Design Name Change

Hi all! Just a quick post to let you know that I've decided to change the name of the snowflake from my design tutorial from Isis, to "Design Tutorial Snowflake." As many of you know, the terrorist group ISIS has been in the news for the past few months. I had named my snowflake right before all of this happened, thinking of Isis as the Egyptian goddess. Just a few days after I posted my pattern, I heard about ISIS on the news. For the past few months I have been going back and forth trying to decide if I should change the name. After some email feedback I decided to go ahead with the change.

I didn't want anyone to be upset by the name, or to avoid tatting this snowflake. I also didn't want to look at my pattern anymore and be reminded of something which it does not represent. Right now, the current pattern override is 19.7 MB when it should only be 2 MB. I will take a closer look at that later. I will also go through my posts and make sure any relevant information has been corrected. Thank you for your understanding!

Slow Progress

I haven't been tatting much lately, so although Round VI is a very easy one, it has taken me a few weeks to complete. Here is my latest progress on the Stawasz Doily Tat-along:

I like to use a folding chair as a foot rest while I tat, which also doubles as a resting place for the doily when I am not working on it. It looks very small on the chair, but my eyes have gotten used to looking at size 100, so anything larger would look really big by comparison:

I still haven't made it through my first ball of thread yet. I wonder how much of the doily I can complete before running out. I have one more full ball of size 100, which I got for free because Handy Hands mistakenly sent me white instead of ecru on a previous order. They have great customer service and let me keep the ball of white thread as well as sending me the correct color. So, if I can finish the project with two balls of thread, that will be a total cost of $3.75, which is kind of funny to think about for such a massive project. I also wonder how long I can keep it on the folding chair before it gets to be too big and starts to spill over...

Stawasz Tat-along: Round V

I finally completed Round V of the Stawasz Mega Doily last night, dampened it with a wet paper towel, and let it dry overnight.

Don't get me wrong, I really do like using size 100 thread. I found, however, that because the thread is so small and highly twisted, it has a tendency to form into a knot while I am trying to close rings. I have to be very careful each time I close a ring, repeatedly straightening the thread to make sure it doesn't knot up on itself. It is a real pain when it does, because even the small picks on my Clover shuttles are too large to undo it. I have to use a size 10 sharp needle (the one I use to sew in ends) and stab at the knot until it comes undone. I have pretty good eyesight but I cannot actually see how the thread is knotted because it is so small.

Anyhow, here is another photo to give a better idea of the size of the doily so far. It is pictured with two antique bone tatting shuttles, the kind that have a simple design etched into them:

According to Heidi Nakayama, these bone shuttles were often mailed out as a gift for obtaining one new subscriber to Needlecraft magazine. This promotion ran from 1916 until 1923. Her book, Tatting Shuttles of American Collectors, is a great read if you like antiques or have a tatting shuttle collection of your own.

What's in the box?

Do you have a place where you store your completed projects? I've been putting all of my small motifs into an acid free photo box that I purchased at a local craft store. Since I've only been tatting for a few years (and have taken month long breaks in between), I don't have many items in there yet:

One of the patterns I've made a lot of is Mary Konior's Corn and Chaff from Tatting in Lace.

I first saw this pattern on Frivole's blog, and liked it so much that I found the book through Interlibrary loan. At the time, I was still very new to tatting and found this pattern to be perfect for practicing making rings. It's also a one shuttle pattern so it travels well.

I used Lizbeth size 20 and made the edging into bookmarks, many of which have been gifted. I also found it a great way to preview the different colors of thread.

Eventually, I did find Tatting in Lace, and paid around $30 for it. I don't remember if it was from eBay or Amazon:

It's a difficult book to find, as it's been out of print for many years. However, if you live in the United States, go to your local library and ask them about Interlibrary loan. I've acquired a copy this way and I've also seen someone else post about it on their blog.

As for current tatting, I am taking a small break from the Stawasz Tat-along. I've been so busy apartment searching that I've had a really hard time keeping up with blogs and the tatting forum. Everything is in place now, so hopefully I will have some Mega Doily progress photos to show next week.

Bunnies!

I've seen these bunny shuttles popping up on other people's blogs and wanted to join in! I received these adorable tatting shuttles last week from Carollyn. (Click here to access her blog)

I purchased one at a time because I couldn't decide if I wanted one or two...but after receiving the first bunny, I knew I had to have a second to complete the pair. Especially because I am a rabbit owner, and wouldn't you know it, I had one light colored and one dark colored rabbit myself?

Ronnie is no longer with us, he passed away in 2012 of congestive heart failure at 7 and 1/2 years old. This is my favorite picture of him, taken when he was around 3. He was such a nice little guy, so well behaved for his nail trimming:

He had a very happy (and humpy) personality. He was a retired breeder bunny and was so excited to be in a home rather than a breeder cage. I remember when we first got him, his legs were very wobbly from lack of exercise. He took every opportunity to come out of his cage, and despite being neutered, was always running and buzzing in an attempt to "court" me. He was so full of energy and never slowed down, even in his final years.

Billy, our other bunny, is a little old man now. He is 7 and 1/2 years old and has slowed down a lot from his younger days. His favorite activities are tunneling under blankets and looking for someone to pet him. He will go around the apartment (sometimes to inanimate objects) and put his head down waiting for pets. Here he is, sitting with the bunny tatting shuttles. Notice both real bunny and wooden bunnies are in the "pet me" position:

When he was younger, Billy would run around the apartment and dance on the bed. He was a bit of a YouTube star, though I believe most of the videos have since been removed due to copyright infringement of the background music. I stopped checking my YouTube account years ago, though I heard that one of the videos reached 1 million views before it was taken down. Here is a photo of him from 2009 performing one of his trademark "binkies"

On the tatting front, I received my copy of Moje Robotki from Poland on Monday. Thanks to Karen, Maureen, and Grace for setting up the opportunity to purchase the magazine! I now have a crystal clear copy to work from, so no more mistakes from misreading blurry numbers :)

I am a little more than halfway done with Round V, but have been taking a break to let my wrist recover. If I tat for more than an hour a day, I find my fingers and wrists start to hurt. Whenever this happens, I put the tatting down for a few days to give myself a chance to recover. How do other tatters produce things so quickly without becoming injured?