The finished Coats doily

Here it is in all it's 'glory'.  Actually before anybody asks I will tell you where it is now - yes, in a box in a cupboard never to see the light of day again!!!!

Some details.  The cloth was made in size 40 Coats thread (old balls that have been hanging around for years) and measures around 23" in diameter.  The pattern is in a Coats leaflet (number 684) which can still be found occasionally online.

I do have another project on the go to take with me to craft groups etc and will show you that another day. 

More progress on the Coats doily

Now back in the dark ages (well, not quite!) I started on this doily and you can see the progress I’d made just over a month ago.

Well I finished the next round of motifs and have just started on the next round. The end is in sight but it won’t be happening any time soon as I’ve been distracted by ‘other things’!!!  Just tracked progress back to the start of this project and it was on the 7th March so it’s going pretty well - for an old lady with just a BC3!!!

Coats doily again

Well I also found time to get the border of the Coats doily done and I must say that I'm pretty pleased with it. 

I have oodles of this thread in size 40 so I will continue on my merry way. It's going to be my 'take with me' project when I go to the craft groups so it will be a long time in the making!!! 

I'll add another picture of the completed doily which will now become a cloth just so you can feast your eyes on what it will look like - one day!!!

Back to the Coats doily

When I posted the single motif I showed you on Monday I'd already got a lot further ahead due to the TIAS and me not using this blog for a few weeks.

You'll see that I managed to join each motif together and it does lie well. It was a bit of a nightmare but I made a few notes (I think!!) as I went along.

You may wonder at all the markers on the picture but they're there for reasons. The coloured yarn is so I know whether the motif was a first, second or third one and that helped enormously with the joining of them together. 

The pins on the outer edges are to show where I join the next round so now it's 'onwards and upwards'. Well, in theory!!!!

Considering that I've had this pattern for probably sixty years it's about time I conquered it!!!

Coats second attempt

After giving up on the green Coats doily (here's the picture of the doily) because I was going to run out of thread and (mainly) because I didn't like all the fussy picots I went on a high level dive into my stash!!!

I knew I wanted to stick to size 40 thread but also that I needed quite a lot of it too. 

Fortunately I found this gorgeous Coats thread which is old but still fine and that's what I've decided to use. 

I've eliminated all the picots on the rings but have kept them on the chains on the outer row. Why? Well because it'll be easier for joining purposes later!!! Now somebody mentioned working out the joins by scanning the picture and enlarging it. I've already got the full pattern (and all my other leaflet patterns) digitised but when I tried to do this with the Coats one and enlarge the motifs it came out too fuzzy so I'm going to have to work it out from the text alone!!! 

That'll keep me quiet for a while!!

Green Coats motifs

So I got a move on with this Coats design.  Here is the centre of this pattern (see below) and this is what it's finally going to be.  Well, that's a lie because it's not!!!

I know that if I go any further I'll run out of thread but that's not the only reason.  I really don't like it as it's too fussy for me. It took me a long time to work out the joins too as it's written in 'old fashioned' notation. This form of writing patterns was what I started the craft with and they were no real problem back in those days because they were all the same.

I remember that there was one very pretty butterfly in a French book that I have which, of course, I had to translate to English first.  In those days computers weren't thought of and I had to work it all out with a pen and paper only to find that there was a big mistake in it!!  So that's why I'm wary of the old notation now!!!  I digress.

I will now look for another colour of thread that I have plenty of in my stash and will start again but with  a LOT fewer picots!!!

Carrying on with the Coats motifs

In the evenings and when I'm not knitting I'm continuing with the Coats mat which I started back here.

I'm using size 40 thread and I'm not sure I'm going to have enough.  I'm also not sure I even like what I'm doing either!!!!  

Sidetracked from being sidetracked!

Yes it happens regularly to me.

While I was looking for the Coats book I came across this Dutch book.  Now the cover design doesn’t appeal to me at all but there are some very interesting designs inside.  I found one that I particularly like so that may be another ongoing task for me.  No, that’s not quite the truth!! It WILL be another project!!!  Maybe one I’ll get underway during the TIAS as the one I like is a doily.  I’ll show you that shortly.

The Coats leaflet

Do you remember this post from last week?  Well that was going to be my task for over Christmas - to make a good start on it.  

I’ve chosen a size 40 Lizbeth thread and the first centre motif is now done.  

I have started a second but then I got sidetracked.  I know, it’s tedious but that’s what happens in the land of BC3!!!  I’ll show you what’s done that to me tomorrow.

Please note - I do NOT use a picot gauge in case anybody thinks I do.  They’d not been invented when I started tatting except probably (and I do mean ‘probably’) they were occasionally used for the occasional very large ones.

During the search

During my search for the Coats leaflet I came across the following which I thought you might be interested in.

Please remember that this was before the internet and that I would've had to go to the bank to buy dollars and then wait anything up to three months to get these.  

So, what have I here?  I'd heard somewhere that there was a 'thing' called needle tatting so decided that I really needed to research and try it.  I had somehow found out about Ed and Selma Morin so wrote (along with bank notes) to them to buy the necessary equipment and their book (which is somewhere on my tidy bookshelves).

So, as I've mentioned in the past, I gave this new fangled idea a whirl.  I thought it was OK for yarn but was hopeless for thread so soon gave it up.  As you can probably see from the picture below - the needles in those packets don't appear to have been opened.  

I found even back then that trying to get a good tension using needles just hurt my hands too much.  Anyway, thought you'd like to see my bit of history!

Moaning Monday

Goodness knows how I manage to get through life with the way my brain works!!!  

Last week I wanted an 'easy to do' long term project that I could sit and do without too much thinking during the 'silly season'. 

I remembered a large doily pattern by Coats that I'd made around fifty years ago but I've no idea what happened to it - the doily, I mean.  I know my gran was impressed that I wanted to do it!!!  Anyway I'm not sure whether it lay flat or not.  I did start an even bigger one from an old House of White Birches leaflet many years after that which I know didn't lie flat and it got thrown away when it was already huge!!!  Nowadays I'd have made sure that I amended the stitch count so it wouldn't happen.

I digress and apologise.

So the search for this small Coats booklet started but it led to many things.  In the end we parted with all the cookery books we owned and other odds and ends of books too (the charity shop were VERY pleased to receive them) so now I have a huge area just for my tatting stuff.  It's truly wonderful.  

Now to the stupid part of this.  I DID find the leaflet and then realised that I'd already scanned all my Coats and Penelope booklets onto my computer!!!  Now how STOOOOOOOPID is that?

Answers on a postage stamp please!!!

Here's the doily pattern I was looking for.

Monday moan

Today's moan isn't so much a moan but a groan!!!  

Back in ancient history, when I learned to tat, the old Penelope and Coats booklets never told the tatter how much thread they needed to wind onto the shuttles to make the design.  In 'those' days they hedged their bets and often put 'two balls of ......' and left it at that.  

Remember that back in those days too you were never told to use two shuttles.  Why? Well because split rings hadn't come into general use so two shuttles weren't needed.  After all, what's wrong with a shuttle and a ball if that's all you actually need  Oh, one thing I might add here is that if you're going to keep dropping the ball and it keeps running away then perhaps the ball thread wound onto a shuttle will solve that problem!!!

I feel nowadays that I 'need' to put quantities on for each shuttle but I never would dream of doing that, unless asked, as I find adding in new threads is no problem AT ALL.  No knots needed either.  

So to work out how much thread is needed I usually tat a final motif (or whatever) having measured the thread onto the shuttles.  I note the quantity on the them and then make the item.  After I've finished I take the amount left over from the original quantity and that's it!!!  

BUT, of course, different tatters work at different tensions so I always allow extra for 'loose' tatters.  BUT I still don't think it always works!!  Now I'm moaning as I hate doing that last bit for a pattern!!!!

The leaves are from Ruth Scharf's design which is to be found here although there are slight modifications as suggested by Judith Connor.

This makes me happy

Two empty spools that used to have thread on! 

Why would that make me happy?  Simple answer - it gives me a good excuse to buy more or makes two less things my poor kids will have to dispose of when I die!!!!

The plastic one on the right held the Nakis Simi that I’ve recently managed to ‘replace’ thanks to this site I found in Estonia.  At least two of the readers of this blog have ordered from the same people.  

The other was an old Coats thread which I also had for many years.  Happy days.

Moaning Monday

Let's see!  What can I moan about today?

Well, not a lot.  I do have one or two moans and this is one of the smaller ones.

Front side/back side tatting.  Back when the dinosaurs roamed the earth and when I learned to tat there was no such thing as front side/back side tatting.  Well, if there was it was NEVER mentioned in ANY of the publications I ever had and they varied from Mrs Beeton's Book of Needlework to the entire series of Coats and Penelope booklets and via Norma Benporath's book too.  Now it may be that the designers 'presumed' that you'd know about this 'method' but I very much doubt it as in none of the 'how to tat' sections of any of the books was it ever mentioned.  Indeed I'd never heard of it until I was in my 50's and had the pleasure of meeting Gary Houtz (ooooh, I do love a bit of name dropping) at Rosemarie Peel's (another name I have great pleasure in dropping) house.  

He showed me this method and I was totally unimpressed.  I didn't see the point.  This (I might add) was in the very, very early days of the internet and before I ever dreamed I'd be able to use it as much as I do.

Anyway, I did finally adopt this method of tatting - BUT for only one very simple reason.  I like my work better when it's done that way and scanned to show you guys.  

I DO NOT believe it's essential to tat that way and if I'm making a gift like a coaster, a doily or an ornament for somebody I don't use it.  People who don't tat would never know which way was the 'right' way or the 'wrong' way to place something down on a table.  I therefore don't think it's essential to tat that way at all.  After all what a person sees is the overall design and not the intricacies of whether a piece is upside down or not!!!!

Now for a picture to brighten the blog post up.  Why a banana?  Well, why not?!?!

Found in a charity shop

I'm trying to rationalise my wardrobe. This is NOT easy as you all know.

I have clothes in there that must be 20 or more years old and it's NOT a big wardrobe either. So a few clothes were taken out last Thursday and I toddled off down the town and took them to my favourite charity shop - the air ambulance one.

Of course I had to have a smooch round to see what was there and I found a pile of 3 Coats thread boxes. Number one (when I opened it) was a total disappointment with just a pile of grotty threads. Number two was slightly better but still didn't appeal. 

Number THREE was, at first glance much like number 2 but I did rummage my fingers through it and noticed a shuttle. I bit more rummaging and I found two. I decided they needed to be re-homed and I paid for the box and left. 

When I got home two hours later and got the threads out I found the bone shuttle hiding in there too. The metal one has no markings on it so I haven't a clue what it is. Do I need more shuttles like this in my collection? Of course not but my theory is that they might have been thrown away if I'd left them there!!!! That's my excuse and I'm sticking to it - even under torture.

Where does it go?

I'm asking about time, actually.  I need more than 24 hours in a day to get everything done. 

This is the snowflake pattern that I was asking for names for. I've decided to call it the August Snowflake. A great suggestion from one of the commenters.

I've started making it again while I'm still trying to get the pattern fit to fly onto the web site. This time I've chosen very 'not Jane' colours but I really, really love how they look together.

This one is in a size 40 thread. The lavender colour is a Lizbeth one and the yellow is an ancient Coats thread. I do love size 40!!!

More books which have to 'go'!!!

I have more books (tatting and crochet) that I picked up for a good price.  If you want them just leave me a comment or email me.  The prices (without postage) are below each picture.  If you're going to the Fringe Element Tat Days in a few weeks time I can bring them with me.

Coats Edgings in Crochet book 772 - price £1.50.

 Coats Time for Tatting - price £2.00

 Coats Crochet Design no. 295 - price £1.00

Gun Blomqvist and Elwy Persson - price £4.50

Another one

I just don't need any excuses to tat this pattern. Not sure why but I just totally love it.  Actually, I'll be honest, I love all Rosemarie Peel's work and particularly her celtic designs.  She was the first person to do celtic tatting.  By that I mean the sort where you make two parts separately, intertwine them and then 'lock' them together with a third round.  Not the later type of celtic where you tat a long chain and 'tie a knot' in it.  OK, it's not that 'simple' but it's just not for me.  I've done one or two celtic designs and am reasonably pleased with them BUT I still think of Rosemarie as the 'Queen of Celtic Tatting'.

This one is made using two size 40 threads. The pale one is a Lizbeth thread and the variegated darker one is an old Coats one.  The beads are a lovely lilac colour.

I really ought to block this one to make the central star show up properly but blocking is something I rarely do!!!!

Another trip

Down memory lane!!!

This was prompted by a visit to our local Hospice secondhand bookshop in town. I pop in there from time to time searching for craft books and occasionally bring in the 'Eborall rescue team' which has a membership of one - me. I found an old Coats tatting book there a few years ago and that got rescued and relocated to Atlanta and Sandra cause she lost everything in her house fire. 

Yesterday I found this little gem. 'Pillow Lace, Book 1' by Margaret Hamer. 

I met Margaret when I was in my late 20''s when she was demonstrating in Stratford (she lived in Bedford and came from a family of bobbin lacers). I approached her as I desperately wanted to learn but there was no time during her visit. We exchanged addresses and she asked if I'd be a guinea pig for this first little book of hers. Obviously there was no such thing as the internet and Youtube in those days!!!  Thus I was in on the birth of book 1 and at least one other little book of hers.  On an aside - her sister (Margaret Waller) was an avid tatter and gave me a lot of encouragement with my work over the years.

Now that was lovely enough but when I opened this book you'll see that it was owned by a Caroline Cramp. That brought back more memories of Caroline who used to belong to Rosemarie Peel's tatting group 'way back when'. Sadly Caroline died way too young. I wonder how this little gem of a book got from Nuneaton (where Caroline lived) to a bookshop in Stratford. We'll never know the answer to that. In the last two pictures you'll see samples worked by Caroline.

Now, if anybody would like this little gem - I paid £1.50 for it and would happily let it go for that plus postage. If you want it and live in Canada and will be attending the Fringe then I can bring it with me.

Change of thread.

So I did as I thought I would. I started again on the Forever Young doily.

I think the thread was the problem as it was very 'soft'. Lovely for lots of things but for what I consider another iconic design I wanted the best I'd got. Well, I've got lots of 'best' thread but this time the 'best' was a Coats one.