Tatman's Chatline

I finished this cross two evenings ago. I used the hen and chicks pattern and is by no means an original idea. I have seen other H&C crosses. But the way the center turned out is interesting. I think I will mount it and place an oval ruby jewel(not real) in the center and maybe diamond crystals(not real) in the spaces between the rows. Would be a good jewelled applique for a vestment. I used the thread that was wound on the antique shuttle I picked up last weekend. Very strong thread and I had just enough to finish it. The thread seems to be about a size 30 mercerized cotton. Felt like rope after tatting with size 160 Coron Cotton

I just finished this little curled up oak leaf design. It measures 5.5cm long by 3.5cm tall(1in by 2in). Since my niece’s wedding is in the fall, I think it is appropriate to have little autumn designs to add to the lace. Little wispy leaves worked in. I will add some acorns as well. The whole idea of the lace is that it will be wispy in design. Very curvy and unusual. There won’t be too many repeats in the design. Repeating the same motif over and over on an edging and such is booooorrrring. And I don’t like boring menial tasks. I rather like playing. Plus I get easily distracted and go ovv on tangents. I just need to make sure that each design will have the same type of elements and cohesively work together.

I did some tatting this weekend!!!! Unusual for me since we are so busy at this time with making costumes and shopping for props for the HS musical. I forgot to bring my wedding lace project home from work since I usually can’t find the time to tat on the weekends. But I found a little time Saturday evening to work up this strange use for tatting. The molded plastic opening on my car lock remote that is held by a jump ring broke and it wouldn’t stay on. The jump ring would just slip out of the slot(before it was a solid hole). I have been battling with keeping the keys and this remote separate in my pocket and a couple of times thought I lost it. Found a solution to that problem!!!……Tat a cover for the remote and the stitches will hold it onto the jump ring!!

I chose the first thread that was on the top of my tatting bag….C&C tatting cotton size 70 in varigated green. I like green. Works for me! I first did the challenging front with the buttons and made motifs to surround the buttons. Then I tatted outer rows to connect them all. It took several fittings and laying the tatting on the remote as I was tatting it to make sure I got a good fit. The back piece wasn’t too bad. It was a blank slate. So I chose to make a multi-layered Celtic 6 pointed star for the center part and then surrounded it with another row.

Now that the two halves were tatted I laced them up tight with needle and matching thread around the remote. This is the front view:

This is the back view:

No mistaking who this car entry lock remote belongs to……..a Tatter!!

While we were out shopping for last minute props and costumes, we were at a flea market and I always hastely glance for any lace paraphenalia. I managed to rescue this cluny lace insertion. It measures 52 inches long and 3 and 3/4th inches wide. I believe it is handmade because the leaf tallies are pointed on both ends(unlike barmen machine lace) and you can see where the starter pins were and the lacemaker had tied the thread ends together in knots on the other end. It desperately needs a cleaning. I would like to include it in my lace collection that I show for the heritage demonstrations. If you know of the pattern or think it might be some other type of lace, please let me know. Below are some closeups of the lace:

At the same flea market I also found this very large celluloid tatting shuttle:

I normally pass up these since I have many in my collection. But this post style shuttle measures 4 inches long and the ends are nice and tight and no sprung tips. Looks to me like the tatter was in the process of making a spiral tatted ring. This shuttle will be good for loading lots of thread and/or beads.

Finished making this little flower to add to the wedding lace collection. It measures only 2.5 cm(7/8th of an inch) or the size of a US quarter. The first row is simple ring and chain combo with the next 3 rows of chains on top of that. The last row is pearl tatted chain joined with a filler stitch to the last row of chains. Nothing spectacular(other than the size), but worth a repeat throughout the lace appliques.

Got some sad news. We noticed our male cat(Guy) has been acting lethargic and seemed sick. So off to the vet! After a few tests we find he has feline diabetes. So I get to give him insulin with syringe every 12 hours for the rest of his life or until he gets better to a point we might be able to control it with diet. You can’t wave a syringe in front of Kim, she gets sick. And she isn’t that great at the doctors either. So all up to me!! $100 bucks every month and a half that isn’t in the budget He did ok with the first injection last night. But Kim was there to help. This morning it was just me and he jumped while taking it. So not all insulin made it in. Gonna have to find a better solution. Poor fella!

Remember this lace piece I started before Christmas? I didn’t like the leaves I was attaching to it. So I redrafted and just kept going with my “whatever hits me at the moment to tat” mode as I add motifs and vines and leaves to make a cohesive design. It is still done in the same pearl tatting method as all the other motifs I am working on for my niece’s wedding dress. So this is what I have been working on from Christmas until now. Life gets in the way of trying to keep on schedule with this project!!

Back in January we made a trip over to Alton, IL area to catch glimpses of the wintering bald eagles that nest and feed on the Missippi River along the Great River Road. Below are the pics I took(as close as I could get with my 300m lense). Wished I had a converter or 600+ meter lense like most wildlife photographers have! Someday!

This past weekend Kim and I were shopping for costumes and props for the HS musical at some antique shops in the area. Much to my surprise my peering eyes spotted in one of the cases this old booklet full of lace samples! Who would have thought I would find this! Normally I just find lace lengths or shuttles or threads. But I have never seen a Lace Merchants sample booklet. It is titled “Imported Cluny Laces” by Brookside Manufacturing Corporation, 114 East 32nd Street, New Yor 16, NY. There is no copyright date to indicate its age. I am assuming the early part of the 20th C. The booklet is 13 inches tall and made of blue card stock of separate pieces that are bound with darker blue cloth strips. Each folded card section is 13 inches tall by 14 inches wide. Most of the samples look to be torchon technique. But from I gather it is handmade lace not manufactured machine lace. I can see in the samples some mistakes and also there are some leaf tallies. As I understand that feature is hard to duplicate. Correct me if I am wrong! Each sample has a color and number. Take special note of the price per yard. YIKES!

Below are the images from front cover to back. Click on the images for a closer view.