SOUP catcher

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I haven't touched my shuttles for almost 3 weeks now, but I needed a small decoration for splocik's monthly game. So, I did a quick search in my stash and found motifs I had tatted in September. I hastily put these together to create some kind of ornament. It resembles a dreamcatcher somewhat, but could just as well be a suncatcher, a window decoration or a tree ornament. And overall, it could've been better! This will have to do for now since only a few hours remain of November.

Being made of pieces in my stash and with no clear identity, I was tempted to call it my SOUP* catcher! Remember what SOUP stands for? - Sewing On / Using Pieces of tatting. However a few of my friends say it does look like a dreamcatcher. And these are the component pieces ....

Motif #1 Mituko Ikuta's 1994 book 'Shuttle Lace: Tatting and Beads 1' has several picot effects which became popular as 'Ikuta Picots' through Georgia Seitz's tribute to the designer. The above motif is from Ikuta Picots Diagrams 1  by Georgia Seitz (https://www.theonlinetattingclass.com/technique-tools). Worked in Lizbeth size 20.

Motif #2 And this is from Diagram 2 same link as above. In the first motif the long picots appear like adjoining or continuous picots, being joined at the same distance. These are double picots and the two threads can be arranged to better resemble them - I did not. Worked in Anchor Pearl Cotton size 8.

In this 2nd motif the very long picots are joined to adjoining elements (rings here) and form overlapping layers with careful interweaving.

This time I pinned the long picots in 2nd motif while blocking in order to achieve the points. I like this better since it opened up the picots - what about you?

My pictorials for her overlapping picots effect - https://tipsaroundthehome.blogspot.com/search?q=Ikuta+picots

Motif #3 I was inspired by Corina Meyfeldt's beautiful Sakura pattern (https://cmhandmade.blogspot.com/2014/11/pattern-sakura.html). I had started out to tat the sakura, but pre-stringing the beaded picots (notice I put 3 yellow beads at the tips?) was quite time-consuming so I went freeform with only 5 stamens. Worked in Anchor Pearl Cotton size 8.

There's a backstory to this. When I did the post about Tatted Fringe (https://tipsaroundthehome.blogspot.com/2024/08/on-fringes.html) Stephanie W told me about her beaded fringe which she made using Nina Libin's 'single file beaded picot' and even sent me a pic! It reminded me of Corina's Sakura which had been taught in Georgia's class. The method is exactly the same, though for a fringe the picots would likely be longer.

Motif #4 The large mustard 4-petalled motif in the center of the bangle is an adaptation of Eliz Davis' motif (https://tatknot.blogspot.com/2016/05/mock-ring-by-joining-chain-back-to.html) which I made before in blue (https://tipsaroundthehome.blogspot.com/2016/05/of-long-chains-large-rings.html). After everything was assembled, I realised I hadn't taken a pic of the motif separately. Worked in Anchor size 20 (¬size 10).

Motif #5 There was a prominent negative space in the 4th motif so I sewed in the Fringe Star 

(pattern https://tipsaroundthehome.blogspot.com/2024/08/starburst-fringe.html) 

I wanted to take a short video of the SOUP dreamcatcher but it wasn't to be. 

How fast this year has slipped by! Only one more month left, one last submission left. Do check out the range of October entries in splocik's 'Small Decorations' game - https://splocik2.blogspot.com/2024/11/male-dekoracje-2024-galeria.html

Many many thanks to all mentioned in this post!  

lollygagging or not

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Whatever it is, I'm sure happy to pause and share this slightly mixed bag of fun and possibilities! Let's start with the Tatted Fringe and adaptations and practice pattern I shared in my last two posts.

Yesterday Elisabeth Dobler wrote to me and sent me some photos which I share here with her kind permission. And this is what she says - 

Today our tatting group met again and I showed them the new technique of Corina Meyfeldt and you. It was so funny - we had so much fun! Some members of my group were so creative and tried new ways to apply this new technique. Initially I wanted to teach them the various possibilities of the captured picot but we didn't have enough time - we tatted 3 hours only the new technique! 

Thank you very much for sharing this new skills!

From the top and the side!

Oh the possibilities of colour, size, and form!

She and her group are so creative! Soon I will share her beautiful application of the captured picots.

https://occhi-freunde-oberschwaben.de/  ; https://www.instagram.com/occhi_freunde_oberschwaben/

💖💖💖

Almost simultaneously I received this message from Stephanie Wilson -

I like your fringed star. The colors are pretty and I don’t mind ‘messy’ fringe. It looks nice to me.

Got me thinking – do you think we could do something similar using the daisy picot technique? Long picots *between* the daisy picot stitches, then cut them after we’re finished? I don’t have time to try it now, but it sounds like it would work….in my head, at least.

And the answer is yes! sorry I didn't get time to try it out, but this is the only caveat to keep in mind - if we attach the fringe to the core thread, it will take up space like any stitch. Hence if a pattern is not written with a fringe in mind, one must take care to adjust the total stitches accordingly. Of course, this can be countered by adding the fringe to the picot thread, and if one wants the fringe facing down/inwards, then tat a downward or inward facing picot on which you attach the fringe!

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I didn't mention it in my last post, but I had used the spot fringe as thorns in the tiny Thorny Wreath from 2015. (https://tipsaroundthehome.blogspot.com/2015/12/thorny-wreath-pattern.html)

And this Christmas Troll (Ruth Perry's pattern) where I frayed the picots for an afro, could well have had additional fringe to give it a denser style (https://tipsaroundthehome.blogspot.com/2016/12/a-new-look-or.html)

And of course, the recent Fringe Star practice pattern and ideas was shared in the last post.

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Unrelated, but I wanted to update, hence adding it here. While looking for something in my choco-tatting boxes one leaf fell out which I noticed after the box was kept back.It was the same leaf I'd wanted to tat for the pumpkin, but didn't have time. Serendipitous! Of course I simply tied and whip stitches the tails to hide them and voila it looks kind of complete now. This is the E25 Extract Me Pumpkin by Julie Myers with my little tds variation and the addition of E25 palm leaf. (details - https://tipsaroundthehome.blogspot.com/2024/08/veg-patch-game.html ; https://tipsaroundthehome.blogspot.com/2022/09/palm-or-plant-help.html

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Related Posts - 

https://tipsaroundthehome.blogspot.com/2015/12/fringe-benefits.html

https://tipsaroundthehome.blogspot.com/2024/08/on-fringes.html

https://tipsaroundthehome.blogspot.com/2024/08/starburst-fringe.html

https://tipsaroundthehome.blogspot.com/2022/10/no-truncation.html

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Many thanks to all for sharing your joy, thoughts, and ideas ladies! It's always satisfying to see interest being generated and tatters at play.

💖💖💖

string of inspiration

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 You never know when, where, how, from whom inspiration will strike. Which is one of the reasons I like to blog about all my baked and half-baked ideas, hoping it will catch somebody's imagination.

Stephanie Wilson was inspired by the beautiful Zinnia Flower - an Endrucks' pattern #10 derivation by Ninetta Caruso, from my previous post. Not merely the beauty of the design, but the clever picot join at the start of a ring (read her comment) , and also the of variegated colourway. 

Here's what she says -

"Abandoned all my other projects and when I had time to tat, I worked on this one until it was finished. My color choice wasn’t the best, but I wanted to use the variegated thread….with a pink solid color, except I HAD the ‘right’ pink….but in the wrong size thread. So it’s a variegated ‘heavy’ weight quilting thread that’s about the same size as DMC 80 (but it was discontinued several years ago, unfortunately) and white Lizbeth size 80."

And look at the pretty flower that blossomed through her shuttles! She chose to tat Anna Tedesco's variation where the dimpled rings are substituted by normal rings. 

And since we're on the topic, let me share Lyn Clements' version that inspired my own use of the best variegated fit I could find in my stash.

Isn't is just such a happy flower! Unfortunately she ran out of the colourway at this stage and hasn't been able to complete it. 

However it is great to see inspiration flowing from one to the other!

Mind you, there are several other beautiful versions using two solid colours. We'll blog about those later.

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Have you noticed the tiny pics are back?!!!! Yes, blogspot has restored the blog feed with those thumb-size pics from each blog we follow, yay! It was a dismal feed with only the text and no accompanying pic.

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Many many thanks to all you wonderful inspirers!

palm or plant - help

Pin It now! I'm in a quandary ... can't see the wood for the trees kind of..... and would appreciate your input.

If you remember (https://tipsaroundthehome.blogspot.com/2022/09/idea-in-progress.html ), I had extracted and adapted the pea pod motif from Endrucks' pattern #25 to make fronds for a palm tree. I also had most of the layout in my head, barring the minute details.

I have 6 fronds and the question is whether I should continue with the Palm Tree idea or switch to a Snake Plant?

PALM  TREE?

or

SNAKE  PLANT ?

Please help me decide. At this stage hubby thinks it looks like a snake plant, and I agree with him. However going ahead I see the palm tree take shape, too.

Over 10 days back I had shared this collage in our FB group -

The 4th frond (below) looks like a banana, doesn't it? Or an orange slice. Or when arranged together, it could well shape into a pumpkin! 

Inspired by this, one of our members has tatted a pair of sweet peas and carrots which will be shared here once the event is over.

Stephanie W really got the creative juices flowing with her harvest theme idea! Thank you 💕

Check out the game, if you wish to play - https://tipsaroundthehome.blogspot.com/2022/09/game-of-extraction.html

Related Posts -

https://tipsaroundthehome.blogspot.com/2022/09/idea-in-progress.html

https://tipsaroundthehome.blogspot.com/2022/10/no-truncation.html

https://tipsaroundthehome.blogspot.com/2022/10/sunny-palms.html

idea in progress

Pin It now! When we opened the new game for September (https://tipsaroundthehome.blogspot.com/2022/09/game-of-extraction.html), I wasn't sure I'd be able to participate myself. However after finishing off a few tasks on my list, I was suddenly energized by an idea, by a mental image, and got right down to work. 

Do you see what I see? Do these motifs work as palm tree fronds? These are the first 3 each one different, with quite a few more to make in a darker shade, perhaps even a 3rd shade.

The trunk will incorporate another extraction of block tatting motif.

At this stage I have no idea how far I will be able to progress towards a composition or scenery ...

This is the original motif from Endrucks' pattern #24 and #25.

Pattern #24 pdf link - https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ZpHou6AOWM3LZJVbEMNB_gurWqtjazRx/view

Pattern #25 now updated -

https://drive.google.com/file/d/19rR3fDG_ZHO9imf-EuPQO9dSd531UZl4/view

My imagination swirled with possibilities with merely this pea pod motif(s) -

• Dragon fly wings
• Angel or Butterfly wings
• Thatched roof
• Flower petals - colour, number of petals, single or multiple layers will determine what flower emerges.
• Gown
• Bow (for neck or hair)
• Flying bird ...........

What do You see or imagine? 

My intention was to work the fronds continuously if only I hadn't been lazy at the beginning ;-P I had wound one shuttle full with 3 strands of Anchor embroidery floss, pulled out a yard or so for CTM and worked only with that one shuttle using direct tatting, etc. 

Anyways, I'm happy for doing them separately - gives me more flexibility to arrange them later.

I am thoroughly enjoying this somewhat free-style winging after what seems like ages of structured tatting. Very relaxing and quick to tat.

ginger fresh

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 Fresh ginger has such an alluring aroma and taste and is good for digestion, etc. However it has a hot essence, and is best consumed during winters when it generates heat within the body. 'Adrak ki chai' (ginger tea) is a staple in most Indian homes during winter months and to ward off cold and cough.

Stephanie Wilson and I have intermittent discussions on cooking and food - she has acquired quite a taste for Indian spices, and dishes! She shared how she grates and freezes fresh ginger (in tiny globs) to simply dump into the dish that is cooking.

Here is what I've been doing since, in order to get the freshness of ginger in my tea! And to understand why I am not a monkey, check out this popular Indian saying/muhaavra for an interesting read - https://www.quora.com/There-is-an-Indian-Hindi-phrase-that-says-Bandar-kya-jaane-adrak-ka-swad-Why-was-this-made 

I use a planar to slice the root. This time you can see the pink freshness of the new root.

Because it is a new root, there is more moisture.

So anyway, I spread the slices on the tray and left it on the table for a few hours for this extra moisture to evaporate.

Then I place the tray in the freezer. This step ensures that the slices do not stick together.

The next day or so, I fill an air-tight mason jar with the frozen slices and shove it back into the freezer.

Since I forgot to take pics earlier, you can see the frost on the cool bottle.

Slicing gives me the additional option of crushing or julienning them if I need it for any recipe.

Each morning, I pick out a few slices, and along with 1 clove and 2 black peppercorns, and sometimes a couple of tulsi leaves (holy basil) in my mug of water, I microwave it for absolutely fresh-tasting herbal tea!

Yes, we've tried many commercial brands (hubby's choice) of ginger tea, etc. but there is absolutely nothing like this (in my opinion). Freezing the slices reduces my prep time each morning, yet gives me the full fresh aroma of fresh-cut ginger.

So, are you a monkey or not?!

Thank you, Stephanie, for making my life easy 😍 

tassel tips n tricks

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Over the years I’ve assimilated a few tips and tricks for making the perfect tassel – umm, aspiring to. I was simply going to share the link to this latest trick, except that the link does not open now without membership to the Japanese site/platform. Despite a fairly thorough search I couldn’t find a single video or pin where this trick was used, hence I made a quick collage.

With tassel earrings raking up quite a storm, it is a simple and neat trick to have in one's kitty. 

1. Cut a length of paper and roll it over the tassel. The length of the paper cylinder should be the desired length of tassel.
2. It is important that the cylinder is snugged up to the base of the tassel if one wants identical lengths as in earrings.
3. Then snip close to and along the lower edge of paper. Remove paper, and voilà, we have a neatly trimmed, perfect tassel each and every time!
4. This tip was shown in stepwise detail, by sekiraralace here to make red tassel earrings. 

Some more tassel-making links and tips

• Rachael Mohler’s video. 

• Silk thread tassel earrings using fork – uppunutihome’s video 
• Midway through the above video, notice how the threads curl and spread when she puts the scissors inside the tassel and cuts? Judith Connors had once highlighted this point in Craftree (sorry, don’t have a link) – Always cut across, never through the threads. This keeps the threads together and it really works.

There are loads more youtube videos, all pretty similar.

• When I shared Stephanie Wilson’s tip about using scrap threads, she sent me another tip – she adds a few strands of metallic scrap threads to the tassel!!!

• And lastly my own tips for a frayed tassel  

UPDATE (Apr 24, 2019): Patricia Lynn-Cobb has an excellent tutorial for a Great Tassel. Download the pdf from this post.

• DIY satin ribbon tassels video  

Do you have a tassel tip or trick or tutorial to share? I would love to add it to this list which will be on the Tatting Resources tab above. Waiting eagerly to hear from you …

giving and receiving

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…. thanks q

According to the Hindu calendar, Guru Poornima is celebrated every year on full moon of the 4th month - this time it fell on the 27th. As per scriptures, it is a day to offer respect and gratitude to one’s teachers. So this may be almost a 3,000 year old legacy! 

Thought I’d give my thanks to each tatter/blogger I’ve had the pleasure to meet online – I always learn a little something and add to my knowledge, be it from a beginner question, peer consultation, or expert advice.

Firstly, I’d like to thank the extremely talented Mari-jan. We got acquainted, and have been in touch, when they asked to publish my pattern in their publication, De Frivolite(k)ring . Recently she celebrated her 1^st blog anniversary and surprised me with this lovely handmade silk plum blossom and handwritten card. 

  

Update : Mari-jan has posted details about this technique here.

Next, as a thank-you gesture for helping her out with some tatting snags over time, Jean Gordon shared this joyful bookmark pattern! I got down to tatting it almost immediately, spurred by her tatted models.

This is the Butterfly Bookvine designed by Kimberley Donohue 

published in #16, KNOTS tatting newsletter, March 1997. 

Jean made a few tweaks and re-wrote it.

I really liked Jean’s colour scheme above! 

I chose the closest I could get from my Anchor size 40 stash. I want to make another with more colourful butterflies and vine using embroidery thread.
It measures 13×3cms without tail.

Butterflies are superb in that there was no need to hide ends at all since we end with a split ring! Instead of using 2 shuttles, I left a long tail in the beginning to use for the 2nd side of split ring and one antenna.

There are 2 versions of the butterfly in the pattern. I chose the more decorative one. 

For the vine, instead of SLT, I used the Reverse Join to switch threads, thus ending up tatting it with one shuttle and green ball thread. 

One has to keep track of the joins, though. I kept making mistakes linking to the butterfly and ended up retrotatting.

You know I like tails on my bookmarks. So a lock stitch chain it was. But for the tassel, I have to thank Stephanie Wilson. Last year, when she was test tatting one of my patterns, she shared her wonderful idea – collect all the scrap threads and make tassels! 

I finally remembered in time, and am so happy with the result, even though these were the only scraps left from recent projects in my tiny collection box. I added a green border on either side of the wrap-around -- ALL scrap!!!.

Here’s another of Jean’s tatting sample (still unblocked). She’s been tatting for just over a year and already learned interlaced rings (the 4-shuttle braid) & the floating twisted picot!

Blogging has brought me so many extraordinary friends!

Many many thanks to this tatting circle of friends qYq

eternal circles and arches

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free tatting patterns

Renata and Justyna take turns coordinating craft series - posting project and tutorial links ranging from tatting, decoupage, sewing, crochet,  etc. They’ve already done many such series, and this time it’s back to “I Love Tatting” by Justyna. Every month there is a new sub-topic – plenty of time to learn new techniques or brush up on old ones. And people join in by posting their project and link during that month. It’s a great way to showcase the immense creativity and skills and be inspired by each other. Check out the details here.

This month (the first in “kocham frywolitkę”) the topic is Circles and Arches. Well, these are universal and ubiquitous ! I chose this simple necklace set with prominent arches and rings....

Noorjahan’s Rubies – a parure

free pattern for 4-piece jewelry set

Georgia is continually throwing challenges my way ;-P And I Love it. Makes me crawl out of my comfort zone. This time it was a necklace for Palmettos goody bag. I wanted a set with earrings, too, and at the last moment a ring was thrown in as a bonus pattern. 

This project took me over a month to present. The tatting is very quick, I assure you. But the designing, diagramming, writing, ooooof (am I That inefficient?) - the countless hours ! So I hope at least a few tatters will be willing to give it a go, if only to cheer me on ;-P

The one great thing that came off it all – a new beading method (Floating Beads).

 

Stephaine Wilson graciously and willingly accepted to test-tat the earring pattern. Her detailed notes, feedback, and input helped tremendously !

I ran out of the large teardrops, and had to snip them off my trial pieces. The earring on the left has longer chain arches. Wanted to show this version as well, though we rejected it (DH had a say in many of the decisions - he was thrilled and quite enamored by the whole tatted jewelry scenario!)

Do you recognize this necklace pattern? Yes, it’s the vintage edging (#7 from Needleart) converted into a necklace. Barely any changes were required!

All the other pieces are based off it to make a set – a parure (a term Georgia introduced me to!).

When it came to naming the piece, Georgia suggested something ethnic. I immediately recalled wanting to design a ruby pendant after reading “The Feast of Roses” by Indu Sundaresan. There is not much literature on this 16^th century empress, but the author has brought her to life. Nothing to it but Noorjahan’s Rubies !

My intention was to use this single large oval bead in the center of the necklace, making the centre large, with more tatted chains around. But it looked too dull there, hence tatsmithed around a ring ! It can also be wrapped around a pin for brooch.

And my first time with wire bending ! The ring was a long wire with a loop at one end. I put the straight end through this loop, and then bent it into a similar loop. The ring can now fit any finger. 

The ring and earrings patterns are shared and explained in this Bellaonline article.

The bracelet was tatted while the Tat Days conference was on, hence not a part of the goody bag. This piece has 2 extra 'flowers' - I didn't realise that the tatting would stretch once it was completed and blocked. In fact it Needs to be stretched before blocking. With the extra repeats, it can be worn as a choker !

I’d like to share the design process (what’ll I do with all the pics I took, all the trials I did?!), but in a future post. There’s always a back story with many by-lanes with learning at each step.

I tried to keep beads at a minimum wanting the circles and arches in tatting to show. But I certainly would like to make this in gold thread – it would be truly Indian then. Everyone has heard of the Taj Mahal with it's elegant domes and arches. But it was Noorjahan who first had a tomb built for her father, which later inspired the Taj.

Symbolism –

Black thread - veil/shadows behind which a woman was expected to remain.
(however,  I wish I could tat it in gold -- it would really bring out the ruby reds. )

Rubies – for the ruby gifted to her by her husband when he named Mehrunissa “Light of the Universe - Noorjahan” !

Teardrops – for the blood and tears, the resistance and intrigue, yet dignity under pressure.

Filigree bead cap – reminds me of the intricately beautiful carvings & inlay work by craftsmen at the time.

Diamond spacers & Gold beads – besides prosperity, these sparkling jewels reveal Noorjahan’s brilliance and strength shining through.

Many many thanks, Georgia and Stephanie ! ((((hugs))))

Download Pattern PDFs here - 

1. Noorjahan's Rubies - EARRINGS – diagrams only pdf,

2. Noorjahan's Rubies - NECKLACE – diagrams only pdf ,

3. Noorjhan's Rubies - RING/Brooch – diagrams only pdf

4. Noorjahan's Rubies - a parure. Complete 4-PIECE PATTERN including BRACELET, written instructions, notations and diagrams pdf.

hope you enjoy tatting a piece of this jewelry …