Sidedtracked

I bought some yarn while I was in America as I wanted to practice continental knitting which I'd learned from Youtube.

Last winter I sat and made myself learn this 'new to me' way of working with knitting needles and must say that I enjoyed it as it's more like crochet. 

My Aunty Nelly was disgusted that her sister (my grandmother) had encouraged me to tat at the age of 13 but that she couldn't get me interested in crochet!!! She was a great needlewoman just like my gran too. 

It wasn't until she'd died many years before that, at the age of 32, I was so disgusted with myself that I sat down with books and taught myself to crochet!!! For some reason it now doesn't do my right hand a lot of good as I have a small problem with it. Knitting is fine, though. 

I wanted something simple (as in stocking stitch) so I could get practice and thus speed with my new way of knitting so I started a waistcoat (or, as they say in America, a vest). The pattern said to start on one of the fronts but I wanted to get the back done first so that I'd know if I'd got enough yarn. Here's the back and the good news is that I will have enough!!! 

Joanie gave me a whole set of bamboo knitting needles which are really comfortable to use too so that inspired me to keep going too!!!  Don't we all like new 'toys'?

They're BACK

Or at least they will be!!

Martha and a few others asked me lately whether I'd be making any Roly Poly Tat Bags again. I must've made around 200 or more a few years ago and then got fed up with making them - as you do!!! Lorena gave me some pretty fabric when I was at Tat Days to make her a bag (or two) and the rest is for me to make what I like with. I also bought some more fabric whilst I was 'over there' staying with Sandra so I have the materials (well, not the zips yet) and am off to a start. 

Luckily I'd written down on the computer the sizes and amounts of 'bits' I need to make the bags BUT hadn't put down the order I constructed them in!!! I've had to work that out for myself again!!! I'm hoping to make a few before it gets too cold to work in the conservatory so am showing you the fabric I'm currently offering although I do have more!!! First of all the bag for Lorena and that's followed by pictures of some of the other fabric I’ve got too!!!  

I will be selling from the blog but have to work out the postage on the bags although I'm sure it won't be a lot and I know from past experience that I can send probably two or three for the same price.  The bags will be £14.00 each this time.  

New starting hiding ends trick - Tim Kaylor

When I was over in America I was invited to teach at the Palmetto Tatters guild meeting which was held the week after Tat Days in Lexington Museum. I’m always wary of going to museums in case they think I’m a fossil and need to be exhibited.

Tim (who sadly couldn’t ‘quite’ make it to Tat Days) was there so I plonked myself down next to him (poor man) as he’d been test tatting Juliana for me and I really wanted to say a proper thank you to him. 

He showed me a ‘new to me’ trick which I haven’t seen before and which I said I’d draw up and put on my web site. I’ve been using it ever since.

What I particularly like about this trick is that it puts the second shuttle (or ball thread) into the right place for a following split ring which has always been a problem to me in the past. The only thing I’d suggest if you decide to use it is that you cover the shuttle one end with doubles for the majority of that first ring. Reason? Well Tim says that if you sew in your ending ends that first little end COULD pull out. That's not happened to me yet!

Thank you, Tim.  Nearly forgot to put the link in!!!

New earrings

Just some eye candy today!! I spotted these amazing beads in a store in America. I think it was Michaels but not sure!! I simply couldn’t resist buying a couple of strands of them.

There really isn’t a pattern for this as it’s simply self closing mock rings with the bead added to the loop before joining back to the core thread. All you have to do is work as many doubles as you need to go round one side of the bead, join then repeat. I put a ring at the top to join to the metal split ring (which then goes onto the ear finding) and then work back down the other side with simple chains. Again the number of doubles will be the same as the number on the SCMR’s.

I could’ve added more small seed beads to this but it was so sparkly just as it is that I didn’t want to dazzle myself!!!

Midi flake number two

Going back to this post with one of the snowflakes I'm working on I couldn't find anything like it at all - before I put out the post. Stephanie then got in touch and she couldn't either but it prompted me to take another look myself. I keep quite a few things on the icloud and was looking for something else when I came across Betsy's snowflake which is a LOT like mine. Or should I say - mine is a lot like hers!!!

She used regular chains and put clovers at the top of the outer round. Nonetheless mine's almost like hers. Now I KNOW she couldn't have copied mine as the copyright on hers is 2004 and she probably didn't know about lock chains back then either. 

So, off I went on a quest to contact Betsy. First of all I tried her email address but that bounced. Then I was forced to go to my nemesis - Pinterest where I found this link to the site where it was hosted. That didn't work either. The snowflake, I found out, was in a book by Betsy called 'Let it Snow' but I can't find that either.  It seems to have disappeared into thin air - or melted like snowflakes do!  Both Sue and Georgia got in touch to say that Betsy had sadly died so that’s the end of the search.

Now I have several choices - either to abandon the whole idea or do something like I did with Juliana. I could attribute the design to Betsy (I would put in links if I had them to her book and the actual snowflake online) or decide that mine's sufficiently different to leave well alone. I want to be fair so any advice would be good. 

Meantime - here's the second snowflake in this series. This one has seven split rings (sorry, Diane) and a half double double stitch to make the chains stay straighter and the rings sit up properly on the outside. Again it's similar to others 'out there' and again I don't want to step on anybody's toes.

Brrrrrm, brrrrrm, it's a car!!!!

I had a birthday last Saturday - now I'm 76!! 

For my birthday this year I decided I definitely needed a new car. Yes, that's right.

To me a car is a car is a car and when mine's due for service the dealership rings me up to remind me and asks me all sorts of STUPID questions like 'how many miles have you done', 'have you got the wheel 'something or others' and other assorted questions.  

All I can tell them is that it's a sort of dark grey and is parked 'somewhere in the road'.  I always tell them it's got a wheel at each corner and something called an engine somewhere in the middle. Oh, I can also tell them I put petrol in it from time to time too!! What silly questions they ask. I mean, what else does a body need to know about their car!!!

This car has been lurking on the computer for a year or more. It was requested by a lady who wanted a definite make of car but she had to send me pictures so I'd know what I was 'aiming for'!!!!

Anyway, this is more the sort of car I like - a tatted one which can be found here!!!

This year's new season of snowflakes!

This is a little snowflake I've been working on since about August!!! Yes, I know, I do take a long time but mainly because I get easily distracted!!! 

I'm not sure if I'll be publishing this as it's a pretty simple design and I think it may have been done before. I'd appreciate any help to prove (or disprove) whether it's already been done. I've checked my own site - just in case I'd 'been there before' and it's not there!!! 

I've got two more in this 'series' and I've named them 'Midi Snowflakes' (for now) as they work out to just about 2¼" in diameter. They're a fast tat and will fit easily onto a card if that's what's wanted. Mine will be for giveaways - although Abbi's already run off with three!!!!

Another mouse!

While I was in America I met a new member of the Exclusive Tatting Club!!! Here it is - it's another mouse!!! 

Rekha pointed him out to me in the display where he was climbing up the wall. Thanks, Rekha - your mouse is now in the exclusive club and can be found in the page at the top of this post!

Juliana - FINISHED

A HUGE thanks to Tim for checking up my Juliana translation and finding a few errors in it. 

He sent me this picture of his finished doily and I LOVE it. Thanks a MILLION, Tim.

I just needed a few more quiet days to get the pattern finished and up on the site and luckily I managed that at the weekend. 

Here's a link to the pattern and here's a link to the history that I've found out and some of the text I had to work from!

Copyright issues

Last week I got involved in a discussion in a Facebook group about copyright/intellectual property.  It was an interesting thread but due to the format of Facebook (things move on so fast) I thought I’d make a blog post about the issue and an incident in my own life.

This is based on one of my own experiences about this problem and the following is what happened to me and my own personal feelings.  

A few years ago I was asked by a tatter if she could teach one of my patterns in a class. I pointed out that it wasn’t suitable as it would take far too long for the time allocated.

Six months later part of this 'too large' pattern, with the same stitch count (but the notation slightly changed), was offered as a lesson by this tatter as a new pattern/idea to a group who run regular Tat Days.  

The people concerned spotted that the ‘new’ pattern was part of one of mine and asked the tatter to put on 'her' pattern the origin of the 'new' design.  I provided evidence that permission was sought to teach the original whole pattern but not for part of it to be taken, repurposed and used in the other tatter's name.  This part of the whole design, I may add, was a new idea in Tat Land when I first designed it - 3D.  

The group insisted that attribution was given on the pattern so my name (and source) was added for those taking part in the class. Obviously the attribution could be removed for future use by the teacher concerned. 

Around six months ago this part of my original pattern appeared in a magazine in another country as somebody else’s pattern. Life gets more interesting. 

Even MORE interesting is that I recently overheard a conversation whereby the person who originally stole that part of my pattern was complaining about the following person stealing ’her’ copyright/intellectual property. 

Hang on, I nearly said, you stole from me so why are you complaining about somebody stealing from YOU. I probably should’ve said something but that's not my 'way'. 

So, what I’m saying here is that copyright theft HURTS. The amount of hours that went into that innovative part of that pattern was enormous and I doubt anybody reading this blog post would even realise that it was innovative back in those days (2003/4).

I’ve seen further instances within the past month in new books coming out where theft of copyright/intellectual property is definitely a concern. If you suspect theft then please don’t buy the books or online patterns and please tell the owner of the copyright/intellectual property.

I'm gradually pulling out of designing as I'm terrified of stepping on somebody else's toes but I always check as far as I can before I publish.  Another reason to pull out is because I don't appreciate my own hard work being abused either.

I do have three midi snowflakes I'm currently working on and which I'll show you soon but they won't get onto the web site until I'm positive that they are original or (if not) that I can attribute the source of my inspiration even though they came out of my own BC3.  I see nothing wrong with using another's work as a 'starting point' but that should be noted on a pattern and due recognition given.  

I'm not just 'saying' that's what should be done as I do stick by my own rules even if something I've used as a starting point turns out very differently I'll still attribute the original inspiration.  See this link as just one example.

I also believe in cooperation and work happily with others to change things or add things to my own work.  See this link too.  

There's no  point in becoming a 'famous designer' (something I still aspire to) if you can't play fair as at some point you will be caught out and your good reputation will be gone.

Dora Young's doily progress

This is where I was 'at' when I got home from my travels. 

I'm now wondering if I'll continue with this project when I've completed this  current round - I'm enjoying it a lot.

The beauty of this is that it's so easy when you get into the swing of it. I also need to finish off a snowflake that's been lurking on my computer since August (along with a few other 'possibles') which need to be sorted.

I've also got a lovely little car that needs to be finished and uploaded too plus the Coriolis and the butterflies I taught at Tat Days.

Whoever invented 24 hours in a day should be held responsible for that silly decision and the other which makes our bodies need sleep so we can't continue doing things we want to do.

Beaded button flower

Finished.

This is the beaded button flower that I taught at Palmetto a few weeks ago. 

Not a difficult pattern if you eliminate the beads on top of the button but challenging enough to make sure you don't fall asleep!!!

The aims in this lesson were to teach how to add those beads to the top of the button and also join with my new join which can be found here. This join makes a better 'lock' to the side of the button but please don't ask me why!!

Interestingly I found the lesson started with showing a few of my victims (sorry, I mean students) how to do a weaver's knot and hide ends in the first few stitches.

When I design for a lesson I try to get the most difficult part into the beginning of the lesson so that it can be learned before time runs out.  Actually the hardest part of this is in the first ring!!!

Here's the link to the pattern.

Another t-shirt!!

This is the logo on this year's Palmetto t-shirt which I was given as a teacher (or that's what I'm supposed to be). 

Now when you wear a t-shirt you can't actually see the logo as you're standing behind it!!  Isn’t that an intelligent comment, eh?

I didn't notice, until somebody pointed it out to me, that the logo had my name on it!!! Those gals are so silly in the nicest possible way, of course. 

I showed the T-shirt to Nick and asked him to spot something 'odd' about it but he couldn't see my name either. Then I looked at the logo on the Palmetto web site but it was too small to see - well with my aged eyes!!!

What a hoot.

Two llamas!!!

Just going to show you the llama I taught at Tat Days! The top one (which is my sample) is done in size 20 thread.

BUT the small one below which Tim gave me is made in impossible thread!!! I bet it's at least a size 100 or less. What a difference in sizes!!! Tim, you make my eyes boggle.

Another gift!!!

Now who would be seen DEAD in this t-shirt? Answer? ME.

I blame myself entirely for bringing this on. I have been heard on several occasions to call people a 'daft moo'!!! Well Leigh took revenge and sent this t-shirt via Anitra to me at Tat Days. Of course I HAD to try it on and show it off!!!

I really love this shirt and will be wearing it on many occasions - particularly to Zumba sessions just to prove I'm slightly and a tad bonkers!!! 

Anybody out there jealous?  Thank you, Leigh.

What a HOOT

I have the most amazing friends in Tat Land and one of them (Lorena) gave me this little dish. Again I can't imagine how anybody could design this let alone print it out in a 3D printer. 

This is going to sit by my chair as it will 'contain' my odds and ends like scissors, small crochet hooks, coilless safety pins etc. 

I must admit this tickles me to bits that so much time and effort was put into a gift. The little tag (which could also be a shuttle too) will go onto my key ring - just in case I need to give proof of identity at any time!!!  Thank YOU, Lorena.

What fun

One evening at Palmetto (or it could’ve been another time of the day) there was a class which I was able to take on decorating a shuttle. I've never been particularly interested in decorating shuttles but wandered into the room.  I'm so glad I did.

I thoroughly enjoyed the challenge put forward by Tonya and Phyllis and came out wondering if this idea of decorating shuttles could be my next career move. Must ask BC3 before I make a decision!!!

Anyway, while I ponder that question, I'll show you what I achieved in my taster session of decorating shuttles. I'm actually pleased with this!

Thread talk

I went to Tat Days with a shopping list!!! It wasn't a very big one as I already have a good stash of threads but I was running out of some colours and then got 'tempted' into some of the new Lizbeth plain colour ways!  I think I came home with three balls only but I'm not telling anybody and I hope you won’t either!

These two spools must be my all time favourites which Jenni gave me. The threads are by AlenAleaDesign whoes site you can find here. Can't wait to try them out but will take my time finding the right design to make it up with.

Thanks, Jenni.  They're amazing.

I bought shuttles!!

Well what are Tat Days for except buying goodies?!

Do I need anymore shuttles? No. Did I want any more shuttles? No. I have two favourites and plenty of those too. Number one of those are my good old Aero England shuttles. Number two are the Clover bobbin shuttles and that's 'it' really. 

BUT I saw and tried the new Dreamlit shuttle (thank you, Handy Hands and Barb Foster for getting these made) while I was at Tat Days and was (thankfully) sorely tempted and gave into temptation too!!! 

I LOVE THEM. 

Easy to wind, easy to put together and take apart (they're magnetic) and they seem to hold a lot more thread too. Fine in my hands etc, etc. I'm hooked!

Yes, they have a hook too!!

Home again.

Sadly back home after another amazing trip to Palmetto Tat Days. The friends I have over in America are truly amazing and look after the old git so, so well. It's hard to leave but I'm hoping to be back sometime. 

This week (and probably a bit more) I'll be talking about the things I brought home with me - that's beside some great memories too.

First of all let's talk shuttles. 

Today it's the contrast between a wooden one and a 3D printed one. I still can't get the ancient head around 3D printing and would love to see it done sometime. 

Here are the two I was given side by side.