Guiness World Record Update & Supple Knees?

The Palmetto Tatting Guild has posted the results of their Tatting World Record attempt from September 2011:

UPDATE from Tat Days 2011, February 23, 2012: THANK YOU to everyone that participated in our attempt in Septebmer to set a world record of the most folks tatting at one time. We have heard back from Guinness and they said we needed more than 250 tatters to break the record. We had around 120 when counting those at Tat Days and those around the world that joined us. We may try again one day. Again, THANK YOU to ALL that joined us!

And a phrase from the quote at the end of Wanda's blog post, Gifts, piqued my interest.  

"Youth is not a time of life: it is a state of mind; it is not a matter of rosy cheeks, red lips and supple knees; it it a matter of the will, quality of the imagination, a vigor of the emotions; it is the freshness of the deep springs of life."
~ Samuel Ullman

The poetic quality of "supple knees" is a point to ponder. I freely concede the state of mind, rosy cheeks and red lips. But supple knees? I never had supple knees. (Maybe as a swaddling baby?)

Isn't it funny what we think about as we tat?

I never miss Wanda's lovely posts. They are always clever, honest and never fail to satisfy. Her knack for finding quotes to fit her posts is as remarkable as her tatting.

So for the rest of my tatting time today I will ponder supple knees, will, the quality of imagination, vigorous emotion and the freshness of spring.  Especially "the deep springs of life."

Keep up the great work, Wanda!

Downton the Dumps

Happy Tatting Tea Tuesday!  Lingering thoughts of the season 2 finale of Downton Abbey ran roughshod over today's tea-time tatting post. Please pardon the change.

The title of today's post reflects my mood regarding the hiatus.

Seriously, how are we to muddle through until Season 3 starts in (cross your fingers) September?

One way, could be to act out our favorite scenes using Kyle Hilton's Downton Abbey Paper Dolls (You bet your sweet bippy I'll be doing this.) Dowager Countess doll here I come.

Or, one can always win a trip to Highclere & Leeds Castles to live your own Downton experience: Win a Trip to Briton

Fans can (and should) seek out blogs dedicated to Downton Abbey:
Downton Abbey Cooks

Or play dress-up! Haven't we seen a tatted choker closely resembling the one pictured here?
Downton Abbey - Madame Guillotine
Hand-Me-Downtons: Why those costumes weren't quite as lavish as they looked onscreen

Not everyone adores DA as much as I. The New York Times Art Beat has this report in its "Culture at Large" section:  Another British Critic Torches ‘Downton Abbey’

But to those who see Downton Abbey as a “steaming, silvered tureen of snobbery,” I say, "Pass me a third helping, if you please."

Farewell Gina, Forever The Tatting Goddess

The tatting community gathers together today to show how much love and admiration Regina "Gina" Brummett, known online as the Tatting Goddess, inspired in us.

Count me among them.

Though I never had the pleasure of meeting her, Gina's was the first tatting blog I ever read. Without fail it was a must-read. Her creativity, mirth and candor give her posts much energy and love.

My favorite pattern of Gina's is her Gingerbread Boy.  But truth be told, every pattern she so generously shared is on my must-tat list.  (This list goes back to the 1980s.)

It is not a stretch to say that everything Gina tatted and shared on her blog I wanted to tat. Normally I am not a fan of rickrack, but Gina's work combining this trim with tatting won me over. When she posted about poking through antique shops for treasures, finding fine porcelain or tatted handkerchiefs or adorable bud vases, I planned an outing toute suite.

I followed her most recent 25 Motif Challenge with fervent interest.  She deftly brought the tatting patterns from  D.M.C. Tatting  (which can be found in the Antique Pattern Library) to life with her technical skill and facile charm.

Singing Gina's praises is so easy because they are so richly deserved. LadyShuttleMaker (I think?) said it best when she wrote:  Gina "left an indelible mark" on us all.

It feels odd to miss someone who I never met in real life, but that is the way of the tatting community.  Gina was a kindred spirit.

So today we mourn the loss of one of our own: a treasured rose.

During this time of reflection many elegant tatting ladies have demonstrated dignity and grace.  I cannot truly count myself among them. I fall squarely into the "sappy sobber" camp.

But whether you are a "sappy sobber" or decorum is more your cup of tea, I thank you for indulging my tear-stained tribute to a truly great lady. She lives on in our memories, but will be sorely missed.

Thank you, Gina, for being among the first to welcome me into the online tatting community.  
 And thank you, Powers That Be, for her time spent among us and the vast talent she shared.

A Sampling of Patterns from Tatting Goddess

This note is forwarded with the kind permission of Georgia Seitz, who posted it to all those on her Online Tatting Class mailing list.  I repost it here, just in case you didn't see it yesterday.

Georgia Seitz wrote:

Dear tatters,

If you have a tatting blog or page, please join us as we remember Gina
Brummet on Friday, Feb. 17, 2012. Please post a note, a memory or
photos of your tatting from a Gina Brummet  pattern.

See her work: http://threadsofatattinggoddess.blogspot.com/

Here are some patterns which Gina shared with the Online Tatting Class
over the years.

http://www.georgiaseitz.com/2010/ginabnc1921janinpicot.html
http://www.georgiaseitz.com/2010/ginabrummetmignonetteheart.html
http://www.georgiaseitz.com/2004/plaits/gbplaits.html
http://www.georgiaseitz.com/2006/beetonrosette.html

SAD NEWS - UPDATE

CrazyMom found this lovely obituary online for Gina. There is a place for condolences.

http://www.hippensteelfuneralservice.com/obituaries.php?detail&ID=2389

Barbara Foster kindly forwarded this link for Gina's obituary in her local newspaper:

Journal and Courrier - Regina Brummet

Here is information to contact her sister, Linda, and her daughter, Laurie, for those of you who have asked for direct contact.

Linda: ljadair@comcast.net
Laurie: laurie.siimmons@hotmail.com

And last but not least, Lady ShuttleMaker and CrazyMom have offered up a truly lovely suggestion -- to make a tribute to Gina, who touched and enriched our lives with her wit and wisdom:

Let's all blog sweet things in tribute to Gina on Friday, each on our on blogs and when we get time to post. I think Gina would be very pleased.

SAD NEWS

It is with a heavy heart that I share this sad, sad news with Tat Land.

Today I received a call from Barbara Foster of Handy Hands, Inc. She had spoken with the owner of ZigZag Corner and had been informed of the death of one of our beloved tatting bloggers:

Gina the Tatting Goddess

At this time I know very little, except that Tatting Goddess had been battling cancer.

This news comes as quite a shock to me, as I am sure it will to many of you.

As I learn more, I will share it here. Please take a moment or two to pay your silent respects to Gina, who now tats with the angels.

We will miss her so.

Gina's Tatting Blog: Threads of a Tatting Goddess

Tatting Tea Tuesday - Dead Battery

As odd as it sounds, today's Tatting Tea Tuesday post has been derailed by a dead battery.

Before I go off on a dead battery rant, (We've all been there, right?) it is time to confess. I did not tat over the holidays (*gasp* Horrors!) but have started tatting again.

Here are my current works in progress.

Goodness! Please pardon the sad state of my apple accent rug. I swear I vaccuum it. There is nothing like a tatting photo to really show the lint and dirt, eh?

Lately Lady Grey tea has been helping me get back in the tatting swing after an extended bout of "winter plague." Thankfully everyone at Silly Hat Central is recovered and healthy.

The photo shows three projects in the hopper, with Jane Eborall's TIAS making four! I haven't yet done today's TIAS Day 1 bit, but will post my progress once complete.

The lavender satin Christmas ball will have this simple motif attached at the top and bottom. I am playing around with a strip of dark purple edging for the middle, if I decide the top and bottom pieces leave too much empty space around the center. Stay tuned for the finished product.

Next up is a bookmark-in-progress using Lizbeth® 20 Autumn Apple Pie #169. The pattern is the marvelous Broomstick Tatted Bookmark © 2010 Martha Ess.

Dirt aside, the apple rug shows the close match of the color chosen to represent the flesh of the apples. Sort of a pale, greyish white offsets the rich red and golden tones. Lint, dust specs and dog hair are not part of the plan. (sigh)

A whole separate post about Autumn Apple Pie is coming in a few weeks, but for now let me say that I am (as I suspect many of you are) dissatisfied with this colorway.

Remember my post from September 15, 2011, ♥ Lizbeth® is here ♥? Autumn Apple Pie was my favorite of the lot.

On the ball this colorway looks good enough to eat. I stand by that assessment.

But let me come right out and say it -- tatted up, this colorway does not deliver the way many other Lizbeth® colorways do. In some cases the colors "pool," in other cases the resulting lace resembles a dog's breakfast. Or worse, the by product of a dog's breakfast.

Here is the same bookmark tatted using Lizbeth® 20 #125 Seascape:
Motif #15 - Broomstick Tatted Bookmark

What makes #125 Seascape so enchanting and #169 Autumn Apple Pie fall flat? Is it the irregular lengths of the colors? Is it the way they blend (or don't blend) together? Is it the pale, greyish white that throws off everything else?

These are the questions I am willing to get to the bottom of.

Hey, that last line reminds me of a movie...was it Sleepless in Seattle? When Tom Hanks talks to his son Jonah about starting to date again?

The final unfinished snippet of lace is a half-finished heart tatted in Lizbeth® 20 Purple Iris Fusion #162. Even half-done this heart looks splendid. Captivating colors in pleasant progressions that add to the appeal of the end product are what I am accustomed to with Lizbeth® threads.

But I digress...the heart pattern is called Broad-Shouldered Heart © 2004 Karey Solomon. It appears on page 23 of her booklet Hearts Belong to Tatting.

SwankyL4c3r, my needle-tatting pal, chose this heart for a Valentine-themed tat-a-long (TAL) held on Sunday, January 8, 2012. What a fun afternoon we had, tatting this winsome heart! The only change to the pattern is the ring making the heart's bottom point.

White seed beads add a dainty outline to the sweet shape, don't they? Can't wait to finish this one.

Well, I have rambled on a whole lot longer than intended. Thank you for sticking with me through the end!

Wishing you all blissful me time to create something beautiful. See you next Tuesday for more communi-tea and some finished projects!