FanTATstic

Motif 8: A Bit More Complex

2006-10-02T17:25:00.000-07:00

Well I'm still working on the SocksForSoldiers project (see info at www.socksforsoldiers.org), but took some time to finish motif 8 in the 25 Motif Challenge. This motif is #58 in the book Mini Tats.

This is the most complex motif I've done so far and I'm finding that it usually takes three tries before I'm happy with the results. Probably for a more experienced tatter, this pattern would be a piece of cake.

I do better following patterns with diagrams than written instructions - strange for a librarian, I know - so I copied the diagrams and then crossed off with red pencil each ring and chain as I completed it.

Am thinking about adding a tassel of some sort so it could be a bookmarker for a Bible.

Why no new motifs?

2006-09-24T20:15:00.000-07:00

...you may ask.

Instead of tatting, I have been knitting furiously for the Socks For Soldiers project. Our immediate goal is to knit and ship 500 pairs of socks to troops in Afghanistan and Iraq and the first shipment goes out in October.

If you are a knitter as well as a tatter, please check out the Socks for Soldiers website and join in this worthy effort.

In breaks from sock knitting I'm working on another motif from Mini Tats - the most difficult I've attempted so far. I'll be back to tatting soon!

Motif 7 & Friends

2006-09-15T16:49:00.000-07:00

Back to Patti Duff's Minitats for this motif - number 61 in the book. It looks like a miniature figure to me so I gave it a couple of friends to keep it company.

I painted the friends with watercolors and am not sure I like the effect. Too much of the original white is showing in this scan. I'm going to try one more and thoroughly soak it in water before starting to paint it. That way maybe the watercolors will go on more smoothly.

Additions to 25 Motif Challenge Notebook

2006-09-10T15:04:00.000-07:00

I have a tendency to procrastinate, but am trying to keep the notebook up-to-date. Just added motifs 5 & 6 and am looking for a new motif challenge.

The new version of Motif 6 uses Olympus Special crochet cotton No. 40. It has a solid feel and an almost silky sheen. A delight to tat with. It's the first time I've used a 40 thread. Much easier than crocheting or knitting with this weight thread.

Snowflake Redux & I Think I'm in Love

2006-09-10T11:12:00.000-07:00

I think I'm in love - with the Aero shuttle that is. I'd never used one before but decided to try as several tatters in the online groups have praised it. I used it for this second version of the snowflake pattern from Lindsay Rogers' Tatting Collage and really like the light weight, non-slippery surface that is easy to grip, the bobbin which can be rewound quickly and (oddly enough) the dull grey color. It's probably silly but I never have liked spending time working on say a pink motif using a bright red shuttle. Grey goes with almost everything! Do any Aero users reading this know what you do with the hole in the bobbin? Does the thread go through it when you wind on? Oh, I also like the fact that you can wind the bobbin on the back end of this shuttle. At first the length and the pick on the end made the shuttle clumsy to use, but I quickly adapted to the extra length after completing a few rings.

This is my third or fourth (who's counting when you're having fun) attempt at the snowflake and I'm putting it in my 25 Motif Challenge notebook as Motif #6.

Let It Snow! The 6th Motif

2006-09-09T09:10:00.000-07:00

I've never made a snowflake design before and wanted to try a more difficult motif and finer thread. For motif 6 I chose a snowflake from Lindsay Rogers' book Tatting Collage (Guild of Master Craftsman Publications, 1996). I used Omega #30 thread in white and it seemed somewhat fuzzy compared to the Manuela and Opera used for the other pieces.

This is attempt #2 at the snowflake. I'm used to doing handwork in front of the television or listening to audio books and can do even quite intricate crochet without being distracted. At this stage of my tatting development, however, I admit that watching TV - especially an exciting baseball game - can result in unpleasant surprises. Attempt #1 was a misshapen discard.

This attempt is better but I'm not at all happy with the overlapping picots. Maybe I should have made them smaller? Maybe blocking would help? Am working on version #3 right now, but here's what I have so far.

5th Motif

2006-09-09T08:39:00.000-07:00

This motif is #20 from Patti Duff's Minitats. It was tatted with Manuela 20. I'm trying to tat so there is a right side and a wrong side, but must confess that when I come back to the work later after finishing it I can't always tell which is the right side! Hopefully I've scanned it right side up.

25 Motif Notebook Sample Pages

2006-09-03T12:32:00.000-07:00

Here are some sample pages from my motif notebook. Four motifs completed!

25 Motif Challenge Notebook

2006-09-02T16:59:00.000-07:00

I was buying groceries today at Wal-Mart and mysteriously found myself in the crafts section of the store. No tatting thread, no crochet thread smaller than #10. No temptations there. Not even a shuttle in sight. But then I found the perfect scrapbook for the 25 Motif Challenge sitting there with a price of $2.97. Who could resist that?

It's called the Darice Foamies Photo Keeper. It's about 5" by 8" and has a foam cover with a display area on the front where you can insert a title for the album or decorate it with stickers, pictures or stamps. Inside are 18 double sided pockets where you can display the motifs.

4th Motif

2006-09-01T08:48:00.000-07:00

I decided to attempt a slightly more difficult (for me) motif for #4 and skipped to motif nineteen in MiniTats by Patti Duff. I was intrigued by the shape and it provides a lot of practice in making uniform picots. I'm still having trouble with the last join so the finished motif pictured here is actually the fourth I did until this "keeper" came off the shuttle. I used Opera thread in size 20 and really like the crisp results.

I was working on this motif during one of the weekly get-togethers of a crocheting group and someone asked me what I was working on. I explained that it was a motif for the 25 Motif Challenge. "But what is it FOR?", she asked. As a crocheter and knitter I'm used to making purposeful items: knitted socks or crocheted water-bottle totes, etc. Tatting, methinks, exists to decorate and to enjoy for itself, but I immediately began thinking would this motif look good as a brooch? As though I need a practical reason to spend time working on it.

3rd Motif

2006-08-24T15:29:00.000-07:00

I started this challenge as a learning exercise fully determined to work motifs designed by others, but last evening, after finishing motif 2, I started fooling around with left-over thread on my shuttle and actually designed a simple motif for myself. I have no illusions about it being an original design, but it is a product of my shuttle with no other human intervention. I decided to write out instructions for it in case some beginning tatter would like to try it. If you find any errors in the pattern - remember this is my first attempt at pattern writing - please let me know.

MOTIF THREE

Shuttle only. Short picots: 3/16". Long picots: 1/2"

Work ring of 5 DS - short picot - 1 DS - long picot - 1 DS - short picot - 5 DS
Close Ring

Start next ring and all subsequent rings without leaving space between rings

Work 7 rings of 5 DS - Join to last picot of previous ring - 1 DS - long picot - 1 DS - short picot - 5 DS

Work ring of 5 DS - Join to last picot of previous ring - 1 DS - long picot - 1 DS - join to first picot of 1st ring.

Second Motif Accompli

2006-08-23T20:37:00.000-07:00

The second motif is finished. I actually found this one more difficult than the first one because of having to join six rings into one picot - that's assuming I actually did it correctly.

The first time, the last join was really sloppy as you can see from this scan.

Then I made one more attempt - not perfect, but "good enough for folk music".

2nd Motif: Magic Thread Revisited

2006-08-23T20:29:00.000-07:00

Well, I've gotten some wonderful comments from two expert tatters who don't use the magic thread trick so I think I'll follow their advice the get out my sewing needle. I'd tried another time - this time with dental floss - only to put the ends of the floss with the loop in facing the wrong way. Yes, that's twice. Here's the result if you need a good laugh for today:

Second Motif Fiasco - So Far

2006-08-21T21:56:00.000-07:00

Well I started on the second motif which is also motif number two in MiniTats. This is the motif I planned to use to master the art of using "magic thread" to hide the ends of the piece. I'd like to show a scan of the result, but I pulled out the threads in disgust after realizing I'd put the loops on the wrong end and so couldn't pull the ends through. Wish I'd gotten a scan because it really looked pathetic. Am I the only tatter who finds this method terribly awkward? Or maybe it gets better with practice. First I tried heavy quilting thread as the magic thread. It got all tangled up. Then I tried dental floss and it got in the way of the tatting - plus as I said - I put the loop end in backwards. So it's back to the drawing board. I'm going to try again with dental floss.

ta-DUM - First Motif Finished!

2006-08-20T20:00:00.000-07:00

Well, the first motif is finished and I'm pretty pleased with it. The picots could probably use some more work and I haven't learned how to use the magic thread (or whatever it's called) to hide the ends so I had to try to weave them back into the tatting with a needle, but it's my first motif and twenty-four to go.

To chart my progress I've added a progress bar to the right below the Tatting Links Section of the blog.

First Motif

2006-08-20T12:12:00.000-07:00

For the first motif I'm using #20 DMC in a dusty pink color. Well, first to measure off the thread. Ok, about six feet on the shuttle. Cut shuttle from ball. Oh, wait. Rats, you are supposed to keep the shuttle attached to the ball. Hate to waste thread so I use this six feet to practice picots with a picot gauge. No problem. An exciting ball game is on the tv so I'll just load six more feet on the bobbin - Eric Byrnes executes a spectacular catch followed by his characteristic sommersalt - cut thread from ball. Oh no. I can't believe I did it again. Write note to self "DO NOT CUT THREAD AFTER WINDING BOBBIN!"

Pre-Challenge Practice Piece

2006-08-20T08:25:00.000-07:00

Ok, for my first motif I've chosen motif #1 from Minitats by Patti Duff. Hmmm, according to the author a minitat is a small motif completed in one round that takes from 30 to 60 minutes to complete so I'll plan to it taking ME about 30 to 60 hours as I'm getting back to tatting after a bunch of years.

First I get out the notes from the tatting class I took back in 1992 and review how to make rings and chains. How about a practice piece before I go for the first motif which will require a tricky (for me) join at the end of the circular motif where the last ring is joined to the first? I start a practice edging to be applied to the sleeves of a t-shirt.

Sources for Tatting Motifs

2006-08-19T08:19:00.000-07:00

I've collected several books that include patterns for motifs. These will be the sources for the motifs selected for the 25 motif challenge although I reserve the right to choose other motifs that come along and strike my fancy:

Easy Tatting by Lyn Morton. Tatting & Design, 2006.
Minitats: 69 Petite Motifs by Patti Duff. Spokane, WA: Simply Tatting, 1999.
Tatting Collage by Lindsay Rogers. Guild of Master Craftsman Publications, 1966.
Tatting Patterns for One Shuttle by Mark Myers. Self-published, 2006.

The 25 Motif Challenge

2006-08-14T11:04:00.000-07:00

I learned to tat several years ago and - once familiar with basic chains and rings - life got in the way and I stopped tatting. The 25 Motif Challenge has inspired me to start tatting again with the goal of learning more about this fascinating form of lacemaking. Ok, here's the deal. In the next year I will complete 25 motifs from published tatting pattern books. At this point I'm really too much of a beginner to design my own patterns.