A Magnet Story

A little while ago I purchased some mirror fridge magnets that were being sold off in our local supermarket.  I thought to myself, a piece of tatting in the middle will be a great idea.  So as usual they were put up in a cupboard but soon retrieved when I wanted to send a parcel to the USA.  Now we get quizzed at the Post Office as to what is in any parcel or packet that is being posted, inland as well as overseas.  If the item is to be posted inland then of course a customs declaration does not have to be filled in, but obviously for overseas it does and instead of reading what I have put on the declaration they still ask what is inside. I found out recently that sending magnets overseas is definitely not allowed and so therefore had to bring the offending parcel back and extract said magnets.  

The idea of putting tatting in the middle of the mirror magnets, with the emphasis on mirror proved to be another problem, for ages I kept putting in one piece of tatting in after another,  all were overshadowed by the border until I  finally resolved the problem. 
Another difficulty was photographing this as obviously I kept getting my reflection in the mirror!

These are the packets I bought and as you can see there are square ones, I am tatting something slightly different for these.

However my advise is never to buy anything that is predominately mirrors if you want to include tatting!

Travelling around the UK and meeting Tatters

Over the past week I have been visiting family, firstly my son in London where we had a really great time seeing many parts of the city and going to the theatre one afternoon.   After returning home for 24 hrs we went to Stratford-upon-Avon and I stayed with my sister Jane for a few days, catching up with all the news and giving her some shuttles to put in her suitcase to sell at Tat Days and here they are.

Obviously because Jane is teaching she is unable to carry many shuttles so these were especially chosen.  There is going to be a list beside them for people to order shuttles they would like, as the above will probably be sold fairly quickly.  So sorry unable to take individual orders at the moment from anyone, more eventually will go into Jane's shop.  As I said this pre-ordering is just for the privileged who are going to be at Tat Days.

Whilst we were in London I went to see Sue Hanson who has kindly given us some wood to make shuttles from. This was a very quick visit as my son was driving his little Smart Car (two-seater) through London and he got a little stressed! We also had to leave most of the wood with him as we had travelled to London by train, he is now storing it for us, but will show you a picture of what we managed to carry back.

Finally a picture of Jane propping up a tree which I took today, just in case those of you who are attending Tat Days don't know what she looks like!

She is almost packed and ready, I am very impressed at how organised she is.

Autumn around the corner

The nights are getting cooler in the UK and Autumn is just around the corner, it will be sad to say goodbye to such a lovely Summer of sunshine oh yes and a few showers!   Here is a necklace that I have been asked to make and will be making the first leg of it's long journey later on this week.   As you can see it has very Autumnal colours in it. 

And when you turn the necklace the other way the buttons look a bit different so it is a reversible necklace!

I'm now off to London for a few days, so had better pack some tatting!

Comfort Tatting

If you are like me there are certain tatting projects that you love to do because you have done them so often that by now you can almost tat them with your eyes closed!   So they become very relaxing to do.  For instance I know Diana will always go back to Mary Konior's spinning wheel pattern.

After a really busy and stressful month of July it is time to sit down and do some serious tatting, and to get back into the swing of it I am going to start off with my 'comfort tatting' it is of course the button necklace.   Why? well because yes I can tat it off by heart but also it is such a challenge finding the thread, buttons and beads that will all match.  Although I did make this particular necklace last year, and the earrings are a recent addition, they took me 2 weeks to make because of so many interruptions and a lot of mistakes!   

The thread is some old Coats variegated and the pattern for the earrings is Jane's and can be found here, but  I did omit the beads over the buttons as I wanted them to match the necklace.   The clever way of attaching the finding at the top of the earrings can be found here, but for some reason I found this method  hard to fathom at first.

So with thread, buttons and beads at the ready I am off to make a necklace that has been requested by a very special person in the USA!

100 years ago today

100 years ago today the Great War began - now known as World War I.   All over the country we have been remembering  those who lived and died through this time.  

Over the last few months there have also been exhibitions relating to both World Wars and at one of them this christening robe was displayed.  It was made by a woman, now in her 90s, from parachute silk for her son's christening during the second world war.  At this time the policy of 'Make Do and Mend" was advertised by the government through campaign characters such as Mrs. Sew and Sew, who advised women on how to repair and renew garments using material from curtains, dish towels and even damaged war parachutes.  In fact, the quality silk used for the parachutes became highly prized for making wartime wedding dresses and christening gowns.  This particular one has a delicate lace trims sewn on it, no not tatting!

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And this is what the oldest church in our benefice looks like today.  

When You Go Home, Tell Them Of Us And Say, For Your Tomorrow, We Gave Our Today