Lost and Found

Several years ago, I had started on a tatting project that was meant for my sister-in-law. It was the Pretty Petal Doily pattern that was published in the, "Traditional Tatting Patterns", book edited by Rita Weiss.

I had worked all the center pieces for the project in purple size 10 crochet cotton. But somehow in one of our military moves I had managed to lose the pieces that I made along with the thread. Eventually I would end up misplacing the book as well.

Over the years I would find the book, but would be missing the pieces. Then there were moments when I would rediscover the pieces, but misplace the book. Finally the gods have shown mercy upon me and allowed me to find the pieces and the book together.

Now I am working on finishing the doily. It was the project that I worked on during Lace Day.

( Side Story- At Lace Day a lady approached me and complimented me on the doily I was working on. She said that seeing the pattern brought back strong memories for her. She had made the same doily for her mother years ago. Her mother loved it so much and displayed it in a place of honor in her home. She would mention to everyone that her daughter had made the lovely doily for her. As her mother began to suffer from Alzheimer, she started to forget everything, even her own name. But she continued to remember the doily that her daughter had made for her. Even near the end, her mother still joyfully remembered the doily. I thought it was such a touching story. And it shows just how meaningful even the small simple things can be to the people we love.)

For the doily I decided to work the outside row in a lovely raspberry color which I think goes well with the purple. I have hardly let the doily out of my sight since I found the pieces. I take it would be in my purse and work on it while standing in lines or when I'm waiting at my doctor's office. It's only about 50% finished, yet I am getting a lot of compliments on it every time I pull it out to work on. I can't wait to see it finished and blocked.

When Doilies Go Bad

The doily in serious need of fixing.

So a crocheted doily was given to one of my lace friends to pass on to one of our other friends who is embarking on a major project requiring a lot of handmade lace doilies. This particular doily came with a note from the sending explaining that it was a rushed job and that it didn't come out very well.

Five treble crochet stitches on the same crochet chain. I think she stitched four too many stitches here.

We all agreed that the doily was indeed stitched in a rush. The maker complained about the fact that she did not like the crochet hook that she used. Our complaint was that the piece was made with obvious missing/dropped stitches which made it look wonky and caused the piece to overlap on itself in some places.

Here is an entire extra set of stitches that don't belong. That explains the bunching up and overlapping here.

Speaking from experience, I knew there was not enough starch this side of the Mississippi to correct the mistakes. There were really only two options- toss the doily or unravel it and restitch the rows where things obviously went horribly wrong.

And another set of stitches that need to be removed. I'll blame this on bad counting.

I volunteered to save the doily. Luckily it is a fairly small doily and to be honest, I really do love a good challenge. It will take unraveling several rows to correct the mistake and get the doily looking presentable.

And here is the row where things took a turn for the worst. But don't worry. We can rebuild you. We can make you better!

I just can't bear to see a doily get trashed. I know the maker meant well and anyone who has made lace long enough knows that sometimes good lace does go bad. 

Faux Tatting?

Needle Tatting Two Color Test Piece

So I was doing a Google search on something about needle tatting when I stumbled upon a blog article about how this particular blogger did not like needle tatting and didn't think it should be called 'real tatting' at all.

 Since the article had been written several years ago, I'm going to assume that the author by now has grown to respect needle tatting a bit more. But the article and the comments made by other readers in the blog brought up the ever-going debate between needle and shuttle tatters.

Starting a Doily in Needle Tatting

My small side rant: (In the article there was an attempt to do a comparison between needle and shuttle tatting. The fact that the comparison was made between the work of someone that has been shuttle tatting for 10+ years and needle tatting from someone who only learned the craft two days ago was 100% bias and should never be used as a legit comparison in any way shape or form.)

Many shuttle tatters I have ran into do admire my work but are quick to point out that it is not 'real tatting'. I've heard the comments more then once, "So, Joi, when are you finally going to learn real tatting?" or, "Your work is great, too bad it's useless because it wasn't done on a shuttle." Even in entering my work in the local fair I have been stopped with, "You can't enter your work in the tatted lace category, it's not real tatting." Needless to say, none of the above comments have stopped me from continuing my love for needle tatting.

The Results of My Efforts in Learning Shuttle Tatting

I discovered needle tatting because of shuttle tatting. Private lessons, books, Youtube videos and weeks of serious practice on a shuttle resulted in tangled messes of knots and serious cramping and pain in my left hand. But I was determined to learn shuttle tatting. I was told to try different shuttles, I was given different hand positions to try and even used a variety of different thread sizes to work with. But my efforts always resulted in just more pain and frustration. Almost six months into it I could manage a few slow stitches and not much else. It was at a local craft store, while I was looking for yet another tatting book that would hold the holy grail answer to help me finally learn tatting, that I came across the book Barbra Foster, "Learn Needle Tatting". Out of curiosity I bought the book which included a set of needles. An hour later I had tatted my first bookmark and by the next day I had a part of a lace collar, another bookmark and was starting on a lace trim.

Over the next six years I continued to try and learn the 'real' way of tatting. But I came to realize it wasn't me, but the tool I was using that blocked my way of learning how to tat. There is always more then one way to do something and tatting is no exception. Needle tatting is not a 'lesser-then form of tatting', and it is definitely not  'faux tatting'. It is just a different way to tat.

Results After Second Day of Learning Needle Tatting

(Honestly, if you want to call needle tatting, 'faux tatting', then you have to call shuttle tatting by it's real name, 'faux point lace', since shuttle tatting was originally a very bastardized attempt at trying to mimic the beautiful form of needle lace. Ironic, I know!)

Doing a lot of demonstrations to the public I have run into so many people who have given up on tatting because they could never get the hang of shuttle tatting. Or those who use to shuttle tat, but health issues no longer allowed their hands to hold a shuttle. When they see me tatting with a needle their eyes light up with the possibility of finally being about to produce the lace they so admire and love. To me, any method that can get people making lace is a good thing.

Needle Tatting From Vintage Shuttle Tatting Patterns

In my experience, most people who are not tatters cannot tell the difference between shuttle and needle tatting. And truthfully, most people don't care. What they see is beautiful work that took many hours and twice as much patience to make. They appreciate the labor of love and those who dedicate themselves to the craft.

Frankly, tatting is always tittering between near to complete extinction in the public's eye.  With the constant uphill battle we have in teaching and keeping this craft alive, I don't think any tatter has the right to look down their nose at another tatter. The very fact that in a world that doesn't see the need for lace, we curious individuals feel the strong pull to continue to make beautiful lace, should be something that is admired and respected- no matter if your lace is made with a shuttle, needle, bobbin or hook.

Renulek Revisited

Every year Renulek puts out a new doily for us tatters to drool over and attempt to create. You can follow along week by week or you can purchase the entire PDF file on Etsy to work on at your leisure. Each year I try to work on one of her doilies and each year I end in a epic fail. Somehow I screw up a row and my hopeful 15 row doily turns into a mere 4 row coaster.

Working on this in the car while waiting to pick up the princess from school

This year I decided to try once again. I am currently working on her 2018 Spring doily, which is just stunning. Instead of tatting it in the usual size #40 thread I decided to tat in size #10 crochet cotton. These means that if I succeed in finishing the piece, it will be a massive size doily. So far I've made it to row 6 without any major hiccups, (knock on wood).

So far looking goood

I'm really studying each row before I start, memorizing the stitch counts of every section. I also have a picture of each row downloaded to my phone so I can keep looking back and making sure I'm not screwing up anything.

Our cat Cupcake, always tries to photo bomb my pictures

Have you ever tried any of Renulek's doily patterns before? Which ones? How did it turn out? I would love to see your work. Please share a pic or link to your finished piece in the comments below.

Not too shabby!

Sunflowers and Christmas Cantata

Things have gotten a bit busy around here as I'm sure many of you celebrating the holiday season can relate. I'm actually taking a break at this moment from a Christmas Cantata that I'm in today. We had two performances this morning and one more performance this evening.

I finished the sunflower. I don't know whay, but the last round always seems the hardest to finish. The last round has six picots in each section. I actually contemplated doing two more rows which would have brought the number count up to eight picots per section. But honestly, I got tired of the pattern. I'm ready to move on to something else.

Maybe I'll add a few matching coasters to go with the sunflower doily.

Currently working on a doily for my husband's gradmother. It is nearing the halfway mark in its completetion. I need to remember to take a picture of it to show you the progress. I'm using a coral color thread for this doily. 

On top of that, I'm working on some pieces that I will soon be selling in my Etsy shop. It has been awhile since I've made and sold anything online. I'm actually looking forward to this new venture. I'll keep you posted on when my shop is up and running.

Making Rings Around Saturn

I'm in full craft-making swing for the holiday season. My husband and I are saving up our money for something really big next year, which means that this year everyone is getting homemade gifts instead of store bought.

Currently on my tatting needle is the 'Saturn Ring' doily that I am making for Ann, my husband's grandmother. Ann moved into a beautiful assisted-living community earlier this year. Having lived in a large house for over 30 years, she really had to downsize, which meant giving up her large dinning room table and all the handmade tablecloths that went with it.(Don't worry, the tablecloths got divided among the kids and grand kids.)

Now she has a little white table perfect for her and a couple of her friends to sit and have coffee. But without her colorful tablecloths, the table looks a bit bare. So I figured a doily would help brighten things up.

This pattern is from the book, "Traditional Tatting Patterns", edited by Rita Weiss.

In the upper right hand corner you can see the two colors that I'm using to make the doily.I'm alternating between a solid and a variegated thread every couple of rounds.

At the bottom slight left of this picture where the thread turns an olive green,  you can see my use of a split chain that carried me out of the second round and into the third round of the pattern.

Both threads used are Lizbeth size 20