Just a quick post of the gifts I received from the Here-Be-Tatters Christmas In July exchange.


Here is everything.

This is the ribbon pin.




And this is the ornament.



My partner is Valerie Stewart from Scott City, Kansas.

I'll put up a few pictures of that intriguing box tomorrow when I have more band width and a photo editor that can cut down the size of the pictures I'm trying to upload.

Whew!! Fair projects are finished, my Guilds Lace-In is over, all the summer concerts have been played (almost) so now I have time to work on my thread exchange threads again. For those who are wondering, I am planning to getting another thread exchange going in mid September before I have to start tatting for the holidays (again).

I have been busy designing for this year's fair. There is a story behind this design. I am a Rat. My Tai Chi Chuan teacher also makes tee shirts. Some years he does one to commemorate the Chinese New Year. I started late last year asking him to design one for this year, but he said he couldn't think of any Tai Chi Chuan move that would go with a rat. So, I decided that if I wanted to have a tee shirt, I would need to do it myself. So here it is.

I do have the pattern scribbled down on pieces of paper, I haven't had time to get them into a word file. I'm not even thinking of how long it will take to diagram them. If you are planning to go to the IOLI convention this year, I will have my scribbles with me as well as a few stray rats.

I also have a few motif entries. All three of these threads were given to me by Brigitte Henneberger of Wurzburg Germany.


This thread is Amann Buttonhole thread. It is stranded silk. I was going to do a different pattern with it that involved onion rings, but the thread split so bad as I did the split chain join (or smooth join as I call it) that I had to give up and find a more conventional ring and chain pattern.

The pattern is from the August 1958 Workbasket, but any resemblance between the written pattern and the picture is purely coincidental. I had to mostly go by visual and tried it 2 different ways, neither of which look like the book. Oh well. You can put this pattern down and one I won't ever try again.


This next thread is Valdani pearl cotton size 12. The color is number 35 and is described as Mango-Kiwi-Papaya. The pattern is from the January 1976 Workbasket.





Finally I have the same color number as above but in the Valdani Quilting thread. This is a really pretty color combination. I may just have to get some more for myself. The pattern is from the November 1953 Workbasket.


I might as well keep going with this monster post, it is likely to be the last for a little bit. My lace guild also demonstrated at the Orange County Fair last week. Part of the requirement is to put on a little stage presentation, so here I am, flapping my gums on stage. They had a big screen TV in front of the stage so the camera man was able to really zoom in on my fingers. I could tell by watching peoples faces that they could see the thread flip.

Surprisingly we had a lot of positive response this year. A large number of people were asking about learning how to tat and make bobbin lace. I'm thinking it must have something to do with the current economy. It isn't so easy to go out anymore, so people are trying to find ways of keeping themselves occupied at home.

The Jail Break

Winnifred, the Godmother, is in the hoosegow. She has ordered her henchwoman, Sadie, to set her free.

I didn't teach Sadie how to do this. She figured it out on her own. If we really want to keep the crate closed, we have to clip it shut or she will open it every chance she gets.

The sound in the background is an episode of "Get Smart". I haven't figured out how to edit out the sound (or if I even have a program where I can) yet.

The reason I've been really quiet lately is because I've been busy tatting on much larger projects than my motifs. I'm almost done with one of my fair doilies. This one is using a workbasket pattern. But my other fair doily is my own design and part of it has had me scratching my head trying to get everything to work. More on both of these later.

I have had one other iron in the fire that has taken my time. Back in January, I proposed a group project to my lace guild (The Hedgehog Lacers) and that was to make a banner (silly me). After looking over a few letter patterns they chose a block letter style for the banner. The majority on the members are bobbin lacers so, of course, the patterns were bobbin lace patterns. Then they proposed that since I am their current president that I get the honor of doing the H in tatting. No problem, I said. The pattern they chose looked like it could easily be mimicked in tatting. So here it is:


Another member of the guild is also tatting an L (Lily how is it going?) using the pattern I dreamed up.

Now I have to sew the backing together so we will have something to attach all the letters to at our next meeting. (I'm not going to do everything myself if I can help it....I hope.)

I do like what I have come up with for the pattern and instead of twisted picots, using bugle or seed beads on the cross pieced with a faceted bead where they cross. Later on, when my fair projects are finished, I think I will do an M for my niece, Maribeth, and sew it onto a sweatshirt for a Christmas present.

If you are interested in the other letters my guild members are doing you can go to:

http://hedgehoglacers.org/gallery/Banner/gallery.html

I got a surprise envelope in the mail over the weekend. Stacy Houston was looking over my blog and saw my confusion on one of the samples she sent me, so she sent me some color swatches of the thread she thinks she sent me. It was enough for me to make a positive identification of the thread color. My guess was off by 1 number. Here is a repost of the thread she sent me.




The thread is King Tut, Color 973. The pattern is from the April 1974 Workbasket.




Stacey also sent me some more King Tut in other colors to play with.
Thank you Stacey.

These are the other two threads Sylvia Free from Penarth, Wales sent me.


This thread is Manuella Size 20, Color M053. The pattern is from the December 1962 Workbasket.







This last thread is Altin Basak Size 50, Color 3051. The pattern is from the May 1948 Workbasket. The thread is nice to work with, but the pattern was not very cooperative. That 2nd and 3rd round of chains puckered like crazy. It would probably look better if I had really blocked it, but being at work, all I could do was mash is under a couple of heavy manuals for a while.

Someone asked a question about using Gutermann silk on the lists. I am currently playing with the samples that Sylvia Free sent and one of them just happens to be Gutermann silk. The first time I tried it I just grabbed the nearest available shuttle and wound some on. Big mistake. The thread broke while I was trying to close a ring.

I'll tell you what I did wrong. First off I used a Peter Cua engraved shuttle (black with a phoenix). This thread will catch on anything rough so it was snagging on the engraving. Secondly, this thread has a very definite nap to it. To find which direction the nap is hold up a piece of thread (any thread) and run your thumb and finger down the length of the thread. Now turn hold the opposite end and do the same thing. One direction will be smoother than the other. When you wind your shuttle you need to make sure that the thread feels smooth between your thumb and finger as you wind. Sounds kind of elementary but for all my engineering smarts, I have to really think about which direction the thread is traveling when I pull a ring closed. For the second try I also went back to my trusty Aeros.

Anyway, having the thread going in the right direction made a big difference. I also closed some of the more stubborn rings in stages, (inch that last bit of the ring closed between picots rather than just yanking on the core thread). Here is the end result. It is a but fuzzy, but very soft. It would make a nice edging for a handkerchief or scarf.

Now for the usual particulars. This is Gutermann pure silk color 416. The pattern is from the December 1955 Workbasket. Sylvia Free lives in Pernarth, South Wales. (I had a kick addressing her sample from me. They have such wonderfully complicated addresses across the pond.)