A week or so ago (yes, I forgot to blog it last week) I received my newsletter from Handy Hands and inside was this key ring.
This took me back to when Barb started her company and when I first started dealing with her. It must have been an advert in a UK based tatting newsletter that put me onto her shop. I can't remember the exact details but it was in the very early days of the internet when I'd just discovered that there were real, live tatters 'out there' and that I wasn't on my own! In fact (here I digress as usual) one of the first ones I got into conversation with was Mark Myers (Tatman) who helped me no end when I was struggling to set up my website.
Back to the subject of this post! I remember buying off Barb of Handy Hands and she'd not got her shop set up online back then. I used to 'risk it' by sending my credit card details in two or three emails for her to 'patch together'. It worked and I'll always be grateful to her for that and for all she's done for tatting.
Without her taking big risks we wouldn't have Lizbeth threads, shuttles and many, many things we now take for granted. Thank YOU, Barb.
Nice to receive the commemorative keyring, and thirty years is a very long time to have run a tatting business! Unfortunately the postage became prohibitive so I can't shop there anymore. But Crochet Australia is just up the road a bit!
ReplyDeleteMy Mom taught me to tat in 1989 and I found Handy Hands shortly after too. Look how far we have come since then. Handy Hands has made such an impact on the tatting world. Especially with all the beautiful threads she has brought to us. My Mom was very traditional with tatting, only wanting tat white thread. I found Barb's shop and all the beautiful colors of thread that were available and it changed everything. Jane, I'm not sure when I found you on the internet but you and Handy Hands are two of the reasons I love tatting so much. Thank you both for years of enjoyment!
ReplyDeleteMy friend Denise met Barb at the Covered Bridge Festival in Indiana, long before Lizbeth threads. Of course Denise let me know about Barb's new venture. We've both been great fans of Barb and her service ever since!
ReplyDeleteThanks for this post! I hadn't realized that Barb started her business the same year that I finally learned how to tat in 1989 (long story). And little did I know that by 1990 I would become a member of the tatting group that Carol's mother belongs to, and through her, I met Carol! Of course, Carol was always praising your work, so I eventually 'met' you after the internet started! I learned about Handy Hands via Carol and the blogs.
ReplyDeleteBarb amazingly brought about the manufacture of the Aerlit bobbin shuttles (and others), not to mention her development of the incredible variety of Lizbeth threads. I can't imagine being so involved in all things tatting, but I certainly appreciate all that she has accomplished.
Kathy? It doesn't seem possible that we've been tatting for 30 years. I still love using those wooden shuttles we got from Donna Vosler's shop. (I think that was her name). I'm going to try to go to Vicary days in August with my Mom. See you there if you go.
DeleteIt’s a small world, Kathy. Specially in Tat Land.
ReplyDelete