloudburst

The Cloudburst is my first completed tatting after I was out for a few weeks due to the dengue fever.  I have not tidied the ends and it needs a bit of blocking and pressing.  The thread I used for this is Altin Basak #50.

As mentioned in my earlier post, the doily was tatted using the pop-a-bobbin shuttle.  I know it is a bit late to give my review of the shuttle, ... but I am going to do it anyway.

First of all, I was quite surprised that the shuttle was rather 'plump' and rounded.  Being used to the trimmer Clovers, I needed a little bit if time to adjust to the size.  But it didn't take very long for me to do it.  Among the thing that I like is that it doesn't have an appendage at the end like the Aero.

This is how I hold my shuttle.

When I tat, I slide the shuttle under and over the thread around my left hand.  Not having a protruding end certainly makes this shuttle easier to manage.

I also like having a hook at the other end, though not so much the type of hook that was attached to this shuttle.  The surface of the metal where it had been flattened to shape the hook rubbed against the thread and fuzzes it up a bit.  I can hear the rasping sound when the thread slides along the flattened surface.  Using a 3-ply thread of the Altin Basak for the doily did not help much either.  Some of the joining picots in the doily are very small picots.  I find it rather difficult to pull the thread with the hook for joining to the very small picot.

But the good news is that, Sally wrote in her blog that some of the issues raised about the shuttle by other tatters who have used it are being addressed.  One of which is the plumpness of the shuttle. Aside from the hook, I had no other problems with this shuttle and quite like using it.  But I am not sure if it will replace my favorite Clover shuttles.

Okay now ... about the doily.

I wrote before that I tatted the doily slightly different from the way the pattern was written.  The original pattern was such that eight separate motifs are joined together to make up the main body of the doily.  The finishing touch was filling up the centre with sets of chains. My aim was to be able to tat the main body of the doily in one round. To be able to do that I made a small change to the chain at the inner end of the individual motif.  This small change allows me to move to the next part of the doily without cutting the thread and starting over for the next motif. To illustrate it further, here is a picture of where I make the change.  If you have Mary Konior's book, A Pattern Book of Tatting, you can make a comparison with the original photo from the book.

 Because of the change in the work flow, I also had to change the starting point of some of the rings for ease of construction.  As with the original pattern, I finish this off with a series of chain for the middle part of the doily.

Before I sign off, I want to apologise to those who feel that what I had done amounted to desecrating the memory and creativity of Mary Konior. I assure you that this design will forever remain that of Mary Konior's.  What I did was finding a way out of what may tatters would rather avoid - hiding ends.

Apologies and Making Peace

I want to apologise for the nature of my previous post.  It was a case of WUI - Writing Under the Influence, muahahahaha .....  shush .... don't let the men in white coats hear you ... shuust.

Anyway, I made peace with the pop-a-bobbin shuttle.  It will not press assault charges if I promise to tat a doily using it.

This is the beginning of the Cloudburst doily from the book A Pattern Book of Tatting by Mary Konior. I'll be writing more about this in another post. It is tatted with a slight difference.

The reason for my feeling so down was because I caught the dengue fever.  It was really draining on my body.  I had blood taken from me five days in row while the doctor monitor my blood platelet count. At one time, the count was as low as 60.  If it had gone any lower, I would have to be hospitalised.

Hmm .... I think my altercation with the shuttle was because when they took the blood out, they forgot to put some back in, hahahahahha ..... Maybe, that also explains the wierd taste in my mouth all that time .... hmmmm.... *licking the lips*.

Actually, instead of whacking the shuttle, I should have whacked the doctor who took my blood.  She left a bruise in my arm that is still visible until today.  Just look for yourself,

I was advised to drink lots of liquid, water and juices.  I think I have become addicted to isotonic drink.

Once again, I apologise for the violent nature of the post.  

Normal tone of writing will resume after I return from rehab.

Down in the dumps

That was how I felt more than 10 days ago, and how I am still feeling now.
I had been sick, couldn't even keep my eyes open or even get my body up the first four days.  Didn't eat anything and only survived on water.

Then, when I felt I needed cheering up, I opened the package from JaneE to play with the pop-a-bobbin shuttles - and the plug ganged up with the rest of the world against me. It was stuck and wouldn't budge a micron.  I gave it a good whack, partly to nudge it out and partly to vent my frustrations for feeling like I felt all week, ....... and there was a slight give.

If anyone reported to the Tat Police this case of grievous bodily harm on a shuttle, I am going to plead temporary insanity ....muahahahahaha  *evil laugh*

The matter of the pop-a-bobbin has been cleared after exchange of e-mails between me, JaneE and Sally. I can assure you that the pop-a-bobbin stood the test of the whack and credit to "I'm in the garage" for coming up with a sturdy tool for a crazy person ..... that's me.

But the matter of feeling crap is still there. And, after all that, I still did not manage to get any tatting done at all.

Let's  see ... who or what is going to be my next victim ......

p/s - if you have send an order for anything from me, please let me know if you want to cancel the order.  I can not be sure when I will be strong enough to ship out the items to you.

Olympus Tatting/Crochet Cotton Thread

I have enjoyed tatting with Olympus cotton thread.  It is a 6-cord, mercerised cotton thread from Japan. The label reads Olympus #40 but feels more like #30 rather than 40.

These are some pieces that I have made with this thread which I have shown in my earlier posts.

 

  

Thread Heaven aaahh........

I was lucky to receive some heavenly HDTs in the last few days.

The first one is this Pink Rose that I received from Zarina.   Zarina offered a selection of her HDTs to be tested and I jumped right in with my choice.

This is the same thread that TattingChic blogged about earlier.  This thread is size 20.  I was so excited to receive this thread that I immediately open it up and tatted up this snowflake.  It was wonderful to tat with.  I like how the snowflake tatted up with the sprinkling of green over the pink.

The second delivery was even more heavenly.  These were from Pamela, Tatskool.  Pamela and I, we had an arrangement between us.  When I was working on the book, Tatting With Rings, I send a file of the draft for Pamela to give her once over.  I was elated when Pamela suggested a swap, my book for her threads, even before she knew the price for the book.  This is an opportunity that I was not going to let pass. 

I never actually say how many of Pamela's HDT that I wanted, but was surprised to received these!!!

Top to bottom:

1. ChocoRaspberry

2. Raspberry Sorbet

3. Raspberry and Chocolate Mousse

4. Raspberry Ripple and Real Vanilla

5. Chocolate Sauce

6. Chocolime

7. Key Lime

Pamela dear, You are so generous.  Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Shuttles

I can't believe that it is almost a month ago that I last wrote anything here. It had been a busy month and me getting sick in the middle of it did not help either.  Still, after a month, there is nothing much to show because I had not done any tatting during that period.  So, just to let you know that I am still around I am sharing with you my shuttles collection.

I don't have many and none of them are collectors item, so to speak.

Here they are altogether.

 My workhorse are the Clovers and Susan Bates.  I can tat fast with these shuttles.  They are just the right size to hold.  I have many more clovers in all the different colours but only four of them are shown here.

These three are Inox shuttles.  I like tatting with the two brown ones but I don't use them often because they don't have picks on them.  I find the pick come in handy if I need to unpick the stitches. They are slightly bigger than the Clovers and also heavier but the surface is so smooth that the thread just slides across.  BTW, I use the sliding motion when tatting.  These are the ones that I had to do surgery on. See Fox's blog to know what I mean. The blue one in the middle is the worst shuttle that I have tried tatting with.  It doesn't hold much thread and practically splits if there are too much thread wound in it.  And it doesn't seem to want to stay put in my hand - always slipping off.

These flat shuttles come in handy for projects requiring only a small amount of thread to be on the shuttle.

These are for keepsakes.  The black on the left is a Milward that I got form my MIL.  She was moving house and it surface during the packing. I wrote about in my blog here. Next to it is an Aero shuttle and the red one with a pick is a plastic Clover, if I go by the label that is on it.  Both were given to me as gifts.  The one on the right is a Georgia Seitz shuttle and the metal shuttle is a DMC shuttle. 

Arches with Altin Basak

I have finished the Arches doily using the Altin Basak thread that Ulla sent me, which I wrote about in the previous post. The pattern is by Marilee, the Yarnplayer.


The thread that I used for this are #3053 for the rings and #308 for the chains. 3-ply thread is not my first choice for tatting thread but I think I am going to like working with Altin Basak.

I was looking through my stash of tatting threads recently and realised something that I should have done from a very long time ago. And that is, to keep a record of the different type and shades of thread that I have used. Finally came up with this sample card system.


I tatted a small motif with each thread that I have. In this case, it is a small rings only flower with R(5-2-2-2-2-5). Each flower is pasted onto an index card with a brief note about the type, thickness and colour written beside it. For comparison, I also showed the width of the finished flower under it.

Each piece of card has space for three records which I file in a small D-ring file that was originally meant for keeping CDs in their plastic pockets. I have only made nine sample flowers from the many thread that I have. I must remember to add to it each time I start with a new thread.

Threads from Heather and a Doily

Heather of The Tarnished Tatter held a giveaway to mark her blogavesary in May and I was among the lucky few picked to receive something from her. In my case, it's either a copy of her book or choosing 3 skeins from her HDT tatting thread. For someone who will never have enough pf tatting thread, naturally I chose the threads. I chose the many-coloured hand-dyed, the lemon freeze and the Bead box (I think)

I received the threads last week, and boy they are much more beautiful in person. I couldn't wait and started making some snowflakes with the many-coloured HDT. I think the snowflakes look pretty with that thread. The other two thread are still in their skeins. I have to think of something special for them.



To see more of Heather's HDT, visit her etsy shop, hajdesigns31.etsy.com There are many other things to find there besides her HDT.

The designs are from my book Tatted Snowflakes Collection.

For no apparent reasons, I decided to tat myself a doily. The pattern is from the Japanese book, A New Approach to Tatting by Yusai Shokoin. I am using Omega thread in size 50 for this.


I have finished 4 rounds and almost finished the 5th round before running out of thread in one of the shuttles. Utilising the split ring and split chain techniques, I was able to work until the fifth round without any cut-and-tie after each round. There are 13 rounds in all. Two of the rounds are made up of small flower motifs. I foresee those two rounds are going to take quite a while to complete. I get bored very fast with repetitive motifs, :-)