Aliens in Tat Land: A Closer Look

   This past January, Jane Eborall hosted her annual Tat It And See adventure. She works hard to design, diagram, and deliver an original tatting pattern in bite-size pieces for Tat Land to enjoy.  It is two weeks of creative battery-charging, energy-boosting, doldrums-banishing fun!   

   You can never tell where Jane will take you. Every stage of her game is fun, since it fuels my  imagination to run wild with crazy guesses. (I always try to work in a camel guess early on.) 

   Each new clue jump-starts my creative brain cells and helps me to see design possibilities. This year she had me guessing right up until the very end.

   Without further adieu, I present to you the first of my insinuation of aliens! Chief Blue Meanie from Outer Space!  He is tatted with Lizbeth thread, size 20, #707 – Sky Blue Dark. 

   You know that bittersweet feeling when you get to the end of a very good book? The end of T.I.A.S. each year is a bit like that. It is affecting, conquering new techniques; I have loved the camaraderie; I am delighted by the aliens, and yes, I am sad it's over for 2023. 

I will have alien #2, #3 and #4 to reveal in future posts.  Stay tuned, tatting friends!

“Everyone’s quick to blame the alien.” ~ Aeschylus

Motif 21 - Pram Pride

IsDihara's TIAS 2013 complete!

These darling baby carriages will count as Motif 21 for my 25 Motif Challenge. 

For those who like to know, here are the threads I used to create these cuties: 

Lizbeth 20 #168 Latte Foam for the body of the pram on the left.
Lizbeth 20 #125 Sea Scape for the body of the pram on the right.

Lizbeth 20 #603 Ecru for the wheels and handles.

What does your pram say about you?  

Mine say that I LOVED tatting January's mysterious and whimsical TIAS.  It was brilliant!  The releases kept me guessing well past the half-way mark. (It is the guessing that I like most of all.)

In fact, I stopped tatting on the last installment to tackle Sapling's 6th birthday party and a few other real-life bits, but kept putting it off JUST so the fun wouldn't end. (Crazy logic, I know.)  Eventually they called to me to be tidied up and taken out for a stroll.

Merci mille fois, Jane, for giving us this delightful game to play. It sure was fun!

Here is a quick guide for deciphering what your baby's actions are when in an outward-facing pram.  If the person walking toward you:

• Smiles or comments about how cute your child is = Baby is asleep.
• Gives you pitying looks = Baby is crying.
• Looks of horror = Baby is covered in vomit or the wind has stuck a crisp packet to it’s face

(I found these amusing tips on a blog post entitled "What does your pram say about you?") 

And last, but not least, is this image of the limited edition BMW Pram Royal Baby Stroller. I hadn't seen it before. Apologies if your little corner of Tat Land has been inundated with it.

 

Tatting Tea Tuesday - TIAS Day 10 & Penguin Head

February tends to fly, but holy smokes!  Has it really been a whole month since my last post?

IsDihara's TIAS 2013 Day 10 progress, red background

Freshly completed January TIAS projects usually energize my tatting creativity. This year I set aside Jane Eborall's adorable TIAS at Day 10 with the intent to finish Gingerbread Boy.  (...before the creative wave washed in.)

Gingerbread Boy still unfinished...

Poor, neglected cookie laddie still languishes in my tatting corner. What's the hold up?  Nothing really, just me being obsessive about not messing him up. Can I rationalize that it would be a whole lot easier if I had a diagram to follow? 

Yes! I even tried to draw a digital diagram to get going again. *grumbles.loudly* Computer wouldn't cooperate.  More on that later.

So I switched to designing with my shuttles instead. This is what I created.

Front-facing penguin head 
© 2013 Karen Beary Parent
All Rights Reserved

Imagine black beads in the center of the white rings for eyes.  Also imagine a triangle-shaped bead for the beak. Beads are intended to be sewn on later but could be tatted in as you go.

AUGH! If only my middle-aged computer could handle "the strain" of diagramming. It is not up to the task. (Hard drive errors linked to memory swap issues....AUGH!)  And I haven't yet been brave enough to try diagramming patterns on the iPad.

For Tatting Tea Tuesday, I sip Chocolate Strawberry herbal tea while I finish up TIAS Day 11.

I am also contemplating a graft of a front-facing penguin head onto a penguin body designed by Jane Eborall. If it works it will be disarmingly cute. If not, the unfortunate fellow could be a freak the likes of a Frankenstein monster. (That wasn't melodramatic at all...)

More photos to come after two prams/baby carriages are done and given a quick steam press. 

Wishing you all blissful me time to create something beautiful (and neck bolt free). See you next Tuesday for more communi-tea!

TIAS Day 7 -- What IS it?

Instead of waiting for the weekend, I thought I'd post a quick update of my TIAS Day 7.

IsDihara's TIAS 2013 Day 7 progress, white background

IsDihara's TIAS 2013 Day 7 progress, red background

Note:  These scans are flipped "wrong side" up. Being a left-handed tatter, my "whatsit" naturally progresses with the Days 5, 6 and 7 the other way round (on the right side).


Day 7 had me saying this phrase over and over in my head:  rubber baby buggy bumpers
Say that three times fast!

Here is a photo of my latest guess:  a surrey-like baby buggy.  It puts me to mind of the song from the musical Oklahoma!  -- "Surrey with the Fringe on Top"

Image source: Hap Moore Antiques Auctions, March 21, 2009
www.hapmoore.com

Isn't it fun how each new release jump-starts the creative brain cell(s)?

It really is great to see so many TIAS 2013 bits pop up on the blogs. What a wonderful reminder that we aren't "tatting in the wilds" (all alone) but in a lively global community.

TIAS 2013 Start Date

Have you heard?  Jane Eborall has announced the start of Tat It And See 2013!

If you have never participated, you're in for a treat!  This is the perfect time to jump in with two feet er, shuttles (one needle, if you prefer).

Jane's marvelous announcement and introduction says it all:

 "This year's TIAS (Tat It And See) is starting next week on Friday, 11th January."

 "Here is the link for the TIAS blog http://tatitandsee.blogspot.co.uk and here is the link to the introduction page too. http://janeeborall.freeservers.com/TIAS2013/IntroTIAS2013.pdf

 "Details of what you need is on the introduction page. I promise that this year's will be an easy tat for everybody and a great deal of fun. No beads for those of a nervous disposition!!!"

 "To see past games please visit the TIAS blog. Please email me on love to tat @ gmail.com if you want further help". ~ Jane

Hope to "see you there!"