Approaching the Angel

 When I was first introduced to the concept of tatting, I came upon a picture of a 3-D angel that fascinated me. THAT’S what I wanted to learn how to do! But almost every pattern I could find was flat. How did one go about getting results in 3 dimensions that tapered at the top?

Yesterday I was going through my beginner instruction book to see if I had missed any lessons to practice on. Nope, but I noticed that a small flat medallion at the end (which I had already done in white) had been done in the book in green and turned into a small Christmas wreath.  There just happened to be a ball of green thread sitting at my elbow so I decided to do a bit of practice.  

 

I’m not sure what I did differently on the new green one than I did on the first white one, but something was definitely different! Even though the white one had a mistake on one of the joins, it laid flat like the picture. This new green one just simply would not! I looked at stitch counts and everything seemed to be correct. Was it the tension or just the different thread itself? Who knows…..but….there it was! That 3-D effect I had been looking for! Now to work with that. 

I made a prototype last night. It is NOT pretty! (Hence no photo that I’m willing to share yet) But it is a beginning in my quest!

So stay tuned to this same Tat-Channel! (If you watched Batman in the 60’s you’ll see what I did there.)

Kay’s New Antique Bookmark

 There is a lady at our church who always does nice things for the church staff. Every Christmas, we all get a present from Kay. During the year, she invites us to lunch at her house. She leads a weekly women's bible study  several times a year. Kay also writes a wonderful daily devotional that she posts on her Facebook page. I wanted to do something for her to say “Thanks for all you do.” So I made an “antique” bookmark for her today.  

How is that possible? What defines an item as an antique? 

Construction process? Tatting is an old art form. It’s difficult to say when needle tatting began. This article mentions a reference to needle tatting in the mid 1800’s, but the practice itself could be much older than that. 

Material used? Based on the price printed on the label, the thread I used was manufactured sometime after 1935 when a ball of Knit Cro-Sheen sold for 25¢, but before 1947, when that same ball sold for 30¢. My label has an original price of 29¢. I found 2 balls with that label at the Goodwill store in town recently. (The $1.99 label was put on by Goodwill) I had to buy them, just for the history of they represent. This thread was at least 75 years old!

I have so many questions: Who bought them when they were new? Did they have a beautiful project in mind or we’re they just buying supplies in case a pattern struck their fancy later? What craft did this person have in mind for this thread: did they knit or crochet or tat or something else? If they tatted, did they use a needle or a shuttle?

A ball of thread or a skein of yarn is a bundle of possibilities, a blank slate, just waiting for you to create something from it.

The pattern for this project can be found here.

The Accidental Bumblebee

I bought a needle tatting book on New Year’s Day. A new friend (that’s you, Laura) had mentioned the art on a visit over Christmas. I’d heard the term “tatting” before but had no idea what it was. I’ve knitted and crocheted for years so I was excited to add a new craft to my arsenal. 

Each craft has its own language, I’ve discovered. When learning a spoken language, you begin by repeating simple words and phrases. Then you string more words and phrases together. Finally you have a vocabulary and a structure to fit it into. You begin to speak original thoughts instead of just repeating what someone else said. Tatting is exactly like that!

I made some things by following simple patterns. Then I wanted to speak my own tatting thoughts. I came up with an idea for a dragonfly that I’m still working on. I thought I had it nailed down, but certain parts of the construction are holding me back. 

So instead of continually creating the whole thing just to get to the part that wasn’t working, I decided to make an abbreviated shortcut version that skipped over the parts I knew already worked so I could concentrate on the problematic parts. 

This week, I saw to a new technique: dimpled rings. They look very much like hearts, and with it being the build up to Valentine’s, I was seeing them frequently on tatting sites. I put the dimpled heart in as a substitute wing and accidentally made a bumblebee! The pattern is written out below. 

Accidental Bumblebee

R. = ring

DR. = dimpled ring Video demo

DNRW = do not reverse work

lp = long picot (which will become antennas when cut)

The bee is 2 rings and 2 dimpled rings. The long picot on the head is snipped to form the antennas. 

Body: R. 2-6-6-2 close, knot, Rw

Left wing: DR. 2+(first p on prev ring) 12-3 pull the needle through but not all the way, place a paper clip or stitch marker on the loop of the tail thread so that the loop doesn’t close all the way. Work another ds very closely to the stitches just pulled off, join to the picot just made; 12-2. Close DR through the marked loop, adjusting the stitches as you pull tight. Knot DNRW

Head: R. 2+(p on wing) 4 lp 4-2. Close, knot DNRW

Right wing: DR. 2+(last p on head) 12-3, pull through with marker on loop, 1+(p just made), 12+(p on body*) 2, close ring through marked loop. Knot. Bury ends. Snip long picot  

*To reach that last picot join, you’ll need to pull the needle through to get it aimed in the right direction, pull the thread up with a crochet hook and loop it over the needle. Finish the last 2 ds. Pdf instructions