Copy Tat

I am posting today to encourage you to read a blog by a tatter who shares the same opinion as I do on "Copy Tat".  Please take the time to visit Jane Eborall's blog.  

I don't COPY TAT.

Exchange

I received this lovely bracelet from Denmark.  It was from Ulla a tatter who participated in an exchange with the Fringe Element Tatters.   The little hook broke during transit but I have lots and will replace it and wear the bracelet.

She said the pattern was from Sweden.   Thanks Ulla and Happy Tatting.

The Tatting Cabinet

So I thought I would share with you my  tatting cabinet. I found the cabinet on a swap/sale site and spent the better part of a day cleaning it up.

Behind the glass doors are four shelves. The thread is kept in clear shoe boxes mostly sorted by size which makes it easier to put things away.  The threads I don't use often or like are on the top. There is a light in the cabinet so some of the shoe boxes need to be put in sideways.  I rarely put the light on as I don't want to dry out my threads. 

The bottom shelf has tools and travel bags/boxes and holds my more expensive shuttles each packed away in their own special container.

If you look closely in the lower right you will see the Monster Doily which I pick up now and then. The Monster Doily is wrapped up in a white cloth to keep it clean and tidy.  There is also a package of  handkerchiefs should I get the urge to do some edgings. I have two tins of earrings, some for giveaway the other tin contains the ones I wear.

The lower half  of the cabinet has four deep drawers and two side doors with a shelf , (you can just see the top of them). The side doors are where I keep my tatting books, guild newsletters and folders of past conferences.  I use magazine folders to keep them from falling on one another.  I have a binder with some loose patterns and more vintage pamphlets placed in acid free plastic pockets. 

On my phone I use an app which keeps track of what books I have purchased. I can search or sort by title or author and add notes or reviews of the book.   I sort the books by author on the shelves, I have yet to catalogue (or actually count) the threads I have.  

The drawers contain, extra conference bags, a case of different types of shuttles that I bring to demos, beads, extra bobbin cases jewelry findings and tools, and ice drops too.  There is one drawer almost empty.

I keep some tatting on a cloth ready for demo but rolled up around a pool noodle for travel and storage. My demo shuttles (tatsy) and giveaway shuttles are also with the demo cloth.  There are some floss winders with thread for beginners too.

I usually sit at a table to tat,with my laptop nearby, I have an auxillary screen on which I can enlarge photos and patterns. 

When indoors I  always tat at a table but I started with one box with a lid until my stash started to grow.  The current (and unfinished) projects are in assorted bags and baskets on my table so they don't have to far to call me.  When it is time to clear the table I can still fit it all into the cabinet. 

To be honest this is one time when the cabinet does not look too bad, the labels have helped organize. This was one of my projects I wanted to get a handle on this year. It would love to hear what you think and how I can be more efficient.  I think it will always be a work in progress.

What does your tatting cabinet look like?

Uniform Picots

I learned the hard way that having the right tool makes the job easier. So here is another idea for a tatting tool.

We know that having uniform decorative picots improves the appearance of your tatting project. I found these blunt ended needles in mom;s sewing stash a while ago. I think it is actually a yarn needle but its straight shaft makes it excellent to use as a picot gauge when working with finer threads.

I have added a bit of tatting to the end  as this has given me something to hold on to thus easier to use (and find).  I could attach a lanyard hook or even create a thumb loop too.  This  needle holder turned picot gauge was made from a half dozen beads and a bit of leftover shuttle thread

To see this in action you will need to go back to my first two rows of Renata  Niemczyk (Renulek) Wiosna 2019.  Now the picots are not perfect but by using a gauge  and by keeping it with the project I have found a perfect tool  to travel with my work.

Even More Lanyards

A few years ago I purchased some Omega Thread, it is a nice thread.  You can tat with it but I prefer other brands for most projects. 

It is a little soft for most tatting but works great for lanyards.  I  really like the Patti Duff beaded lanyard because once the beads are loaded I can travel anywhere and tat without losing a bead.  It is a shuttle only pattern, all rings.

I have long fingers so I do not mind using a Tatsy shuttle.  I always have one loaded up ready to go.   I have found that is usually takes about 4 evenings to complete a lanyard.

Finish off the lanyard by adding a jump ring to each end then you have endless options as to how to use it. 

Shuttle Brooch

This Mother of Pearl brooch was an accidental find on Ebay.  The cost was 14.00 US including shipping from the UK to Canada. It was described as "Antique Victorian cut steel mother of pearl lace pin brooch gold tone".

I thought  I would add a simple edging attaching to the openwork around the brooch, but now that I have cleaned it up I like it the way it is.  My yellow light does not show the rainbow depth of the Mother of Pearl.  There is hole in the center of the MOP and the rivet used for attachment is also shuttle shaped so I don't mind it there at all.

The size is 1.8 inches and I've added a comparison with a Susan Bates/clover type shuttle below.  I also added the before pictures from ebay below.

I used eyeglass lens cleaner and a soft toothbrush to slowly bring back the shine of the metal.  I used a wooden toothpick to gently persuade any tough spots. As the toothpick end softened it made itself into a little brush to assist with the cleaning.  I used a eyeglass cloth to dry and polish once the grime was removed.    I also used only my fingers to gently coax the metal back to where it should be. 

I pretty much stayed away from the Mother of Pearl as I didn't know how strong it would be.  Honestly the toothbrush did most of the work. 

I think the brooch will be a great addition to my Mother of Pearl button vest my mother made.

















The before pictures

Rose

It was Shakespeare who said "a rose by any other name would smell as sweet". These tiny roses are created with increasing size of  split rings. By  using  different colors on each shuttle the second half of the split ring has a tiny picot which  is used in the assembly.  You thread through  all those picots as you wind the rings/petals.  

I created a calyx at the end  with the green thread. I added three little beads to make it interesting I'd left the tails so that this can be added on to my summer project. 

This pattern is by Jeanne Lugert but I saw it on Ninetta Caruso's blog and used her pattern for the calyx.  The threads used we're just leftovers on a shuttle. 

Summer Challenge

One of the local guilds I belong to has given us a summer challenge, we are to do a project base on this quote. 

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This was the push I needed to make some flowers that  I have wanted to make since I took a class at Shuttlebirds in 2018.  My first flower is from Mary Konior "Tatting with Visual Patterns" pgs 66 and 67.  You create a circle of petals and assemble. I added a bead and then wound the petals around.  I had two threads so I just tied them in a knot at the bottom.  I may add a calyx.

I was just using up some extra crochet cotton size 10 that was on a teaching Tatsy shuttle so this flower is large.  I lightly starched the cotton with white school glue and water .