Behind-the Scenes Lace Tour

Metal bobbin lace sample with needle lace trim

Last Thursday I attended a behind-the-scenes lace tour at the Smithsonian Institution's Museum of American History. If you are interested in tatting and bobbin laces, this tour is well worth your time.

Silver bobbin lace

It was also Earth Day, so the Mall was bustling with activity. Wish I had snapped a photo of the rally. Activists holding whale tails and picket signs marched alongside Greenpeace staffers sweltering in full-body whale suits. You can see photos of them here:)

Thompson describing the pricking process

Volunteer Karen Thompson led the two-hour lace tour. Besides being marvelous, warm and patient, her love of lace epitomizes why we were all there. She was a font of knowledge with a clear passion for preserving handmade laces.

Here she is talking about lace ruffs. Actual lace ruffs were heavily starched or supported with boning. The goofy-looking model is yours truly.

Karen Thompson also teaches museum visitors to make lace each week from 1:00 to 2:00 p.m. with one other volunteer instructor.

How did I hear about this backroom lace tour? Karen Thomspon's article in Piece Work magazine (July/August 2009) first tipped me off, but Shirley Hays' blog post (Shade Tree Art) with photos of tatting sealed the deal.

There was one bulletin-style board pinned full of tatting on display for the tour. My photos suffer from a bit of motion blur from holding the camera high above my head and tripping the shutter.

My intention was to take one overall shot and use PhotoShop to crop close-ups. The motion blur wrecks that plan. But you can still see enough of the lace to get a pretty good idea of the fine threads used and method of attaching individual motifs into larger shapes.

Karen Thompson told me that there was more tatting in the collection. Perhaps future tatters can ask to see some of the pieces in the storage drawers.

The tour is limited to eight persons.

Planning a trip to the nation's capitol? Call ahead and reserve your spot for the lace tour.

Many more photos of the lace tour, plus a few from the Ipswitch exhibit can be viewed from Orla's Flikr account.  Thank you, Orla for hosting them all!

MORE TO COME! Watch for the Bayeux Tapestry made in lace, black Chantilly lace and more.

Outdoor Tatting - Dragonfly!

* Scroll down to the UPDATE for dragonfly photo *

As birds twitter overhead and midday sun warms the grass, I sip my tea (iced) and contemplate tatting for the first time in days. Fireman Sprout is playing in the car a few feet away.

"Quick! There's a fire!" he says, grabbing his imaginary fire hose. "Let's go put it out!"

And so the stage is set for an outdoor tatting session.

But what to tat? A UFO or a new project?

There is the lovely 'Eventail' fan the online tatting class discussed yesterday. It was designed by a needle tatter named Lucette Evain-Lacan and is included on page 27 of her book "La frivolité à l'aiguille pas à pas." (Needle Tatting Step by Step)

Alas, I need to learn how to make Single Shuttle Split Rings before I can tackle it. *le sigh*

Riet Surtel Smeulders prepared the SSSR practice pattern for the online tatting class in 2002 – Libel, the Dragonfly.

And here is my dragonfly, such as it is. I ran out of time before having to go pick up Big Daddy from the commuter lot and take The Sprout to his swimming lesson. Will have to complete it after swim class.

My first attempt at Single Shuttle Split Rings

All in all, not a bad first try at SSSR's. More practice will make them less lop-sided.

As a funny aside, Riet named her dragonfly Libel...with all the muttered curses and name-calling, perhaps mine should be named Slander. LOL!

But seriously, no bad things were said about any person real or imaginary. (Though if the green cotton had ears...they would be flaming!)

UPDATE: Didn't finish the dragonfly until Wednesday morning. Sorry to keep you waiting, Gina!

Single Shuttle Split Ring Dragonfly

For the wings, I used two threads wound together (HWT)^† – a pale yellow DMC Special Dentelles in size 80 and a Signature variegated machine quilting cotton in size 40 (M09 - Golden Harvest). It gives the wings just a hint of dimensional color. 

^†Jane Eboral defines HWT in her post HDT vs. HWT

Floor Gets a Facelift

Sadly, I haven't picked up my shuttles to tat in several days. Without my daily dose of tatting zen I have felt remarkably out of sorts. Sometimes other projects must take precedence, like when the installation crew arrives to put down a brand new hardwood floor!

This was my kitchen with the crappy, old linoleum floor.

And here are the workmen laying the Gunstock Oak over top of the reinforced subfloor.

I L-O-V-E this new floor. It makes my kitchen look bigger and sound quieter. The squeeks are gone (well, except for one stubborn, tiny one). Now Big Daddy jokes that he can sneak down to the fridge for a midnight beer without me knowing. *grins*

See Ciarrán skating across the new floor?

He's such a fun-lovin' lep. You should see it when he challenges The Sprout to sliding contests. They really do have a ball together.

On Wednesday the new clothes washer and dryer arrive. Saints (or Goddess or name your favorite deity) be praised! I have been drying clothes on a clothes line (strung through my ground floor TV room, no less) since October, 2009.

It's not that we couldn't afford a new dryer before now. We wanted to cash in on the government's Cash for Appliances program. To qualify for rebates we had to wait until the project officially started. (April 28, 2010)

The itemized list of incentives for qualifying appliances was announced a week or so ago. The pittance our state had alloted for washing machines wasn't worth the trouble of waiting. If only we lived in one of the states that offered bigger rebate incentives! Live and learn.

A new dishwasher will be arriving in 14 days. The old one was yanked out to put in the new floor so I am washing and drying all the dishes by hand until the new one is installed.

*giggles* Do you think dish-pan hands affect my tatting?

ITD Redux & Mixed Media bookmark

International Tatting Day Do-Over
Two weeks ago I made several attempts to tat for myself on Tatting Tea Tuesday but ended up spending most of my day wrestling with my aging desktop computer. Of course I managed to eat chocolate.

Today is the day I have chosen to have an ITD do-over. Serendipity struck when Paris Breakfasts shared loads of lovely red store fronts, shop windows, cafes...even chocolate fish!

Photo reprinted with permission
©2010 Paris Breakfasts

See? I don't make this stuff up. In France they celebrate April 1st with chocolate fish.

For my do-over, I loaded a fish-shaped shuttle with size 10 hand-dyed bamboo thread from Heather, The Tarnished Tatter. Having never tatted with bamboo, it was tantalizing to think of the lace possibilities this new fiber might bring.

Fish-shaped shuttle with size 10 bamboo HDT.

Heather's Etsy shop describes this thread as VERY soft and perhaps not suitable for tatting, but very nice for crochet and other uses.

It is very soft, but in that dreamy bamboo way. This would be incredible for knitted, crocheted, embroidered or woven baby projects. It works for tatting, but is not as crisp as some other threads. 

For the record I am a size 10 hater. So I was reluctant to try this. But as soon as I saw that it was a bamboo thread my inner fiber fanatic took over. I love knitting with bamboo blends because of the softness and renew-ability of bamboo.

Wouldn't it be grand to try a 6-cord cotton/bamboo blend? What are the chances that thread manufacturers would give it a test run? (That dreamy softness must be having an effect on me.)

Heather sent me more scrumptious HDTs in size 50 (my fave-o-rite thread size!) as a thank you for test tatting swans for her latest book. (A really good book, by the way. Full of fun "doodles" like a whale, swans, even a baby dragon hatching from an egg!) So I have more to try and more to show.

But this post is getting rather long, so I will save it for another day.

Mixed Media Bookmark
Time to pull out a cherished mixed media bookmark that I have carried with me since my adolescent days. (Back when rocks were soft and dirt was new. LOL!)

Felt Mitten Bookmark, circa 1975

My twin sister and I made dozens of these to sell for a Horsethief Days festival sidewalk sale when we were 12 or 13 years old. What is significant (besides being cute) is that the bookmark looks as fresh and new today as it did the day it was made.

My grandmother tatted all the lace – yards and yards of lace edging for us to decorate these felt mittens. She tatted in front of the television, her hands flying back and forth amazingly fast. I can still hear the click-click-clicking of her shuttle.

It only took her a few weeks to tat all the lace we needed. For me to tat the same amount today would take a month or more. I still recount stitches more than once before closing a ring or finishing a chain. I still slow down to make sure each stitch is uniform and there are no gaps. In short, I obsess.

Because I have collected vintage threads by the hat box full, I can tell you what thread she used – Star tatting cotton in shade #176. (a lovely variegated combo of white, yellow and lavender).

 Well, I have run out of time and must take The Sprout to his swimming lesson! See you all later tonight!

A Reason for Lace?

Posing Daylillies' question for open discussion:

Is it possible for tatting to have more relevance for today’s lifestyle?

I, for one, have been asked to defend tatting many times. Daylily makes some good points and raises a good question at the end of her blog post - A Reason for Lace?

Jennifer, who authors the blog My Tatting, posts a lovely photo of the Ring of Tatters demo table from the Harrogate Lace Fair 2010. Some of the creative items on display may surprise and inspire you.

Aside from jewelry, what sort of tatted item is more relevant to today's lifestyle?

Check out this breathtaking tatted wedding snood.

There is no denying the artistry in Tattyhead's Bridal Headband.

Tatting  makes the mag circuit thanks to Elizabeth Zipay, who authors Elizabeth's Lace: Tatted Tales: Unique Lace Jewelry

A needlework sampler is considered to be "old fashioned," but this tatted alphabet sampler, made my mimizuku, is exquisite and would make a timeless piece of framed art.

As often as I have defended tatting, not a single person has walked away convinced. Usually the looks on faces seem to say, "just as I thought, old fashioned."  That makes me sad.

Unpick, Retro Tat or Tonk?

Beverly Elrod, BellaOnline's Tatting Editor, has proposed adding a new word to the tatting lexicon.

It wasn't so long ago that I picked up the term "retro tat" from other clever bloggers.

Retro tat refers to picking out stitches (or knots). Beverly's proposed new word – tonking – refers to the same thing.

(Click on the link for her full explanation.)

Do we need a new word? Maybe so or maybe not.

My humble opinion is that there is room for a new word in the tatting lexicon. Word diversity gives language rich dimension.

And it is always nice to know what a person means, isn't it?

So I am spreading the word about Beverly's new word.

Take the poll at the top of the blog and vote for your favorite!

Busy, Balmy and Beautiful

It is a balmy and bustling day on the tiny tract of terra firma that Ambitatterous annexes in Tat Land.

For springtime, it is a veritable heat wave. Mid 80's! But the breeze is just right to take tatting outdoors while The Sprout plays in the car.

This week for Tatting Tea Tuesday, I must catch up on a few weeks worth of test tatting that I have had up my sleeve. And break out the iced tea pitcher!

Not long ago (when the days were gray, drizzly and we all were searching for signs of Spring) our beloved Tatskool was locked away in her dying shed, feverishly perfecting a combination of yellows, oranges and greens to infuse our dreary doldrums with a burst of fresh, daffodilly color. You've seen her post about it in Transitions No. 2 OYG!

Well, I begged for a sample and tatted up this OYG Trial 1 heart sample to add to the Flame Lantana heart I tatted at the end of February. It is my hope that a few more Transitions trials will result in a Transitions Heart Bookmark. (Rainbow Heart Bookmark designed by Betsy Evans.)

Stage 2 of Transitions Heart Bookmark
I couldn't stop there, so another Iris Niebach Heart motif was born. While unblocked, it has six sides and dimpled rings to really show off those gorgeous heart shapes.

Iris Niebach heart motif made using OYG Trial 1
Special thanks to Dale Marie for getting me hooked on this motif. You can visit her blog, Shuttle and Thread, to see the gorgeous doily she made for her mom. I am hoping she receives her International Tatting Day giveaway prize in the mail today!

Eventually I will add a seven-motif doily or perhaps a dresser scarf to my 25 Motif Challenge. Right now I'm having a ball using Iris' heart motif to practice loosening my notoriously tight (death grip) tension.

But if you read through Tatskool's post you will know that the OYG trials resulted in TWO gorgeous new colorways — Daffodil Dell and Just Daffodils.

Here is a sample of Julie Patterson's Spring Bookmark using Just Daffodils for the blossoms and a dark, moss green solid for the stems. Both in size 20.

Tatskool's link (see Transitions No. 2 OYG above) includes a sample made using a lighter green Flora thread.

Her Flora green perfectly compliments Just Daffodils. But I still like the contrast of the darker shade.

My goal is to tat a full seven-to-eight inches, then join a matching length to make a double-width bookmark. My complicated brain demands it. With a tassel tail. *sigh*

This week I did start tatting the first of several entwined hearts for a wedding project on which I have volunteered to assist. But I can't show you. The reveal of these lovely hearts is best left to the primary tatter. I am just a volunteer helper who doesn't wish to steal her thunder.

All this and another Easter has come and gone without me breaking out the Vanilla Sky I have been hoarding all year. *heavy sigh* I do hope Dale Marie enjoys hers!

Thanks for joining me this week for Tatting Tea Tuesday. Wishing you all blissful me time to create something beautiful.

See you next Tuesday for more communi-tea!