Friday, November 20, 2009

A Hush Falls

Today's post is a culmination of tatting angst and a nod to the hush that seems to be falling over Tat Land of late.

Please join me as I pour a tall glass of "Iced Tea" by The Carpenters and fracture one of their best loved songs.



I know you were expecting to hear the tune, "There's a Kind of Hush (All Over the World)".

I had originally planned this as a Tatting Tea Tuesday post and it was my attempt at a tie-in. Yes, I hear the crickets...

I freely admit I am not as good at Tatting Tea tie-ins as Gina the Tatting Goddess. But I can fracture a quote (or a lyric) with the best of them!


There's a kind of hush,
All over Tat Land tonight.
All over Tat Land.
You can hear the sound of lacers mid-knot.

You know what I mean.

So listen very carefully
Get closer now and you will see what I mean
It isn't a dream

The only sound that you will hear

Are lacing shuttles [needles] clicking into high gear
Before Santa appears


What? More crickets?!? Y'all sure are a tough crowd.

Before you start lobbing rotten tomatoes, here is a fascinating PDF file. It is a tatting story that The New York Times originally ran on February 2, 1913. The title of the story was Tatting Rest Cure for British Brains.

Can you believe that under the headline it said this? "beats playing solitaire"  Oh sweet mercy!

I particlularly was amused at the spelling of the word doily : "d'oyley."

Another amusing bit was the term "toilet mat." Today, wouldn't a toilet mat be one of those fuzzy rugs that people use to accessorize their bathroom decor? I'm pretty sure that in 1913 they were referring to a lacy dresser scarf or some such.

Now, the next time you find yourself in the loo, the words "toilet mat" will pop into your head. LOL!

Remember — Tatting, it beats playing solitaire!

(To come full circle, it seems The Carpenters released their version of the Neil Sedaka song, "Solitaire" in 1975 and it reached 17 on hit charts of the day. As a kid my first LP was one of The Carpenters albums. Just more useless trivia...)

I know, I know...don't quit my day job.  Aren't you glad I shelved this topic in favor of dishing on HDT stash?

Have a great weekend!

8 comments:

Sally Kerson said...

We Brits know how to"tat" in style!!! Can you imagine a fellow attending a party in 1913 and getting his tatting shuttles out? Even hard to imagine today, too much wine flowing me thinks! The toilet mat was so amusing, always knew there was another possibility for tatting!! Thanks Isdihara very interesting.

Katie said...

LOL! That was such a fun post, & it's starting my day on a good note. (pun intended)

When I demo, I always hear people say how they "don't have time for that!" Then I ask what they do while they watch TV or a movie, because I have something to show for my time in front of the TV. LOL! They quickly come up with some other excuse.

Top o th mornin to ya!

Fox said...

That post was just what I needed today! What a chuckle.

Great find - The New York Times! I have forwarded it to my pals who read the paper every single day...

Love the bit about tatting being a kind of knitting!
Thanks,D, for posting!
Fox : )

Cindy said...

You must be drinking some strong tea :)

Thanks for the fractured chuckle! What an interesting article. I think I saw somewhere that 'doily' originated from the name D'Oyley. I will be pondering the words toilet and d'oyley all day. Somehow they just don't seem to go together very nicely!

Tatskool said...

Very entertaining post, the newspaper article is a classic and loved you fractured quote.

Gina said...

Ha! Well, the music was a bit hard on my ears but I loved the NY Times article! Any you fracture better than anyone I know! Cool - fun post! And a great weekend to you too!

Anonymous said...

Hi Isdihara:
You are very creative. It a cool post. I wanted to say thank you for the flowering teas and tatting thread. I was so happy to receive the package. My daughter and I are looking forward to having it soon. Have a great evening.

sewmuchfun4 said...

That was a GREAT post! I have NEVER heard that sound from the Carpenters before - kinda wish they had mixed it in more in later years, although I love them! You can certainly fracture a quote - I FELT the hush and heard the clicking...

The article was SO fun! I've been listening to My Man Jeeves, so I heard the article read in my head with a gruff English accent and quite a picture to accompany it. It makes for a good chuckle, but men who take up an art like tatting or quilting make the most INTRICATE, BEAUTIFUL things!

Thank you!
:) Ann