6 May 2009

One of my needle tatting adventures

Another piece from my old suitcase!!! Remember the small giraffe pattern on my site? Originally the giraffe was made as an earring to amuse the kids I was teaching. I then heard about needle tatting.

Goodness knows how I heard about it because it was in the days of stage coaches and the penny black stamps!! Well, not really but it was a long time ago.

I heard about Ed and Selma Morin's needle tatting book and took the enormous risk of putting dollars in an envelope and writing to America which was (in those days - the 1970's) somewhere over the other side of the moon.

I bought needles too. Not sure who I bought these things from but I did.
So, having bought the needles I tried them out.

Oh, watch this space tomorrow. There will be news of the new patterns!!!!

Somewhere I've still got the ghastly (truly ghastly) needle tatted top I made. I was quite pleased with the giraffes but didn't like needle tatting one bit. I've never gone back to it even though some years later I bought finer needles.


8 comments:

Gunhild said...

Hi Jane, I came by and saw your giraffes today, they are really cude!
I think, the way one is used to, needle or shuttle, the people go. I can do shuttle-tatting, but I am a professional needle-tatter, so it will always be my way, beause I don't stop and practise the shuttle. I love to make beaded jewellery with the needle, and it works very well. As my friends all work doilies with the shuttle, I just take fun to try it time by time. But the most fun we had was, when I asked everybody to show me the way they do shuttle tatting. Some even never recognized they did it with the little finger of the right hand, because they never see it ;-))
happy tatting
perlen-guni

Carol Schockling Lawecki said...

Your picture is so cute Jane. I forgot all about this cute little giraffe pattern. Thanks for sharing the picture. I like how you made the tree! Have a great day!

Maureen said...

It's fun going through old suitcases! I inherited my grandmother's, because no-one else wanted it, and it is crammed full of old knitting patterns, photographs, tortoiseshell knitting needles and even a bone button hook! Sadly, no tatting shuttle, Granny didn't tat.

Suzanne said...

The giraffe and tree tableau is perfectly sweet! even if the experiment in needle tatting was a bust. Thanks for sharing.

Tatskool said...

The giraffe is lovely, please write up that pattern too, it's quite different.

Fox said...

Very whimsical!

Laurie in Maine said...

So cute :) I have a solitary giraffe or two I did when I first took up needle tatting a couple of years ago but they've been floating around loose in the bead box.
Thought about putting them on a bookmark in a picture style such as this - with a note on the back about reaching up to the higher shelves (now that you're taller!;) and exploring what's new...
Must put the idea to the test!

Barb said...

I love your giraffe! It's so adorable. The way you used the beads for the hooves is very clever. :)

Barb

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