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.

Look Back at Lace Day 2018

Well, now that the dust has settled, I can look back at the whirl-wind day that was Lace Day.

First off, I had an absolute blast. The ladies that I have the pleasure of making lace with are just a delight to be around. Despite some of our maturing ages, we easily convert to a bunch of giddy school girls when it comes to making, talking about and showing off our lace.

It was wonderful seeing both old and new faces at the event. I know that many people are hesitate to come to such and event, usually thinking it's just a room of little old ladies gossiping and complaining. But for those brave enough to step through the doors, they found a lively group of various ages and backgrounds laughing, joking and having a grand old time.

Here are some pictures from Lace Day for you to enjoy:

Just a small part of out display area.

Arizona State Fair ribbon winners!

Well, of course I had to show off some of my tatting.

We had a ton of books for sale. And no, I couldn't resist. I bought several.

Oh the handmade lace for sale was just drool-worthy.

The lovely Judy, showing off how she makes her Christmas ornament.

One of Judy's Christmas ornaments.

A pillow with work in progress from one of our other lovely ladies.

Now this is how you travel with your bobbins- in style!

Jean's pillow with her current project. Look at all those bobbins!

A close-up of the bobbin's on Jean's pillow.

Mary's envy- inducing travel pillow.

My own lace pillow. Can you tell I love to color coordinate my pillow?

The beautiful Mary surprised me by gifting me with her remaining stash of Lizbeth size 80 threads. Such a generous woman.

I do hope you enjoyed the pictures. I may post more later if you like.Just let me know.

Lacey Ladies of Arizona 27th Annual Lace Day

I am a member of this wonderful guild. I thought I would share with you one of our upcoming events. I will make sure to take lots of pictures and post them both here and on my Instagram page. You can find me on Instagram @Joioflace. If you are in the area, please feel free to stop by. I will be demonstrating bobbin lace and needle tatted lace all day.

A delicate European art form thought to be all but extinct is not only alive, but thriving in the Valley of the Sun.

27^th Annual Lace Day Hosted by the Lacey Ladies of Arizona

Phoenix, Arizona, Saturday, November 17^th, 2018- Lacey Ladies of Arizona will once again host their annual Lace Day.

The purpose of the organization is to promote interest, exhibit, study, and preserve old laces. We also demonstrate lace making along with learning and sharing our knowledge with others interested in lace. And this year we continue our mission with another wonderful day of lace.

A free family event, the annual lace day is filled with demonstrations, exhibits, vendors and door prizes. Each year we provide a presentation on a lace topic along with the opportunity to take lessons in various forms of lace making.

Come watch lace being made, shop for unique and hard to find crafting supplies, and learn how and why this delicate art form continues to inspire and enchant a new generation of lace makers.

Saturday, November 17^th, 2018

Doors open at 10:00am with the special lace presentation at 10:30am

Location: Beatitudes Life Center

1610 West Glendale Avenue, Phoenix, AZ 85021

10:00am – 4:00 pm Free and Open to the public

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.

Big Thread Bookmark

I've been making bookmarks lately. I have taken this project as a good opportunity to use up some spools of sample threads that I received in the past from Handy Hands.

This bookmark was done in Lizbeth thread size #3. (I believe the color is Ocean Sunset. Please correct me if I'm wrong.) With such a large thread I finally got a chance to use a larger tatting needle. The piece tatted up rather quickly.

I will admit that I really do like tatting with larger thread. A couple of years back I received a generous gift of ten cones of size #10 cotton crochet threads. No one wanted it, as most tatters prefer size #40. I have enjoyed every minute of tatting with the thread and have even gone out to buy more in various colors.

While the smaller threads make gorgeous work with the tatting looking as if it were made by angels, from time to time I do like the "wow" factor that comes from larger scale pieces. A dainty doily that is normally tatted in size #40 thread, becomes this larger then life show-stopper when tatted in size #10.

So, this bookmark will be added to my ever growing collection. I'll fill you in on why all the bookmarks soon. But for now enjoy the final pic:

Lacing It Together

On Saturday, I got to spend eight hours of my life surrounded by lace. Lace presentations, lace demos, lace supplies, lace making and lace conversations filled my day. The 20th Annual Lace Day was a blast and lucky for you I remembered to take some pictures.

[caption id="attachment_1174" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Setting Up for Lace Day"][/caption]

I arrived around 8 am, well before the event started, in order to help with set up. I came armed with my lace pillow along with everything lace related that I own. I also brought a pound cake, whipped cream and sliced strawberries. If I couldn't win anyone over with my lace making, I could always bribe them with food.

[caption id="attachment_1175" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Lace Makers Setting Up Their Sations"][/caption]

The Lacey Ladies of Arizona had no problem putting me right to work. I helped unload cars for vendors and put signs out telling people where to turn to get to the event. Throughout the morning, I started sounding like a broken record as I answered the same questions from the various members- 'What's your name?' and ' How long have you been making lace?'

[caption id="attachment_1169" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Recent ribbons won by some of the members"][/caption]

The event officially started at 10 am and there was no shortage of people coming in to ask questions, get advice and watch lace makers at work.

One of the members gave an awesome presentation about the history of pillows used for lace making. Basically, every country that makes lace has their own style of pillow that sets them apart.

[caption id="attachment_1168" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Chart showing where different laces originated"][/caption]

Lace makers are a very talkative group and were happy to dish out their advice to me. I got three book suggestions and a really good tip on preserving my prickings- cover your pricking with contact paper and you can use them again and again.

[caption id="attachment_1170" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Display of various lace making pillows"][/caption]

The book recommendations were, " Bobbin Lace Without A Teacher", by Betty Alderson. It is sold through the company Snowgoose, which happened to be one of the vendors there. The other books are, "The Bobbin Lace Manual" and "The Practical Guide to Bobbin Lace". Both books can be found on Amazon or Ebay.

[caption id="attachment_1171" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Close up of one of the display pillows"][/caption]

Being a short black girl with dreadlocs really made me stand out in the crowd of sliver-haired grandmothers that made up a good percentage of the people there. My oddity always turns out to be my asset as a number of people came and asked how someone like me got into making bobbin lace.

[caption id="attachment_1172" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="My own lace pillow"][/caption]

Oh, here's something you may not have known. When you get a chance, look up the name Simon Toustou. Who is he, you ask? He is the maker of what is considered the BMW's of lace making pillows. His pillows are to die for. Or at least to save few hundred bucks for. (Santa, if you're listening, I want one!)

I did some shopping and got four new bobbins, some neat thread and a few thimbles that were begging to come home with me.

[caption id="attachment_1173" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Close up of my lace work"][/caption]

Overall, I had a wonderful time and can't wait for next year's event. I already plan on volunteering for any upcoming public demos. Don't worry. My bobbin lace won't interfere with my sock knitting. There are places where my pillow can't go, but my needles are always welcomed.

Lace Day, Here We Come!

Tomorrow, the lovely Lacey Ladies of Arizona will host their 20th Annual Lace Day event.

If you happen to be in Arizona, I am personally inviting you to attend.

Here is the 411:

20th Annual Lace Day presented by the Lacey Ladies of Arizoan

November 12, 2011

10:00 am to 4:00 pm

OPEN TO THE PUBLIC

There will be lace making demonstrations, vendors, exhibits, door prizes and more! You may also purchase a commemorative bobbin at the event.

Location: Community of Christ- Phoenix Central Congregation

4224 North 44th Street

Phoenix, Arizona 85018

Classes start at 11:00 am

The price of each class includes kit usage and lesson. The following classes are:

Bobbin Lace: $20

Needle Lace: $15

Netted Lace: $15

Tatting: $15

If you bring your own kit the class only costs: $5

I leave you now with some more bobbin lace goodness.

Lace Makers Do It On a Pillow

. . . and they like to do it in groups! We shall refrain from calling it a bobbin lace orgy. Instead, we'll use the more politically correct title of Lace Making Festival. Enjoy!

Bobbin Lace Fast Fingers

Since this weekend marks the 20th Annual Lace Day hosted by the Lacey Ladies of Arizona, I figured I'd celebrate with blog postings this week that pay respect to the beautiful art of Bobbin lace making.

Behold, I give you a YouTube video of a very talented quick-fingered lace maker. You may need to play this video twice, because if you blink you might miss a whole section of lace.

20th Annual Lace Day In Arizona

20th Annual Lace Day

sponsored by

Lacey Ladies of Arizona

Saturday, November 12, 2011 marks the celebration of the 20th Annual Lace Day in Arizona. This event is sponsored by the lovely Lacey Ladies of Arizona, (which I am a very happy member of).

If you happen to be in Arizona that weekend, come join us in this wonderful event open to the public. There will be lace making demos, exhibits, vendors, commemorative bobbins as well as door prizes.

You can take classes and learn about Bobbin lace, Needle lace, Tatting and much more.

The event takes place at Community of Christ: Phoenix Central Congregation, 4224 North 44th Street, Phoenix, AZ 85018. (on 44th street between Camelback and Indian School Road). The time is from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm

Please stop by and say hello. I'll be there with my bobbin lace pillow. It will be easy to spot me. I'll be the one with the Ravelry button hanging off my pillow.

I will now end this posting with a few pics of bobbin lace making in action:

[caption id="attachment_1146" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Lace Making"][/caption]

 

 

Lace Work In Action

[caption id="attachment_1148" align="aligncenter" width="198" caption="Placing the Pins in Bobbin Lace"][/caption]

 

Veiled Lace

I'm a member of a veil/headcovering group on Ravelry. I do cover my head from time to time- not for any religious reason, but because ever since my liver transplant my internal temperture controller has been on the frizz. So I have to keep myself warm at all times. I'm easy to spot when I'm visiting Arizona. I'm the girl wearing the sweater when its 100 degrees outside.

Well, at some point our group decided to do a headcovering swap. It was a lot of fun finding and making a head covering for my secret swap partner. I feel in love with the pattern for this beautiful veil. The pattern was easy with a result that looks more complicated then it really is. I choose to knit it in easy to wash black microfiber blend. My partner was a fan of Harry Potter, so I sent her a couple of HP collector's cards too.

From my partner I got one knitted and one sewn head covering along with some yarn stash goodies.

So, here is proof that yes, I can knit lace and damn well too if you ask me.

If you are interested in the pattern, I will be more then happy to direct you to the website where I found it.