Button Ornaments

 I have been tatting, I just  have not been blogging. The latest Facebook tatting craze is Button Ornaments. There is a Facebook group devoted to them. Here are a few of mine. Designs by Diane Cadematori  aka Lace Lovin Librarian.  5/8 inch buttons and size 20 thread.

Harmony

 I have finished another small tatted doily. Harmony was another Facebook tat-along by Jon Yusoff. It was a fun little tat. I used size 20 Flora thread from my stash. Sadly Flora is another thread that is no longer being manufactured. 

Merriment

I made this cute little  all in one pass doily from a pattern by Jon Yusoff which can be found here.

I used a hand painted thread from Karey Solomon.

Nora doily

As the Covid 19 social distancing thing continues, I have been staying home and keeping busy. My shuttles have been flying. I was tatting along, on the final round of a doily when I discovered a major error. I didn't skip a picot when  joining. This was at about the 1/4 mark and I was almost done with the round and would be short one joining place. No way to hide the mistake. Both shuttles had made rings, so the only solution was to get out the scissors.

I did not give up, I loaded two more shuttles, picked out a few more stitches to give me enough thread to hide the tails and kept tatting.  

This is "Nora". Pattern is from Laura Bziukiewicz Etsy Shop. I used Lizbeth thread in size 20. 

Threads that Bind

I finished my second Threads that Bind doily. This was actually the first one I started and got discouraged as the thread colorway was too busy.

I am happy with the way the  solid color shows off the design. My flash washed out the color, but I never claimed to  be a great at taking photographs. 

Remeber this?

Remember when I started the "threads that bind" quarantine doily over because I thought the Multicolored thread was too busy?

I went digging in my thread stash and found a ball of the light blue that matched the Denim Whisper (Lizbeth # 120) Colorway. I'm planning to pick up the multi-color thread for the final round. 

Finished

I finished the ecru doily. Jon Yusoff named this "Threads that bind". I really enjoyed the tat along. My tatting travel buddy MaryAnna Robinson tatted along with me via text messages.
Here is my completed doily in ecru.

MaryAnna used Lizbeth 20 in Seashell colorway for hers. 

This has been fun challenge and kept my hands busy while  all this coronavirus pandemic continues. 

Moving Right Along

I have been tatting and tatting and have now gone past where I made the decision to start over in solid colors. Last night I completed round 6 of both doilies.

Starting over

Yesterday Jon Yusoff posted rounds 6 and 7. She said she noticed a pattern developing and wished she's used a solid color. After reading that, and thinking about the repairs needed for the needle tatted doily, I decided to have two colorful little doilies and start over. I've had experiences with disappearing pineapples on a doily crocheted in a variegated  thread and with the busy colors I had selected for this tatted project, I could see that happening.

Needle tatted with size 30 Cebelia thread and size 8 needle. I really like this thread for needle tatting. Color is a buttery yellow.

Shuttle tatted with Lizbeth size20  in Ecru.

Oh no!

Progress on the needle tatted doily is halted. I hid the tails on round 5 and then while admiring my work I found a glaring mistake.

On round 4, I made a long chain instead of a short chain. Working round 5 I followed along and now instead of having 2 pairs followed by a large ring, I have 5 pairs in a row. (Lower left on the scan)  this is not acceptable to me. I think there is enough thread in the mistake part that I can snip unravel and hide ends to repair. If not, progress with the needle tatting will be much slower. 

My shuttle tatted doily is working up nicely. I look forward to finding round 6 when I log onto Facebook. 

More progress on the doilies

I was able to complete round 4 on both of my Tat-along doilies yesterday.

The needle tatted doily.

I really like the way the colors are shading on the shuttle tatted doily. I dug in my stash and located a second ball of this colorway (just in case) but the dye lots are different. I  still have lots of yardage on the first ball of thread, so hopefully that won't become an issue. 

With each round getting longer, I may not get both rounds done today, time will tell. 

Day 3 completed

I am making progress on the Quarantine Tat-along. Day 3 is completed for both of the little doilies.

Shuttle work above and needle tatting below. 

I gave each a spritz of Best Press and a few pins and allowed them to sit overnight. Now to check Facebook and get the stitch counts for round 4. 

Quarantine Doily

Jon Yusoff, a talented tatting designer from Malaysia is doing a 14 day tat-along on Facebook . Each day Jon shares the stitch count for the next round. I am challenging myself to follow along with both shuttle and needle. As the rounds get longer, I may not be able to keep up, but here is the start.

Shuttle tatted. Lizbeth size 20 Denim Whisper

Needle tatted. Lizbeth size 20 summer fun. size 8 needle. 

Still tatting

I'm still tatting, some projects I'll be teaching in 2020, some test tatting and lots of bookmarks. I am a real slacker when it comes to documenting my work.

I recently completed these cross bookmarks. Pattern is by Gina Butler and can be found here.

The pink is shuttle tatted with size 20 flora thread. the white is needle tatted using size 10 Cebelia and a size 7 needle. 

September update

What an exciting month September 2019 has been. Palmetto Tat Days, a new grandson and a trip to Canada for Fringe Elements Tat Days. No more tatting events until April. In the next few weeks I need to get busy writing up teaching proposals for 2020. Karey Solomon says there is an interest in the Cro-tat I taught in New York (Finger Lakes Tatting) last spring so I need to come up with something to teach.

For the Fringe Elements event, several of my Face Book Tatty friends made tatted hats. It started with the two Carolyn's in Indiana showing a picture of their hats. .


It became an I will if you will sort of thing. My tatting travel buddy Mary Anna got in on the game. When I got to her house Wednesday prior to heading North to Canada, we showed  off our hats, and then Mary Anna decided the hats needed to be embellished. She gave me a tatted butterfly (Nina Libin pattern) sitting on a silk flower for my hat. Then she called Jane (Canadian tatter) and asked if Jane had a mouse she could put on her hat. We got a little crazy.

All hats are patterns from Jan Stawasz. I left off the last 2 rounds on mine.

 Mary Anna added a large mouse, butterfly on a flower and a needle lace flower to her hat.

I did not get a picture of Jane's hat, which also had a mouse on it. Bernice's hat can be seen on her blog.

Edging with shuttles

After working the edging/insertion via needle tatting for a fellow Face Book tatter. I worked the same pattern using shuttles.

Pattern requires two shuttles.


Begin at upper left of diagram and going left to right for rings A, B, C , D 


Ring A         2 – 2 – 2 – 2 – 2 - 2 RW

Chain  14 – 6 Reverse Work (RW) and Switch Shuttles  (SS) join to middle picot of ring A , chain 20 RW


Ring B   2 – 2 – 2 + (to area of chain joined to ring A) 2 – 2 – 2   close ring 
 DNRW (Do Not Reverse Work)


Ring C    2 – 2 – 2 – 2 – 2 – 2  RW


Chain   14 – 6  RW and SS join to picot on ring C.  chain 6  join to the first chain you made  14    RW


Ring D   2 – 2 – 2 + (join to previous chain area where ring C was joined) 2 – 2 – 2 close ring DNRW


Ring E   2 – 2 – 2 – 2 – 2 – 2 



Ring E is the same as ring A and begins the sequence of the pattern again.  The chain following ring E will join to the chain beside it.



Notes: A lock join could be used when joining the long chains, but I found that reversing the work and then doing a regular join made for a smoother looking transition. I tried several ways of making the join at the junction of ring/chain/ring. Reaching around the chain and into the ring’s picot looked OK. Putting a placeholder (paperclip) to hold open a little space on the chain until you got back to make the join
 worked best for me.

The more I tat and teach, the more I learn. Sample was needle tatted with Lizbeth size 10 and Havels size 6 needle. It has not been blocked. 

The above diagram appeared with a question on one of the FaceBook Tatting groups. This edging/insertion pattern is one I have seen many times in older tatting books.  Here is my interpretation for needle tatting this pattern.


Begin at upper left of diagram and going left to right for rings A, B, C , D

Ring A         2 – 2 – 2 – 2 – 2 - 2 turn and tie

Chain  14 – 6 turn and tie join to middle picot of ring A , chain 20 turn & tie

Ring B   2 – 2 – 2 + (to area of chain joined to ring A) 2 – 2 – 2   close and tie. DNRW (Do Not Reverse Work)

Ring C    2 – 2 – 2 – 2 – 2 – 2  close, turn and tie

Chain   14 – 6  Turn and tie off then join to picot on ring C.  chain 6  join to the first chain you made  14    Turn and tie 

Ring D   2 – 2 – 2 + (join to previous chain area where ring C was joined) 2 – 2 – 2 close ring and tie off, DNRW

Ring E   2 – 2 – 2 – 2 – 2 – 2  



Ring E is the same as ring A and begins the sequence of the pattern again.  The chain following ring E will join to the chain beside it.



Notes:   When I first looked at  this pattern diagram,  I thought Lock join for the chain to ring join. I tried this, but in order to have my threads in the proper position  to continue I had to then tie a second shoelace trick. This did not look nice.  I then realized if I tensioned,  reversed and  tied off the chain, a regular join would work and threads would be positioned to continue the chain with the desired curvature.



I am a Front side/backside tatter. Every time I reverse the work, I reverse the order of my double stitches.

Holding a piece of History.

This afternoon I began teaching a 98 year old knitter how to needle tat. We began forming double stitches with size 10. She had a bit of trouble, so we switched to size 3. She did better with the larger thread, and using her thumb to form the stitches.  By the end of the hour, Thelma was making double stitches and a few picots and was thrilled to have closed a couple of rings.

I held a piece of History in my hands. This bonnet was made for Thelma's mother. It was made in 1901. That makes it 118 years old. I think it's size 80 thread.

We  put her smallest mixing bowl inside for the photo.  It is all rings and bare thread spaces. No chains. Decorative picots are only used on the final round.

In the bag with the bonnet was this shuttle. I think it is celluloid, it is more blue than it looks in my photo.  Treasures! I got to look at, and hold and examine a piece of tatted history. 

Hybrid Tatting

2019 Is the year that I ventured into teaching Tatting. It took a push from my knotty friend Maryanna Robinson. She urged me to apply to teach at the Shuttlebirds tatting event in Post Falls Idaho back in May. I was accepted and the rest is history.

I taught a Hybrid Bracelet at ShuttleBirds and at Tatting Corner Tat Days (Chesterfield Indiana). I taught two classes at each event. My students learned the technique and seemed to enjoy the class. I have posted a few pictures on Facebook and been asked about the technique. Now that I'm finished teaching for the year, it's time to share. 

This technique was developed by a Puerto Rican Tatter named Rosario Ruiz Moreno. Wally Sosa taught the technique at Palmetto Tat Days 2017. I was able to take the class. I went home and played with the technique and realized it would be easy to put a bead between the split rings.  

Shuttle tatted split rings require 2 shuttles. For this bracelet you have a shuttle on one end and a needle on the other of your continuous thread.  Beads that your tatting needle will go through are on your shuttle.  For class we used size 10 thread and size 5 needle. I made kits with flower beads   from Fire Mountain. My friend Di used 6/0 beads from her stash.  

After making a regular ring in the middle of the two tools, begin making hybrid split rings. 

The first half of the slit ring is cast onto the needle using the needle thread (as though one were making true rings)  

The second half of the hybrid split ring is made using the shuttle to form the stitches on the needle, wrap the needle as if you were doing the second half of a split ring (no flipping involved)

My sample shows the needle thread in gold and the shuttle thread in light purple just before closing my ring. Note the needle thread forms a loop below my tatting.

After all the stitches are on the needle, carefully slide all stitches off the eye of the needle. Ring will close itself -- just like a needle tatted true ring. 

Slide first bead from shuttle, put the needle through the bead and place bead against your completed rings. Place the needle on the bead and begin your next Hybrid split ring.  Make as many rings as needed for your bracelet with a plain ring at the end for your findings (toggle, clasp). 

I remembered to take a picture at the end of the class at ShuttleBirds. My students did well. I had students who did not needle tat, one who did not shuttle tat but all were successful in learning the technique. This was a terrific learning experience for me. For easier handling of these large, odd shaped beads, I found it best to use a larger shuttle like a Starlit. 

I'm still here

Oh my! I just realized it has been 4 months since my last post. Once again my blog has been neglected. I will try and do better. I check other blogs daily and enjoy seeing what other tatters are making. It is only fair that I share also. I guess I need deadlines or something.
   

This past weekend was Tatting Corner's Tat Days in Indiana. These are my purchases.  The white shuttles were from Patricia Greninger - these were made on her 3-D printer.

I didn't buy much this time. ( I have a nice thread stash already) I got:
3 balls of size 10 Lizbeth
1 ball size 3 Lizbeth
Pack of Havels tatting needles (The size 6 is my favorite!)
Size 9 Tatting needle (It might never come out of the package as I prefer to use size 20
Little scissors (actually bought 2 of them, but one immediately went in my tatting bag)
Needle threader (always keep a spare)
Wally's new book.
2 skeins of Karey Solomon's hand painted thread in size 20.