There is no blue without yellow and without orange.
~Vincent Van Gogh
This week I have been busy tatting doodles and pumpkins and working on adding a second round to the Sweetheart motif that Birgit Phelps designed in 2003.
I also have been working on finishing the two giveaway prizes from last week. But I don't want to reveal those just yet. Let's just say one of the prizes may arrive with an orange doodle or two.
So far, this one is my favorite.
My Mondo Monday Giveaway prize arrived in the mail this past week! The mailer was packed full of Halloween-y goodness! With gorgeous thread like this I could tat a whole patch of pumpkins. Really sincere ones. Worthy of The Great Pumpkin!
Isn't it superb? Honestly, my cup overflows with an embarrassment of tatting largesse.
But that's not all! I can't wait to share some of the goodies I got on loan yesterday from a new needle tatting friend named Bonnie.
Bonnie and I met at LacySusan's shop so she could partake of the trove of tatting riches (books and supplies) Lacy Susan has for sale (along with a vast array of bobbin lacing supplies).
Bonnie showed amazing restraint. Me? Not so much. (Unrepentant thread junkies disavow all knowledge of such words in their vocabularies.)
Look! A sneak peek of Tatskool's scrumptious new colorway called Bracken Crunch in a size 60, six-cord cotton. It is a member of the mouth-watering ChocoLime family of colors. Just winding it on the shuttles triggered a wicked Heath® toffee bar craving.
Along with the 2 purple Sew-mate shuttles pictured above, I purchased 2 Aero-style shuttles (They are the bulk shuttles, labeled "made in Germany." They do not say "Aero" on them anywhere.)
. . . a size 22 (0.5 mm) crochet hook for joining, a bobbin lace pricker, a pack of needles for the pricker, and two bobbin lace books.
The two bobbin lace books are both authored by Rosemary Shepherd:
1. Introduction to Bobbin Lacemaking
2. An Early Lace Workbook: Bobbin Lace Techniques before the Baroque
Quite a haul, if I do say so myself!
But I digress. Bonnie loaned me her copy of Contemporary Tatting: New Designs from an Old Art by Judith Connors. This is a lovely book that includes a pattern for a tatted "take anywhere" cup of tea. It is a darling teacup design that includes split rings. Can't wait to tat one up!
She also printed out a copy of a 3D cup and saucer 2003 pattern by Roger a.k.a. Freedman that had been posted on a needle tatting group site at msn.com. It includes a tatted spoon pattern! It looks as though msn.com has closed its groups site. So having a printed copy of this pattern is like hitting the TTT jackpot!
Since I can't show you this doozy of a tatted teacup find, here is another teacup and saucer pattern originally published in an old Workbasket magazine. Suzann Welker rewrote it so there are no cuts and ties. It involves split rings and split chains, but only short ones.
And just so you don't think ill of unrepentent thread junkies in general (or me in particular) I was not completely greedy. I promised to share my copy of Let's Tat by Angeline H. Crichlow and The Tatted Artistry of Teiko Fujito (Lacis Publications) with Bonnie when I see her on Sunday, October 25.
More later, tatting friends! The hour is late and my eyelids droop. Want to know more about the tome pictured above? Ask and I will answer. (in my next post) Now it is off to bed with me.
As Fox so eloquently puts it . . . "Anon"
Your new post just popped up, it's 9.30 am here so you are a stop up!!
ReplyDeleteSo much to see in this post, the teapot is gorgeous and the pumpkins...and all the other stuff..have to go back and read it again!
New thread almost ready to be launched.
I never thought much of orange or purple until I started tatting... thanks for the inspiration! I think you showed great self- restraint, and what fun to meet up with another tatter! How far away do you live? ; )
ReplyDeleteYour pumpkin teapot is darling! It looks like you got a lot of tatting toys to play with! Enjoy! I have Teiko Fujito's books and I love them all! She is so very talented and has some lovely designs!
ReplyDeleteDidn't have time to comment earlier this morning but I love your new teapot! And I'd like to know more about the Angeline book! I've seen her patterns or method of tatting but not the book. How did you get it?
ReplyDeleteEnjoyed your tribute to orange! Never really liked it as a kid, but lately it's grown on me. If you had known you could have added the neon orange socks my daughter wore to school today to your tribute!
ReplyDeleteYour little PUNkin with the improv stem is CUTE! I'm ALL shades of green that you have a lace shop nearby AND a tatting friend to meet up with! I'm curious about the book too! The cover looks serious and the title says "it's go time!"
:) Ann
Gina, Sewmuchfun4 and all:
ReplyDeleteI first heard of the book, "Let's Tat!" through Georgia Seitz' online tat class. I followed the reviewer's (Hope) sage advice!
Here is the review by Hope (pasted in from Georgia Seitz.com):
Review by Hope:
In the back of my copy, which is kept wedged between books because the cover goes soft and curly in humidity- is an email... and I know AKTATTER was blessed with knowing in person this lovely lady!!! because the letter tells of Georgia's learning to tat in 1979 in Sacramento California.
I still have the check where I ordered my books because she endorsed it.. have one of her volumes of poetry.. and adore this book ...and I feel so blessed to not only have the book & 5 of her small ones, but the memory of talking to her on the phone & a letter from her.
"Let's Tat!" is 352 pages, hard bound- and more special- printed and hand bound by a beloved tatter who wanted to share tatting with everyone. It is b&w with very good photos of the tatting, I was constantly amazed at all the techniques that she teaches and for me it was a book that I "read" practically from cover to cover- because it was so much fun. It was delightful because of her descriptions of the patterns- where they came from- and often memories that they evoked. Page 91 is a particular favorite- Centipede Edging... the story about it is precious- taking us back to pioneer times & wagon travel. Her mother called it Centipede Edging- and Angeline was so fearful of centipedes that it was quite unpleasant to think about having this edging on her own clothing. This book is like a recorded history of tatting. If you can ever borrow one and spend time just reading it for pleasure - don't hesitate. and if you find a copy somewhere for sale- don't hesitate- BUY IT!!
Gina:
ReplyDeleteI bought my copy of "Let's Tat" from eBay. And I paid a pretty penny for it too. But it is worth it. A treasure!
Lace-lovin' Librarian, Diane:
Yes, it was only my second ever meet-up with another tatter. Once in 2003 or 2004 a lovely needle tatter whose screen name is elkaybee came to my home for a tatting tea. We had a wonderful afternoon! But I've not seen her since.
I was so excited to show Bonnie how close at hand Lacy Susan is. Bonnie is roughly 10-12 miles away.
Incidently, elkaybee lives much closer to me, so it is even more of a shame we don't see each other more.
What a cute teapot, never seen anything like that before. Halloween is approaching, not too crazy about it in the UK, although every year more things come on the market. The purple shuttles caught my eye, one of my favourite colours. The tatted pumpkin also looks great, you are truly ready for Halloween!!!
ReplyDeleteWow, D! What a wonderful post that is! From quotes from Van Gogh to a delightful orange teapot, to beautifully tatted pumpkins and followed by a description of a book I knew nothing about that set my saliva glands to working overtime! Sounds like an excellent time had by all! Nice haul as well!
ReplyDeleteHow do you like the shuttles - the Sewmate and the bobbin ones?
Fox : ))
Sally, purple is my favorite color, so I just had to buy the Sewmates.
ReplyDeleteHalloween is taking on a whole new dimension at Silly Hat Central since The Sprout is old enough to enjoy it. Costumes and cookies and decorations and even spooky suppers are de rigueur.
Fox, so far I like the size of the Sewmates and I love the color. Am trying the Aero-style shuttles today so I will have to let you know. :-)
I LOVE the Sewmates, best shuttles ever, purple, lime, pink and orange and just seen a new color is out.
ReplyDeleteSize is perfect and they hold such a lot of thread.