Happy International Tatting Day!

Wishing you all a fun-filled International Tatting Day!

This wonderful animation was created by Tatman, aka Mark Myers! He has granted me permission to post it on the blog today. Thank you, Mark!

Please forgive me for dragging out the suspense, I know you all are checking in to find out who is the lucky giveaway winner!

For the past 24 hours my desktop computer has been stubbornly refusing to cooperate with my requests to open the Excel spreadsheet of giveaway entrants.

The upside for you is a few of you got your entries in under the wire just before I chose the winner!

After plying it with soothing promises of hard drive clean-up and de-fragmentation, the computer yielded.

All entrants were assigned a different number and those who were eligible for multiple entries were assigned two (and in a few cases three) numbers.

So without further adieu, after running the random number generator to pick the winning number...

The winner is Dale Marie

A big lacey congratulations to you!

If you want to read Tatskool's opinion of this gift pack, go to International Tatting Day 2010!

Tatskool received a gift set several weeks ago as a thank you for sending me a skein of Vanilla Sky HDT to add to the giveaway package! She has graciously been waiting to blog about it until I announced the winner.

And don't forget about TattingChic's 2nd blogoversary giveaway! You have until Sunday evening to get in on this goodie!

Tatting Tea Tuesday March 30, 2010 Recap

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NEXT — GIVEAWAY WINNER ANNOUNCED!

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Yesterday Sw4nkyL4c3r dropped by for Tatting Tea Tuesday (I love it when she does this!) and we nattered on from 9:00 a.m. until 2:30 p.m. It was an early start, so we (The Sprout, Sw4nkyL4c3r and I) settled in with cinnamon rolls and tea for breakfast.

As always, there was so much to show and so much to share, that in two shakes of a puppy-dog's tail it was lunch time. We lunched, I put The Sprout down for a nap and we got down to the serious business of tatting. She wanted to teach me needle tatting and here is what I have to show for my afternoon lesson.

My First Attempt at Needle Tatting
I showed off my County Fair project (so far) and we pored over tatting books and discussed the differences between needle and shuttle tatting, threads, the up-coming season of tatting classes and events at the Historic Ben Lomond House and loads of other topics.

I even let her get a word in edgewise! LOL!

Next time we meet I will teach her to use a shuttle. And she will show me more of the rose-themed tatting she is doing for the Ben Lomond House's May Rose Garden event. Yipee!

It is so invigorating to commiserate with another tatter. Haven't we all felt isolated at one time or another?

I encourage you to gather with another tatter any time you can -- whether it is during a car cruise, at a tea shop, in your local library, on the front (side or back) porch, at midnight, mid-day or any time.

Come join me for Tatting Tea Tuesday if ever you find yourself in the metropolitan DC area. I'll ply you with tea and treats.(But be prepared for me to ask to take your photo for the blog.)

Are You Ready for International Tatting Day?

It is almost here! International Tatting Day falls on Thursday, April 1, 2010.

If this is your first time celebrating ITD, here are a few suggestions to get you started, courtesy of Marty McCarthy:

International Tatting Day
1. Eat all the chocolate you desire.
2. Wear a little tatting and tell everyone you meet about tatting
3. Tat only for yourself, only what YOU want to tat
4. Remember (or Honor) the tatters who have gone before you and contributed so much to our art.

And by all means, you can send cards.

In Honor of Myrtle Hamilton

In 2003, I received this exquisite tatted heart in a tatting exchange. Myrtle Hamilton had designed the heart. Terry McGuffin tatted and sent the heart to me, complete with a hand-drawn diagram and written instructions.

Terry's heart is an updated version of Myrtle Hamilton's heart from 1976. Myrtle's original heart was tatted using many cuts and ties. Terry's updated heart is done in one pass using lots of split rings and one small split chain (three stitches).

Terry describes the thread she used as a size 40 6-ply cotton with a nice, hard twist, made by a Japanese company and sold (in 2003) by Dr. Maggie. The thread came in a 10 gram ball.


It just so happens that I recently purchased a 10-gram ball of Japanese Olympus size 40. It certainly meets all of Terry's criteria, but I am only guessing that Olympus was the brand.

In honor of Myrtle Hamilton, who died in 2003 at the age of 107 (based on a conversation yesterday on the Here_be_Tatters forum.) I will tat her heart and remember her fondly.

If you would like to know more about the wonderful woman who contributed so much to our beloved art form, please read the Georgia Seitz tribute page celebrating the tatting and life of Myrtle Hamilton.

Then gather up your gear and chocolate and prepare to share your tatting with the unsuspecting public. Hee, hee! Maybe I'll see you!

Round 3 of Fair Doily

Round 3 of Square Fair Doily, unblocked
Round three (3) is complete and thankfully it went smoothly, though it is beginning to ruffle. Sharon Briggs' blocking method worked like a charm on the ruffle.

Round 3 of Square Fair Doily, blocked
Round four (4) is made up of split rings, which I really enjoy. I am looking forward to working them in two colors.

Kickin' It Up a Notch
It is time to really shift things into high gear. I want to tat an Easter egg this week, plus tat the first of several entwined hearts for a wedding project on which I have volunteered to assist.

AND a lucky winner must be choosen for the International Tatting Day - Pamper Yourself Giveaway on April 1st! Who will it be?

It could be you! But only if you enter.

Milward Shuttle - My eBay auction win!
Milward Shuttle
Last week I won an eBay auction and scored a Milward tatting shuttle from a seller in the UK. It didn't come with a hook, but I am still over the moon with excitement to be its proud new owner.

Milward stopped producing these shuttles in the 1980s so they are increasingly hard to find.

In October 2009 Fox wrote of her eBay auction win of a Milward shuttle and an English Aero. It's true, my longing quadrupled after reading her post. My English Aero quest continues with a broad, "I got a Milward" grin!

ISO Manuela Thread
The English Aero is not the only thing I am in search of. Recently I took a thread inventory and realized that some color planning and organizing was in order. One thread I was not able to buy was size 20 Manuela  "Vanilla" color #055.

The incredible family of tatters on the Here_Be_Tatters list have graciously helped me in my search.

• Jeff (Bridge City Tatting) helped me find the correct color number for Manuela Vanilla. 
• Elesa Hurley looked through her thread stash and offered me her ball of Manuela "Natural" color #002. 

Thanks to you both, and anyone else who checked their stash for Manuela "Vanilla." The quest continues, so if you stumble upon a source, please let me know!

Last but not least, here is how I have organized my "ball" cottons. A 50% off Michaels A&C coupon came in handy to purchase this three-drawer cabinet. Now I have a separate drawer for size 20, 40 and size 50 - 80 threads. A narrow basket in each drawer will hold hand-dyed threads (HDT).

Thread Storage
Off to tat hearts and eggs and split rings.

Hope to see you for Tatting Tea Tuesday!

Tatted Cherry Blossom Jewelry

Have you seen this amazing cherry blossom jewelry tatted by @mahiru? It is stunning, stunning stuff!

For the Fair

Tatting Tea Tuesday (on Wednesday)

Today's tea is an infusion of minty sweetness that hits the spot during Spring rains. It is Traditional Medicinal's Organic Spearmint. My backyard spearmint crop hasn't come up yet, so this will see me through until Mother Nature provides. Mmmmm, soothing spearmint. ツ

One of my tatting goals for 2010 is to submit an entry into the County Fair in August. This is a huge goal for me, since I have never successfully completed a doily.

The last doily I started (back in the late 1990s) never got finished because at the time I didn't know how to work in new threads. I dug out the "ole' girl" for show and tell:

Still have it and yes, I now know how to add new thread to continue if I wished. But the white cotton I was using was a "big ball" crochet cotton in size 30. It might give me nightmares to tat with that thread now. LOL!

Spoken like a true thread junkie, eh?

Row 1 of Purple and Teal Square Doily
Debbie Arnold © 2002
Row 1 is tatted using LadyShuttleMaker's Treebeard HDT in size 50 and Lizbeth Linen size 40.

With this project, I stressed over color decisions. For example, I didn't want to get halfway through to find the variegated thread overpowering the design. So I paired Treebeard with a solid.

Sounds simple, right? It would have been, if I had a stash of size 50 solids. I don't.

Using mismatched threads bothers me. I can't help but fixate on the size difference. But without a solid in size 50, the best option was the size 40.

It already is bugging me. My eye is drawn to the larger thread. But the Treebeard is so lovely and fine and dreamy that I press on.

It took two days to tat the second row because The Sprout hasn't been napping. So adjust, I must. Please bear with me (and my frazzled nerves) while I carve out "me time" that doesn't involve losing sleep.

Row 2 of Purple and Teal Square Doily
Debbie Arnold © 2002
Started, found errors, retro-tatted and started again three times. And then noticed that I had attached to the wrong picot at the very start! So instead of cutting it off and starting over, I tatted around to the beginning and carefully snipped off the first repeat and tatted from the end over the cut away section.

Good gracious! I hope the rest of this project goes more easily or else my sanity is doomed!

Shamrocks, Equinox and Spring. Oh my!

Yesterday I posted joyfully about successfully completing my shamrock cookie quest.

I credit the four-leaf clover I found on Friday.

Saturday was the vernal equinox aka the first day of Spring. A few days earlier the Spring equilux passed virtually unnoticed.

Equinox means equal night. Equilux means equal light. Cool, huh?

Something I didn't know (thank you, Internet) is that for Persians, the vernal equinox also marks the start of Nowruz, their new year.

Happy Spring and Joyful Nowruz! Tonight Silly Hat Central will feast on Persian fare to honor enlightenment and new beginnings.

Spring Flowers

Warm, pleasant rays have begun coaxing crocus from their sleepy beds.

The Sprout and I have ventured out for walks and playground adventures beneath balmy blue skies. The two hounds are frisking about in youthful abandon. This verve has spread to my tatting.

See this 3D flower?

The Jessica Rose by Sharren Sarver Morgan © 2006
It is an example of my ongoing color conundrum study.

The color changes in the flower are as short as in the edging below, but in pastel tints. My love turns to hate when the color volume is cranked up to bright.

Spring Flowers Bookmark by Julie Patterson © 2002
Why do I hate this edging? Can someone please tell me?

Are there too many colors overpowering the design? Or is it in the intensity of the colors that suck the life out a beautiful bookmark goes wrong?

My hate turns back into love after switching to two solids (again in muted tones).

Spring Flowers Bookmark by Julie Patterson © 2002
This lace just sings, doesn't it? It has a light, delicate appearance that mimics blossoms on a vine.

For anyone interested, here is a thread breakdown:

• The Jessica Rose – Signature quilting cotton, size 20, pastels, and Majestic/Handy Hands size 80, color 829, Christmas Green

• Spring Flowers 1 – Signature quilting cotton, size 20, brights

• Spring Flowers 2 – vintage Star tatting cotton, shade 125, and DMC Special dentelles, size 80, olive green

Julie Patterson's design is the shape of beauty. It would make a stunning handkerchief edging. I intend to use it as a trim for a future quilted ball ornament.

Whatever use you may have in mind, tatting it is a joy. And working through the color issues has breathed new life into my tatting.