Ring in the New Year !!

Happy New Year greetings to all !!!


This is one of my first 3-D bell designs - 1992.

I created the bell in 1992 and I used a photo of it for my Christmas card that year. The bell itself is about 3" high.

The bottom ‘round’ is a flat lace from The Tatters Treasure Chest,
Dover Publications 1991 – a compilation of “out of print thread company leaflets”.

I submitted this bell design (among other items) to
a national craft magazine in 1992.

I’ll be writing a whole post about that experience in the future!

I can’t find these small doves in craft stores anymore, although
they may be available on the internet.


If you look very closely you’ll see the ‘crystal’ bell clapper (actually a clear acrylic 'bead') at the end of a gold chain. It took extra time to ‘make’ the clapper using jewelry tools.

I often made two bells as package toppers on the gift for a bride (one bell was for the bride's mother), using ribbons and flowers in the bride’s wedding colors. I sometimes furnished a brass holder for displaying the bell on a shelf or in a curio. Of course, the bride can also hang the bell on her Christmas tree, as shown here.

On a non-tatting note, I certainly enjoyed watching the Rose Bowl Parade on TV this morning. I can't even begin to imagine how they put those floats together! They seem to have a short 'window of opportunity' to attach the flowers and seeds. etc. The parade must be magnificent to see in person!

I also enjoy the marching bands, as I was in our high school band back in - well - let's just say a very long time ago!!!! I played the clarinet during concert season and was a majorette during football season, and loved every minute of it!! Sadly, it seems that majorettes are being phased out of high school bands - but I'm happy that college bands still seem to feature them. Just another trip down memory lane for me!!

Enjoy your New Year celebrations and the remaining days of this Holiday season!

The Stockings Were Hung by the Chimney With Care

It’s Christmas Eve 2008!

I wanted to post this photo today, as it is appropriate for this “Night Before Christmas!”



Christmas stocking from around 1995.


Tatted motifs and counted cross-stitch ribbon on the cuff.


Have you spotted the 8-sided snowflake?!!












I purchased the commercially made stocking in the mid-1990s (velveteen and brocade fabrics, with gold stitching already on it), as I realized immediately that it would be a great place to display some motifs that I had tatted but put away in my tatting ‘stash’. I also found a home for my counted cross-stitch ‘ribbon’ that I had stitched sometime in the early ‘90s.

You may recognize the eight-sided snowflake from my Christmas card on the previous post – this is where it now resides! It definitely does appear to be size 50 thread.

I’m embarrassed about the top ‘motif’ which looks like a heart, but is really a strawberry pattern (Workbasket June-July 1995), gone a bit awry, as I did too many knots in the final chains near the top! I always hope that visitors to the fairs don’t look too closely at it! I could replace it, but it helps remind me of my not-so-successful tatting attempts!



I am looking for the sources for the other patterns, but I do know that the heart in the toe of the stocking is Teri Dusenbury’s. I have a duplicate of this heart on a velvet box, to which I added pearls afterwards. (I didn't know how to tat them in yet!) Sharon Briggs posted my photo of it back in February, before I even considered starting a blog, as I felt too intimidated to do so! Of course, Sharon gave me the encouragement to give blogging a try, and also helped me through the process. Thank you so much, Sharon!

I wish I had more time right now to express how I feel about this fantastic ‘electronic’ worldwide tatting community, specifically the 25-Motif participants brought together by the amazing Sharon Briggs! Words can’t express my appreciation to Sharon for her tireless efforts in starting this Challenge and making it so successful – and, of course many thanks also to her assistants, Clyde, Laura, Aileen, and Jeff, who are doing a wonderful job with updating it. We all are aware of the effort that it takes to do this!

Also I am grateful to all tatters who are a part of the fabulous World Wide Web and who have so generously shared their experiences and tatting patterns! ( Also a big thanks to those on the internet who supply threads, shuttles and books that would otherwise be unavailable to us!) Not only is the tatting fabulous, but the websites and blogs are so creative, too!

I’m still trying to figure out just the basics of blogging, and I pretty much hold my breath hoping to do everything correctly with just posting text and photos, yet so many of your blogs have bells and whistles that astound me! I’m in total awe of all of this and can’t believe I’m actually a part of it

I will end this post with the same wish as Santa, as he drove out of sight: Merry Christmas to All, and to All a Good Night!

Season's Greetings !! Motif #7 - Snowflake Tatted in 1990

Season’s Greetings !!!
Motif #7 – Snowflake tatted in 1990

First I want to mention that I’m so flattered that Tattingchic has chosen me for a blog award(!), and I will acknowledge it on my next post, when I have more time to figure out what to do! I certainly appreciate being selected – in fact I’m in shock! Thank you so much, Tattingchic!!!!





Motif #7 – Eight-sided Snowflake
and my first use of two shuttles!

Here is my 1990 Christmas card where I featured a photo of my first “complicated” tatted snowflake
after learning to tat. (I promise I will get back to that story!)

You’ll note that it has eight sides! It was supposed to be a six-sided snowflake, designed by Marion T. Leyds in DMC’s “Festive Tatting” book, copyright 1983! Several years after sending the card I read that snowflakes in nature can’t possibly have more than six sides – no exceptions???

I wanted my card recipients back then to see that I could tat - not that anyone knew what tatting was! I had a note printed inside the card that said “Snowflake tatted by Kathy 1990” so they would know that I made it, and that it was tatted and not crocheted. (Really, would anyone care?) Actually, I did get lots of compliments on it

It has eight sides because after I made the sixth point, it was very apparent it was not going to lie flat, and I’d have to make at least two more points!

I’ve never investigated why the snowflake wouldn’t lie flat after the sixth section. The pattern doesn’t call for a particular size thread, and I can’t remember what size I used. I recall I often used 50 back then.

I remember not being thrilled that I was going to have to add more points to it! I felt lucky to have gotten that far and didn’t know if my luck would hold out. But I certainly didn’t want to leave it unfinished!! So I forged ahead.

It was also my first use of a second shuttle. I was wondering what the second shuttle was used for, and I felt a bit intimidated about it. Then I discovered it was only needed for the ‘thrown off’ rings in the center (although I had no idea they were called that). I kind of held my breath doing those, especially having to connect them to each other.

I breathed a sigh of relief when I finished the snowflake, making all the ‘connections’ at the end. I was quite pleased with myself, and I wanted to show it off with my card!

Making Cards in 1990 (not as ‘easy’ as today!!!)

Speaking of making cards – remember this was 1990, and the fabulous sophisticated computers and color printers we take for granted today were not around!

I was starting formal calligraphy lessons at the time (really enjoyed those) and learned about making your own inks using gouache paints (from a tube) thinned with water. (I also wrote the inside greeting, wishing everyone to have a “Sparkling Holiday”.)

I took the card to a professional printer (without the photo, as I was going to paste it on later, framed in silver paper) to have 60 copies run on card stock. The printer told me they ran blue ink on Tuesday (or whenever), and I had to wait a few days. (That was a revelation to me – running different inks on different days!)

Film cameras were the ‘norm’ then, and I used our 35 mm AE-1Canon camera and borrowed a macro lens from my brother-in-law. Then I had to wait until I used up the whole roll of film (24 or 36 shotsl).

Then I had the film developed (possibly cost at least $8 or more for the prints), and fortunately the photo of the snowflake turned out great. So I took the negative (remember those?) and had 60 prints made (possibly 20 cents per print) and waited several days for them to come back.

I didn’t have the nice circle cutters that I have today and had to trace a circle with something, then cut 60 silver circles and 60 smaller circles of the photo with scissors. Then, of course, the 120 circles had to be glued down with glue stick, and placed properly.

Of course, I addressed the envelopes in calligraphy, too. Crazy, crazy, crazy! I don’t do that anymore (came to my senses after several years!). But l feel guilty putting stickers on my envelopes now, rather than handwriting the addresses even in my own handwriting. (My apologies to Emily Post!)

However I like to create special stickers via the computer, and this year I used a photo of the tatted burgundy ornament with tatting on it (of course). The card itself is a commercial card, which is also a departure for me. I just didn’t have the time to make one this year.

In another post I’ll show you where that eight-sided snowflake is now, and eventually I’ll show all my cards featuring tatting.

Hope you’re keeping calm and taking time out to enjoy music and sights of the season during this week before Christmas!

Meeting Elizabeth Again!

Holiday preparations, family events, and traveling have kept me from posting! First of all, thanks so much for your kind comments on the ornament and paperweights. I hope you all have success with them!

I must get this post in now, before it gets lost in the holiday rush! It seems as though Thanksgiving was a long time ago, and our weekend trip to Washington, DC (Nov. 21-23) was one week before Thanksgiving!

I love to go to Washington D.C. anytime, and since I knew Elizabeth Zipay was going to be there again at another craft fair, I was only too happy to go and 'surprise' her again, the way I did back in May, before I started this blog in July.

Elizabeth Zipay and Kathy Niklewicz

at Montgomery Fairgrounds in

Gaithersburg, Maryland, 20 miles north

of Washington, DC.

It was unseasonably COLD that day,

but sunny. Even Elizabeth didn't know she would

be in an outdoor shelter (thankfully covered for

this event but still cold!). That's why we look

like we're in Alaska!

Elizabeth and I first met in July 1998 at Victorian Days in Mercer, PA. (It is only an hour from my home near Pittsburgh, but six hours from hers near Philadelphia!) It was my second time in Mercer (first time was in 1993) and I had a ‘demonstration-only’ table again, and she had a large tent with her beautiful and unique jewelry. I was overwhelmed when I saw her work! I believe it was her first and only time there, as it is a long way for her to travel. I haven't returned as a demonstrator since then, either. It’s a unique festival as it has a Victorian theme, and features a Victorian ‘Ball’ and and old-fashioned bandstand music concert. But the craft area has become much smaller over the years, and I just go to visit.

A special feature of Elizabeth's jewelry early on (and which continues today) is that she makes tiny bread-dough roses – and tiny leaves - to enhance many of her pins and pendants, giving them a lovely Victorian look. She also mounts many of her pieces on gold filet metal backings, which adds another unique dimension. The past few years she’s been designing fabulous beadwork necklaces and bracelets and also works with the beautiful hand-dyed threads. Just gorgeous!

Of course, I know many of you are aware of her exquisite work from both her website and her blog.
http://www.elizabeths-lace.blogspot.com/. (You can link to her website from there.)

After our initial meeting in Mercer in 1998, we didn’t see each other again for ten years, when I surprised her at her booth in Chantilly, Virginia, last May, also in the Washington, DC area. (Her show schedule is listed on her website.) I was so flattered that she remembered me from so long ago!

Elizabeth very much encouraged me to start this blog (which I finally did in July – with lots of help from Sharon Briggs!), and I wanted to thank her in person for her encouragement and to catch up on what she’s been doing since she started her full time job! It was fun to see her reaction when I walked into her booth again!

Of course her exquisite jewelry elicits “oohs and ahhs” from the visitors, and, happily, while I was there, Elizabeth made several sales. One fellow even ‘sneaked’ back to buy an item his wife had admired so he could surprise her with it for Christmas!! I’m hoping the rest of the weekend went as well for Elizabeth.

The visitors who are familiar in some way with tatting are astounded that it is still being done, and that it now is being adapted to make such beautiful and unique tatted and beaded jewelry Elizabeth’s work, of course, is perfection. She is a fantastic ‘ambassador’ for tatted lace!

Happily she likes her full-time job but admits it is quite an adjustment, and she’s tatting ‘less’ but is managing to keep her show commitments for this year. (Her tatting ‘less’ would be a tatting ‘frenzy’ for me!). Understandably, her blog has taken a back seat for awhile.

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My husband and I are amazed at how vast an area Washington has become over the past 45 years, since we spent our honeymoon there (Jan. 1964 !). Believe it or not, our motel room back then at a very nice place in Falls Church cost - would you believe - $10 a night!!!! Our motel this time (in a very trendy new shopping mall area with a 'lake' cost $100 a night, which actually was 'reasonable' compared to others in the area! It's great to have the internet to compare prices! We ventured over to historic Alexandria - one of our favorite towns, with Colonial architecture and cobblestone streets, and lots of cute shops and neat restaurants. I'm a history buff, so I love the atmosphere of Washington!

CHRISTMAS AT VICARY MANSION (Dec. 6)
Also, just this past weekend we Beaver County Tatters ( Evelyn, Peg, Pam and I ) had a nice time at Vicary Mansion (Freedom, PA) last Saturday, December 6. It was beautifully decorated and we enjoyed meeting the folks who ventured out that day, especially since it was one of those blustery, snowy days when the visitors could have stayed home! There is always an interest in our tatting!

Paperweights - Part 2

OK- here’s Part 2 of the Paperweight post (see previous post). Actually this gives me a chance to expand a bit on the subject.

First, here are some of my other tatting motifs in the paperweights that come from the Dollar Tree store.

I also added a 'white braiding with gold cording' around the edge of the paperweight (see details below) to add a nice touch, but it’s optional.

I mounted the tatted piece onto a thin piece of velvet paper (usually found in scrapbook areas of craft stores). I have a really nice circle cutter (called a ‘Coluzzle’ - pronounced like ‘puzzle’) that makes it easy to cut circles. Of course, you can also use scissors, using the photo that comes with the paperweight as a template.

Also, I particularly like to use gold or silver stickers to add some glitz to the tatted design. Different kinds are found in different stores . In our area we have a craft store called Pat Catan’s which has some really nice ‘metallic' stickers at a good price. The scrapbookers and card makers (such as myself) love to use these to embellish cards and scrapbook pages. Also I add small rhinestones. Of course, Swarovskis are excellent quality and really sparkle. They can’t be too big, however, as far as thickness.



Six-sided cloverleaf pattern
(my own variation) with a gold snowflake sticker and center rhinestone.

The tatting is actually white thread (size 30) on a burgundy velvet background.

Seven--sided cloverleaf pattern with gold stickers and a sticker and green sequin in the center.

(green pearl cotton #8 on dark green background)

Here’s an interesting motif (from Mary Koniar, called “Patchwork” – which I’ll feature in a later post). It’s a bit too large for the paperweight but still looks interesting. The curve of the paperweight tends to magnify anything on the edge.

Gold stickers and sequin in center.

And, of course,
Mary McCarthy’s Butterfly!

Size 8 pearl cotton

Sticker in center.

Although the paperweights are fine by themselves, the white braiding, edged in gold, around the perimeter is a nice touch. I used 1-quarter-inch double-stick tape to do this. The cording had to be cut precisely to fit around (use ‘fray check’ to keep cord from unraveling), and I ‘hid’ the seam by gluing a flat brass ‘stud’ over top.

Side of paperweight with white/gold braid (from fabric store)

Seam of braid, hidden by brass 'stud' - although it does not have prongs on it! I believe it's supposed to be ironed on(?), but I glued it using jeweler's glue. I used fray-check on the braid.

I looked up the subject of paperweights on the Web awhile back and found out that some folks don’t know what they were made for! In this 'air-conditioning' era (spanning many decades now), young folks don’t realize that windows had to be kept open in the summer, even in office buildings, and gusts of wind could cause chaos! Hence, the need for a ‘paper weight’!

Ornaments and Paperweights

I have been having problems with this post (am I the only person who has trouble with 'spacing' on my posts?) so I'm going to do two separate posts. The first post features a sample of a pretty 'velvet' ornament being sold now at the Dollar Tree Stores and a sample of some tatting in an acrylic paperweight, also found at the Dollar Tree store.

The second post (to follow soon) will show more samples of tatting in the paperweights and will show the side of the paperweight to which I added a white braid with gold edge.

ORNAMENTS


Ornament with Tatted Embellishment

Actually, an earring pattern!
This Workbasket pattern (June-July 1991)
is by Millie Wilcoxson. Original pattern has an open center, but I addedd a center chain on each side with picots attached to each other (not visible here) so that I could glue a rhinestone to the center of the earring. I'll show the earring in more detail on another post.

I always like to use DMC’s gold or silver thread from a spool








I’m showing only one ornament but they come in a variety of shapes and colors (gold, burgundy and white) and they have a ‘velvet’ texture. (Some have more areas for tatting than others.) They are very well made and would cost much more in other stores. The neat thing is that they are made over a soft base (not plastic) which means you can attach your tatting with pins (I especially like to use pins with gold bead heads! Very easy!) Of course, one has to always be concerned that children don’t play with them and pull the pins out.

I wanted to alert you about the ornaments, because they will be in limited supply, and many times these kinds of things never return again. Of course, I've bought several and may or may not get around to adding the tatting this year!

My favorite color, of course, is the burgundy, especially since gold tatting shows up beautifully on it. This particular ornament has four sections for tatted pieces, and so far I’ve tatted only one section so I could get this post in ASAP

PAPERWEIGHTS
I'm really excited about the acrylic paperweights I found at the Dollar Tree Stores, although I've discovered that not all the stores carry them! Naturally I've purchased quite a few to add to my 'craft stash' for future gifts. On the next post I'll show more samples of tatting in the ornaments.

The paperweights are made to come apart for inserting photographs (a really neat idea – think of all those great photos you take!) but for our purposes they are a nice showcase for small tatted motifs! Your heart and small butterfly designs would look fantastic in them! Considering the paperweights cost only $1, you have to allow for some imperfections in the acrylic plastic, but they have a nice ‘weight’ to them and the price is quite a bargain! I'll post one photo here so you can see a sample, and I'll show other samples in my next post. I seem to be having problems adding photos in Blogger today :-(

Acrylic Paperweight size: 2-1/2" diameter.


Paperweight with gold tatted thread design and tiny rhinestones in centers of rings. Gold sticker initials in center.


I’ve seen this pattern and variations in different books, such as Ann Orr’s Classic Tatting patterns.

I added a white braid with gold cord edging to the perimenter of the ornament for an added touch. I'll explain in the next post.



I'm going to end this post here so that you can decide if you want to hunt for these items as gifts for Christmas - or other occasions. Hope you don't have too much trouble finding them! They are only at the Dollar Tree chain stores.

Also at Dollar Tree, look for some lovely velvet boxes (green, red, burgundy) which are very well made. They are about 5" square and have removable lids and are perfect for gift presentations both for the ornaments and the paperweights, or anything else! Of course, if you were ambitious, you could embellish the boxes with tatting, too! I know I sound like a commercial here, but I'm very excited about these items!

Motif #6 - Doily Motif from Apron of Victorian Doll

I’m interrupting my tatting story again because I want to update my August 14 post.

I found the pattern for the apron on the Victorian Doll !
You may recall that I couldn’t come up with the pattern last August when I posted the story of the doll. However, when I recently found the pattern, I also discovered a few more surprises!



MOTIF #6

“Tatted Lattice Doily”
by Darlene Polachic –

shown here with alterations
I didn’t realize I had made!

Here’s the path to my discovery:

Briefly, Connie (Crafty Rainbow Rose) http://www.craftyrainbowrose.blogspot.com/ started me on an internet ‘browsing’ journey, which then resulted in my accidentally coming across a photo of my doily, which then prompted me to go back to my own tatting books.

Connie’s post on October 24 showed a photo of a crocheted doily that mimicked tatting. She mentioned Annie’s Attic as the source, under their “Free Pattern of the Day”. I was too late to see that pattern, but I’m still intrigued by it

When I checked out the Annie’s Attic site, I also found another site: http://www.freepatterns.com/ .
At first glance it doesn’t look like a tatting site, but it’s a very cool site that has free daily patterns for knitting, sewing, etc. At the bottom of the page there is a Site Index – look under Crochet, click on Tatting, then Doilies.

While browsing the photos of the 12 tatted doilies at the above link, the very last pattern jumped out at me because it looked like my Victorian Doll’s apron! As soon as I saw the name of Darlene Polachic as the designer, I knew it had to be the pattern!

I recognized Darlene’s name, as she wrote “The Big Book of Tatting” and also contributed designs to Old Time Crochet magazine. This discovery led me right back to looking through my Old time Crochet magazines – one more time!!!. The pattern is free at the above link, but I was determined to find it in my own magazine!]

Sure enough, I found the doily in the Summer 1997 issue on page 15. It’s also featured on the Editor’s page inside the front cover! How did I miss this last August?!!

HOWEVER, MORE SURPRISES AWAITED ME!



I discovered that I altered Darlene’s original pattern – and never realized it!

In the first round, I put only three picots on the chains instead of four, which led to three connecting rings on the second round , instead of Darlene’s four.











I can only assume I simply didn’t pay close enough attention to the first round. I must not have looked at the magazine photo, either, although it doesn’t have a ‘closeup’ of the motif – just the finished doily. I don’t recall ever thinking “Oops, I did this incorrectly!” Somehow it worked out fine, and I actually saved myself some work by having fewer rings and chains, and also having to connect only two picots between motifs. I managed to make 20 motifs, instead of the 16 pictured; but, of course, you can make as many as you want.

1997 Diary mysteriously silent!
Now that I had the 1997 date of the magazine, I went back to my 1997 diary. I discovered that I purchased the magazine on May 17 and wrote that it had a tatted alphabet in it (which it does), but didn’t mention the doily. However, I fully expected to find entries about deciding to tat the doily and actually making the doily. But to my disbelief, I never write about making the doily! I remember that I found it tricky to keep adding motifs, and having to contend with having to keep the already connected motifs out of the way. But it certainly isn’t a difficult pattern, and I was an ‘experienced’ tatter by then (or so I thought!). After 20 motifs I just laid it aside, not knowing where to use it.

Buying the Doll in December 1997. The other surprise was finding out that I bought the doll only two days before the Old Economy Christmas festival, when I normally am quite busy gathering all my items and displays together. I wasn’t ‘searching’ for a doll; I was shopping for other things on December 4 when I saw the doll and liked the colors on her dress. Then on December 5, I wrote that I ‘added tatting’ to the doll. What a blasé and non-descriptive entry!

II did write that the doll looked “amazing” but didn’t describe why! I remember working on it most of the day, coming up with different ideas using ‘scrap’ pieces, and was particularly pleased with the headdress. I really was quite excited about it, so these lackluster comments are quite mystifying!
guess I was too tired to write more about it, since I had spent the day also packing the car and getting my costume ready!

The disappointing diary entries can possibly be attributed to the fact that 1997 was a difficult year for us ( job situations, major house repairs ), and I must have been distracted, although I did mention knitting some items and tatting some small items, plus I attended 6 festivals that year!

My ‘tatting frenzy’ years actually were 1990-94, then I cut way back when I went back to work for two years. I was home full time starting in 1996, but I still wasn’t doing a lot of tatting and started concentrating on another passion – learning to play the piano. I also do calligraphy and often made my own Christmas cards. But tatting was still very important to me.

Another interesting discovery in the 1997 diary is my first tentative use of the Internet at our Library! However, I don’t believe I looked up tatting sites until early in 1999. And it wasn’t until 2007 (!) that I finally got internet service at home! And in July 2008 I started this blog – and would never have believed back then that there would be an easy way for ‘ordinary folks’ – not computer geniuses – to create their own ‘web log’ site!

Wow! Quite a trip down Memory Lane!