Tatman's Chatline

For those that celebrate it, I hope everyone had a happy and safe Labor Day weekend! And I hope you took in some tat time for yourself. I DID!!

I had been designing some bobbin lace inspired designs again. I tend to design in white thread and maybe later venture with colored thread. But I like to see how the texture of the design works out without color or beads blocking my vision. In these three pieces that I made over the weekend I used Coron Cotton size 160(finest I have so far) with DMC Cebelia cotton 30 for the core thread of the pearl tatting. The base of the design is in pearl tatting with rings thrown off both sides.

This is an 8 petal Bruges style flower that measures 4.5 cm…..

This is a leaf done in pearl tatting on the outside and then tatted clunies(leaf tallies) to fill in the space. The leaf measures 4cm and each of the clunies measure 1cm in length. The core of the cluny is the Cebelia cotton size 3 with the weaving thread in the Coron cotton size 160. Quite the challenge, but after a bit, was no problem. The thicker thread helped create a padded look.

In this leaf I wanted to convey the cloth stitch and half stitch elements in bobbinlace using tatted elements, of course. To represent the cloth stitch I used closely joined rings, turned the corner at the tip and the half stitch was represented by criss crossing long picots using the picot lock join. This leaf measures 4 cm.

I started another 8 petal flower with more solid looking petals and they will be overlapping to give a 3-D look. But in the meantime, I will be continuing my Honiton lace lessons.

I stuffed it really tight and sewn up the opening. Double sewn it so it wouldn’t accidentally come undone or rip. And here is my new Honiton pillow

I also made 3 cover cloths(as directed in the book by Elsie Luxton) and a bobbin roll cover. I was anxious to get started, so last night I prepared the pricking of the first lesson in her “Techniques of Honiton Lace” of the three leaf sprig. Here you see I have worked a few passes with 15 pairs. Have one more pair to introduce and then continue.

A closer view of the work

What is nice is the pillow is surprisingly light weight and I have a fairly long lap that I won’t be lacing up close to my chest. It is a good distance for lacing. Can’t do that with most of my other pillows.  Of course I would want it close to my sight since the lacework is so tiny!!

I am going ahead with my proposed project of making my own Honiton pillow so I can get started on learning more about Honiton Lace.  My dear friend, Celtic Dreamweaver showed me how to do this lace several years ago.  But I was using her tools and pillow.  And I really want to get going on this lace before my eyes give out!!  It is similar to Bruges except that you are using REALLY fine thread.  And my motto has always been, “the finer the thread, the better!”

I cut out two 14 inch circles of heavy tight woven navy fabric and a 3 inch by 44 inch long strip for the side. Sewn one circle to the side strip and then the other circle to the other side of the strip but left a 6 inch opening for stuffing. I secured the opening stitches with heavy thread and knotted, because I know from experience that the stitches get pulled really hard and the stress could make them come out while stuffing.

Below are pictures I took of some of the process of me making my Honiton pillow.  I plan on making a full tutorial and add it to my Bobbinburg section of my website.

I found this bag of barley straw at a tag sale and knew that I could make use of it somehow with my pillows. This is the first good project with it.

Then you cut the straw into little pieces about 1 inch lengths. I wasn’t too concerned about the little knots. I have read that they just float in the pillow and don’t really cause damage. So rather than spend months of cutting and making sure I keep the knots out of the good straw, I just started cutting. I did make sure there were the unwanted twigs or rough junk not to be cut and put in the good pile.

After cutting quite a bit of it in the bag, I scooped out a handful and cut it over an empty cat litter bucket I had on hand. We have three cats and we reuse these buckets for other things. The cuttings that go in this bucket are more fine and even.

After a few hours of cutting……..and by the way, I do recommend you wear gloves(use of scissors for that many hours gives you blisters and sores!)…………I proceed to stuff my flat pillow case.

This is how my pillow looks so far after 3 hours of cutting straw and stuffing it in the pillow. And this is only 2/3rds full!! I still have more cutting to do. Have to make it so full that I can’t possibly stuff any more. The saying goes “a very firm pillow makes for better lacemaking” is true!

So far so good! Will post more on my finishing later…………

Just have to show you what the morning dew brought to my attention. A dew filled funnel spider web made by a resident grass spider!

No, I didn’t get a bike. It is my niece’s. And besides, it is broken, so I can’t go anywhere. I just think it is cool!

On the lace front, I have been working hard the past few evenings to get this doily off my 24 inch cookie pillow so i can get on with other projects. I have had this on the pillow for some time. But not as long as most. Probably only a year. I made some mistakes that may be noticeable if looking really hard. But I wasn’t going to fix them. Only one Creator is perfect!

It is from Edna Sutton’s book “Bruges Flower Lace” on page 95 done in Bockens 80/2 linen. It measures 21cm by 15cm(8.25in by 6in). I really like this Bruges Flower Lace type of lace. I may start another or go in a completely different direction. Whatever hits my fancy and creative eye.

I created some fun puzzles(since lacemakers have stated recently they tend
to be puzzle enthusiasts) that are lace related.  There is a lace terms
wordsearch, lace types wordsearch, lace related crossword, tatting
wordsearch and tatting related crossword puzzle.  They are linked from my
website homepage, but here are the direct links to their pages:

The crossword puzzles have a solution link at the bottom in case you run
into troubles.  But no cheating!   Unfortunately I wasn’t able to make a
solution link to the wordsearches.  But that just adds to the challenge!

I also wasn’t able to create these so you can work them online. I am not
that adept at javascript. You will have to print them off and hope that
all goes well.  You may have to download the image of the puzzle and copy
and paste the text into a document if you are wanting to share these puzzles
with anyone.

I can’t take full credit.  These puzzles were generated by
http://puzzlemaker.discoveryeducation.com.  Some of you may have run across
this wonderful resource.

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After visiting Gma in Mt. Vernon for a couple of days, we headed on to finish our vacation.  We drove through the wonderful hills of Ohio south to Hocking Hills State Park.  This is a beautiful area filled with lucious valleys and rock formations and craggy deep chasms.  We set up camp at the campground.  The weather was getting warmer by this time. Unlike our other campsite fully in the trees, you can see how the sun blazes down on our camper mid day and it stays there until early evening.  Not a good spot!  .  But it was all that was available.  And we pulled our camper in the trees as much as possible.  We had a hard time keeping cool.  Guy our cat didn’t enjoy it either.  But we muddle through!

And a lovely view of the water tower at the end of the cul-de-sac

And the vultures on top of it waiting for us to die from the heat……….

A couple more lovely views of the rolling hills and farms in the Ohio valley…………

I finished this tape lace doily last night that I had posted earlier.

Now I want to finish a Bruges flower piece that has been on a pillow for quite some time. I got a surprise in the mail this past Saturday from the IOLI president. A thank you card for being the IOLI webmaster and for my work on the website. The card shows a Binche lace iris motif and includes the pattern on the back by Anny-Noben Slegers.

And in the card was this really cute angel done in Honiton lace. I sooooo want to get started on Honiton. First need to make my Honiton pillow. Got the bobbins and thread.

Last night was parade night and the last day of the fair! Stifling hot and humid, but we suffered through it watching the parade and kids got lots of candy and frisbies and mardi gras beads. We sat in the A/C building doing our demonstrating while watching the area. I brought my bobbin lace back to see if I could finish the project. There were lots of people mulling around because it was parade night and importantly we are of two buildings that have A/C. I had lots of questions this time, both kids, teens, and adults. One family knew what I was doing because they had seen someone demo at another fair. That is good!! My great niece and her family came too. Even though they live just a few blocks from us, we don’t get to see them often. She asked the typical questions of what I was working on. I stated that I am working with two pairs like you would work a four strand braid, like braiding your hair. She said “I don’t know how to braid hair. Even with 3 strands.” OK…… She is 11. Never met a girl who didn’t know how to braid hair! Later on she came back and asked me if I would teach her so that she could learn to braid hair. Not the statement I was looking for! I am sure her intentions are good. But I will have to work on her to find that learning bobbin lace is more than just a means to braid hair. It is to acquire a love for the art and what you make. But since I rarely see her, I won’t be looking to teach her too soon. Plus she doesn’t have “stick-to-it-iveness”. Short attention span. We tried teaching her sewing and tatting and other things. Gets into it and doesn’t continue with the interest. Maybe later in her life. But I know that she is the right age to teach. Just wish her mind was more secure. I may have to approach it differently to entice her to want to keep coming back for more lessons.

OK……on to showing you more vacation pictures!!!

A wonderful country scene that I admire

Such clean and organized farms the Amish have!

We stopped off at historic Swiss town of Guggisburg, OH(tourist trap, but fun) to get some cheese and other wares.

We ate lunch at the Chalet in the Valley Restaurant for some good Swiss/German cooking.

Inside was a nice mural of a particular national park in the Swiss area.

I am a big fan of Swiss/German clocks. Love the craftsmenship!

Cool light hanging from the ceiling!

These past two evenings my wife and I do our annual sitting at the Community Building at the county fair watching over the building. While we sit we can’t be idle. So we bring projects. Sunday afternoon I brought my bobbin lace. I brought my big bolster with a tape lace project that is half done.
I am most known for my tatting in my area. So I would get the usual comments of “Is that tatting??” then I go into my usual dialog explaining what I am doing and how it works. Not too many kids stopped by to ask questions. Mostly adults asking questions.
Last night I decided to bring my spinning wheel and work out my ongoing roving. This time the adults just watched me or just passed by with a glance. I concluded they either knew what I was doing and didn’t ask questions or decided to just pass by. The kids(of all ages) however came right up to me asking me all types of questions about my wheel, they liked to handle the wool.
I don’t know if it is the apparatus that I am working with(ie. Pillow and bobbins, or massive wheel that looks like a machine) or could it be the project that I am working on, or the tedium of the task. Most adults say about my bobbin lace, “that is too tedious, I could never do that” or “you have to have good eyesight to do that”. Kids don’t say that. No convictions. But when I am at my wheel, I am just sitting in a relaxed position a good distance from the machine. Less stressful looking??? Less inhibiting?? Not that I am stressed or inhibited by all means when working my bobbin lace. I find both lacemaking and spinning relaxing. Sometimes to the point of almost falling asleep LOL!
Spinning I assume is most recognizable in most areas and bobbin lace is not. And the “machine” you work on can also play a role in that. Most adults know what a spinning wheel is, but I find that kids may not if not exposed to that part of life history. Harder is it to find the familiarity in bobbin lace and its tools. I get the same wonder from passer-bys but the clientelle is different.

Tonight is our last night for bringing our projects to work on while we sit at the building demonstrating. I plan on bringing my bobbin lace and see if I can finish that project. Doubt it, but I will see what more questions are asked and from whom and what will happen

I just uploaded into my Etsy Shop two pairs of bobbin lace earrings that I made not long ago.  You can click on their pictures to go to their individual listings.

They are fairly quick and fun to make.

This past Sunday(11 July) I took my nephew with me to dig up some Queen Anne’s lace from a neighbor’s yard so I can transplant it into my butterfly garden.  If I can’t get hybrid flowers to grow, and only weeds, then might as well try growing pretty weeds!  Besides, we like Queen Anne’s Lace.

I have quite a bit planted in my garden, along with the perennials that decided to come up.

And with our little adventure into the weed patch, I brought back with me and unwanted present

POISON IVY!!!!

BEASTIE!!!!  Can’t remember the last time I had poison ivy.  But whenever I DO get it, it always is around the eyes.  I think it has to do with my allergies.

For prettier pictures than that, here are a couple of the lilies in my garden that are bloomed.

Since I finished that one doily from the previous post, I went straight away to pic another doily to do using the same linen thread. Found another picture I like and that only uses 4 bobbin pairs for the bulk of the doily with two additional pairs for the outside row.

Here is a closeup of what I have done so far. It goes fairly quick

That is what I am working on at home in the evenings when I get a chance for “ME” time. Besides other little projects I have strewn all over, I have started another project at work during my lunch break. My leather watch band is completely GROSS and deteriating. So I am making another one. I am attempting to create something across the lines of tatted/macrame watch band. After all, tatting is very much like macrame. But I plan on using mostly tatted elements and just a basic macrame(have to, all I know are basics, and haven’t really done macrame before).

BTW……………..

Just in case you listen to 80s Planet on iTunes or other streaming audio, I just requested a rarely broadcast song(on this station) from the Carpenters. I am a HUGE fan(to put it lightly). And after making a donation(not necessary for normal 80s songs) Steve at the 80s Planet station will be playing later today “Calling Occupants”. It is one of his favorites of the Carpenters and I am thankful that he is actually broadcasting it. So if you are listening to 80sPlanet streaming audio today, he might introduce some wacky person from Greenville, IL, USA who wants to listen to The Carpenters LOL!!!!