I rarely buy books - well, not tatting books as I now have so many and the earliest I have dates back to 1870. I resist buying as long as I can BUT occasionally there's a pattern book that calls to me and the cover picture on one really did that BIG TIME. So I bought it and am happily looking forward to making one or two of the doilies because they are just so pretty.
BUT the one thing that really put me off when I opened it is the the way it appears to allocate front side/back side tatting to the invention of Jan Stawasz who is given the accolade of coming up with the idea. This is sadly not true (it's been around since before Mrs Beeton published her book. Actually since 1865 - see this link and the instructions on making a reversed double stitch.
The thing that Jan did actually (to an old timer like me) is complicate the whole issue of using this 'technique'. Some years ago I did his monster doily but ignored his notation completely! What I did was count the total of doubles on a ring or chain and divide it up where there were picots and popped them in where they belonged. I tatted it doing rings as per usual and chains by making the second half of the stitch first followed by the first half - RODS (reverse order of double stitch). Oh, I also added beads to give the finished piece some weight and it's kept it's shape better by doing that too. Sorry, I digress.
So when I tackle the book (which I will do when I've finished another big project) I will be totally doing it using RODS. Again (I've said this before) I do NOT think it's necessary to do tatting that way but tend to do it with things that will be scanned or only seen from the 'right' side.
Oh, I bet you want to know which book I bought!!! Here it is. I'm DELIGHTED with it.
It’s a beautiful book isn’t it! People who aren’t steeped in the history of tatting often simply don’t understand that most techniques have been practised for many years.
ReplyDeleteI do agree with Maureen. So many of the “new” so-called techniques are simply rediscoveries of the ways from days of yore. All the new names could attributable to a different first language or the response to slight differences in dialectics and even cultural differences. I love the older books in my personal library as they become a window to the simplicity of our craft. No need to middle it up with new names for well-documented ways from days gone past. What is neat is to see how newer designers incorporate newer threads and colors to enhance the techniques.
ReplyDeleteOoh, you will enjoy that book. Mmm, the wrong person is often credited with 'discovering' or 'inventing' things. The three scientists who really developed penicillin are forgotten, while Alexander Fleming lives on, just for starters.
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