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!