A gorgeous patchwork

Staying with Sandra she showed me a fantastic patchwork that she found and had framed.  

The pieces are so, so tiny.  

Do I feel another project coming on?!?!?

Back home

Back in the UK after an amazing trip to America.  

I arrived (along with my suitcase this time) on the 19th August and was picked up by Sandra, bless her cotton socks.  Happy days.  A bit of jet lag followed but a few days in Atlanta (plus a soaking by some very well trained dolphins at the Georgia Aquarium soon sorted me out!!!

When I say 'soaking' I really meant it.  A few photos from that wetting experience.  Whoever knew it would be so hard to pull up your underwear after needing the bathroom!!!  Not an experience I would recommend to anyone!!!

Here's one of the videos I took.

Ready, steady, can’t WAIT to

GO.   

Where?  Palmetto Tat Days.  I’ve started the long process of packing.  Later than usual due to my manic life at the moment but, as usual, I’m finding things that need correcting!!  In each little baggie I will have a sample of what the student is going to make, shuttles wound and beads if needed.   

First problem - where IS my Ann Onnymouse?!?!?!?  I guess I’ll have to make another one as the ‘several’ ones I’ve made before have disappeared!!!

I found

Two brass rings in my cupboard tidy up a few weeks or so ago.  What to do with them was the question!!!  They’re really good brass rings and I wanted to use them wisely.  In the end I used this pattern to make a hanging.  I’m really pleased with it although it was a real struggle to attach the tatting to the ring.

Why?  Because I used invisible thread to do it!!!  When I say invisible it really was invisible!!!  I nearly gave up but I’m an obstinate old git!!!

Hearts galore

Well, two anyway!!!

This little frame was just the right size for two little hearts.  I used the Fandango heart for this little gift.

I found this!!

This is a Mary Konior design whicch I made a while ago and was really pleased to find fitted into this little frame.

I wonder who’s going to get this as a gift?

Back with a Monday moan

I’ve not been away or doing anything crafty over the past few months because my personal life has interfered with my crafting life - and my walks too.  Still I do have time for a little catchup this week so here goes with day 1!!!

I do have a bit of a Monday moan about one Facebook tatting group that I’m in.  No, not about the group itself but one member who posted that they thought that it was perfectly fine to copy tat people’s designs.

Now my stance (whether you agree or not) is that it’s acceptable to do that as a way of learning how patterns are constructed and if you really want the bother of doing it.  BUT I think that should never be boasted about publicly and encouragement for others should never happen - it should be kept quiet about.  As I see it it’s a pain and time consuming to copy tat but I guess some people think they’re saving money by not buying the pattern even though there are plenty of free ones available.  I guess that they don’t realise that the money they’ve saved has cost them a lot of time when they could’ve been doing something else.  I also doubt that their results lie as well as they should if they’d followed the proper pattern.  A missing double can make a difference in some cases and techniques might be missed which would make the design flow better too.

Anyway, having said that the member then said they were going to take designer’s patterns and publish them in a book.  I really, really wish she would as then the copyright/intellectual property laws would be fully tested worldwide!!!  We could all then properly find out what can and can’t be done through a court of law.

The group moderator handled this post/person in a very calm and sensible way and hasn’t thrown her off the group.  Well done to her as it’ll keep the discussion going and again, we’ll all learn from it.

Finished cardigan

Well here it is.  I managed to get it done just before the hot weather hit us last weekend.  I’ve really enjoyed knitting this garment but I’m now back to the shuttles and maybe get a little design finished that I started last year!!!  

Who knows!!!!

Oval version number two!

The only difference between this one and the last is a slightly longer lock chain at the top and bottom.  Again this is the original pattern.  

Did you see Tim’s ‘spooky’ post on his blog last week?  Here’s the link.

Monday moan - follow on to the last one

Well last Monday’s moan (which you can find here) opened up a can of worms so I’m giving the link so you can read any comments you might have missed. 

Now this has led me to think further about the ‘other’ problem that designers have too.  That’s the problem of intellectual property.  

Now I consider if I’ve done something totally unique that’s never been done before that this is then MY intellectual property even if it has been changed a bit.  Whoever would’ve thought of taking what we call plain bangles and turning them into a dragon or ‘tattysaurus’.  Well I know I was the first to do so but it seems that somebody thought it was such a good idea she’d copy it and never give credit to the original (which was already on my pattern page).  As far as I know this has never been acknowledged as ‘inspired by’ me but has been shown off as ‘hers’ and hers alone.  I’m mentioning no names as it’s well hidden online and I don’t want to embarrass the person concerned.  It’s happened with another design and after a ‘firm’ conversation that person did eventually put ‘inspired by’ on her version which was very close to my original.

By the way - my Monday moans may make you think I’m a real old grump - I assure you I’m not.  Honestly.  To prove it I’m showing you a picture which is titled ‘exterminate, exterminate, exterminate’!!!!  With apologies to Dr Who fans!!!

  

Oval version Celtic ferris wheel

I have some gorgeous small gold picture frames that I’ve always wanted to put something in but never quite got round to doing it.  I bet you’re the same too.  Time goes by and they’ve sat and looked at me for several years.

I’ve got some special people I want to give special presents to and that’s what I’m going to do with the frames.  

Now, what to make as they’re pretty small?  In the end I decided to use this pattern as it would bring in three colours.  It looks lovely in the frame and I will show you when I’ve got it finished.  I used a size 40 thread.  Size 80 was just too small.  

One sleeve finished.

I can see the light at the end of the tunnel!!!  Hooray!!!  

Monday moan. Cut off in my prime

There’s a Facebook group which used to be my favourite place when it was run by it’s original owner.  Unfortunately she disappeared and the group was taken on by three others.  

There are now two admin and one moderator who keep the list going.  I had no idea what the difference is between admins and moderators until I googled it and this is what I found.  ‘An admin is a person who created a Facebook group and has complete control over its settings. On the other hand, a moderator is someone who assists the admin in keeping track of the group's activities and ensuring that everything is running smoothly.’  All sounds like a good idea to me.

A few days ago in this particular group there was an interesting discussion going on about designs that people have done and which are very, very similar and could be classed as copyright theft.  This particular conversation was not accusing anybody of theft but was more about the fact that ‘accidents do happen’ in simple generic designs and this was being pointed out and discussed.  

What I am very puzzled about is the fact that the moderator put a total stop to the discussion.  This felt to me as if we were being treated like naughty children who couldn’t be trusted to behave when in fact it was developing into an interesting discussion.  I am now wondering if it was because the moderator has insufficient knowledge or expertise in our craft and was afraid of the outcome.  

No matter - I will not be offering my opinions on that list again.  There are other groups where life is a lot more comfortable and discussions are allowed to continue even if it does lead to a lot of disagreements.  Everybody is entitled to their opinion and we should all learn to live with that fact.

Back to the shuttles

As the cardigan is progressing pretty well I thought I’d allow myself a bit of a distraction from knitting.  There is a reason for making this motif but I’m not going to spill the beans just yet!!!!  Sorry. 

Here is the link to pattern, though!

Before sleeves

The cardigan is progressing - slowly!!!  I think part of the problem with this project is that I want to make it last forever as it’s such a lovely pattern.  I will finish it though.  I promise!!!

Look what I found!!

I was rumbling around in my VERY untidy tatting cupboard a few days ago and found a little box of bells!!  I’ve NO IDEA when I made them but it was probably after I got back from Palmetto Tat Days in 2019.  

I think the idea was to make a Christmas dangle with them to take to America two years later but then, of course, Covid hit us all.  

Why?  Well I’d done a silver cluster for the silent auction and the person (I think it was Sherry) who won them paid a considerable amount to get them.  The money raised from their silent auction goes towards their scholarship scheme, I believe.  

I may just put this little cluster together for the same reason now I’ve found them. 

Meantime I have the urge to make more but I think I’ll do silver ones next time.

Now for a bit of sewing

With the machine!!!!

I’m a member of ‘Freecycle’ for our area but have a strict rule with myself that I’ll only ‘pick up’ (IF I win an item) if it’s within walking distance.  Seems pointless to pick up something that’s free but have to spend money on petrol (gas, for you Americans!!!) and pollute the planet by using the car.  So this somewhat restricts me - but not a lot!!!

I’ve gained a brand new iron from sticking to this ‘rule’ and often good fabric too.  A few months ago I picked up a lovely, lovely lot of good sized pieces of fabric and brought them home.  There were a few pieces that I really liked but others that I didn’t think I’d ever use so I sent a WhatsApp to a couple of lovely neighbours to come and help me out!!!  They were very happy to do so!!

I made this top from one of my favourites.  I used a top I bought some years ago as the ‘pattern’ which I laid on top of the fabric.  I then used newspaper to make the neckline pattern.  It’s now classed as a ‘totally free’ top!!!  The only damage to the planet is using electricity to sew it!!!

Job done!!!

Stitching still progressing.

Again this is just a progress report!!!  

This is the first side of a tote bag.  I THINK it’s finished but I may add more to it when I’ve done the other side!!!   

I’ve decided I’m not very good at forward planning on this type of work but I think it’s OK.

Progress on the cardigan

I’ve made a fair amount of progress since showing you this last link.  

This garment has been a delight to work on as the designer has written it so well.  

Back with a Monday moan

Yes I’m back for a while.  Sorry to have neglected the blog for a few weeks but it doesn’t mean that I’m leaving it permanently - just had too much going on and not a lot of crafting to show.  

Today I want to mention copy tatters.  These are people who see a design they like (mostly on Pinterest), enlarge it and then copy tat it.  Whilst I personally feel there’s a bit to learn when doing this it is basically immoral.  

The biggest lesson to learn is that wysiwyg applies.  Do you remember when the internet was new that wysiwyg stood for ‘what you see is what you get’?  Well, when copy tatting, there are often stitches or techniques that the copier has to ‘guess at’ so wysiwyg doesn’t always apply and the piece being copied may well turn out ‘wonky’,not lie properly etc because of that.  

It’s also ‘theft by stealth’ just as photocopying (nowadays scanning) a pattern out of a book and then sending that to somebody else.  I guess that those who do this feel there’s nothing wrong with what they’ve done.  

BUT it does deny the designer of an income if they’re selling the pattern.  

All I can really say is that oldies (old gits) like me learned the hard way as pictures were only in books (and often fuzzy!) and we had no internet etc to enable that type of behaviour.  I would BEG those that do copy tat to not share on Facebook groups which only encourages others to do the same.  

Remember even the simplest pattern takes months to refine and some people sell theirs to earn a living.

A picture to cheer you up!!!