Tat's Heaven

Button Necklace and Font

2012-02-09T15:59:00.000Z

I made quite a few button necklaces before Christmas and have either sold them or given them away. So more are now in the process of being tatted so that there will be a variety to offer, should there be a sudden demand. Having attempted designing my own tatting patterns I have never actually seen any of those I have published on this blog ever tatted by anyone else. This must because either my patterns are hard to follow or they do not appeal to other people, I am not disappointed though as I continue to use them and enjoy them.

The font is now finished, it is made out of oak, and the wood comes from a plinth that was underneath the altar of this church, it is covered by a red carpet in the picture. The plinth was removed last year and most of it was found to be solid oak. The knob on the lid is made from an old piece of wooden furniture that belonged to 'Im in the Garage's' grandfather, the same person that taught him to work with wood. The cross is made out of the wood that had to be removed from the porch of the same church and be replaced with new wood.

At the moment the font is still in our home as it is not being dedicated by the bishop until next month when he is also visiting the parish to dedicate a new stained window at the church from which this wood has come from. The font is replacing a stone one which is a little unsteady and so is going to be removed from the church. We have saved a little of this oak to make pop-a-bobbin shuttles with, and estimate that the plinth must have been in the church for at least 100 yrs, so they will be very holy ones!

Button Picture

2012-02-01T21:34:00.002Z

Instead of my button supply decreasing I seem to have acquired many more recently, so in order to put them to good use, other than tatting of course, I made a picture out of some of them. The frame was in my parents house and my mother had put dried flowers in it, but they were faded and so when my father died I acquired the frame. When removing the contents I found it was quite an old frame and there was a nice gap between the glass and the back board. This photograph was taken before the glass was put back to avoid reflection.

I wasn't sure about adding the tatting but in the end decided that it enhanced the fish. Every button is sewn on, I thought this was better than gluing them so that if any had to be repositioned (which frequently happened) they would come off easily. For the background I used some calico material which is of a reasonable thickness and then painted it. I would like to make more of these pictures, but probably not so large. Also next time I will probably use a frame without any glass as they are quite bulky so will not always accommodate glass.

The pattern for the thistle is now on my blog. Today I received a lovely note from the hostess of the Burns Night thanking me for the thistles, this is it showing the house where the event was held.

As you can see there is snow in the picture, we may be having some of the white stuff coming our way very soon!

Burns Night

2012-01-26T08:15:00.001Z

Burns Night is annually celebrated in Scotland on or around January 25. It commemorates the life of the bard (poet) Robert Burns, who was born on January 25, 1759. The day also celebrates Burns' contribution to Scottish culture. Burns' best known work is "Auld Lang Syne". To mark the occasion I tatted some Scottish thistles, here is one I wore as a brooch yesterday.

Although I do not live in Scotland, last night I went to a Burns Night celebration in a country house where the host is Scottish. I tatted 80 thistles to be placed on the table, you can just see one on the right of the picture.

I designed this particular pattern for the thistles myself, it is quick and easy, well it had to be with so many to make! The picture does not show up the table cloth very well, but it is pure linen and over 100 years old.

The evening was great fun with the traditional haggis accompanied by neeps (swedes or turnips ) and tatties (potatoes). This is when potatoes sound very much like tatting!

A haggis is a very old Scottish dish, which combines meats, spices and oatmeal to create a very rich unusual, but none the less delicious feast! There are many traditions associated with Burns night, one being toasting the haggis as well as the "lads" and "lassies". So as you can imagine a fair bit of the hard stuff was consumed. There was no dancing but we did sing some Scottish songs including "Auld Lang Syne" at the end of the evening.

A book mark which I gave to someone yesterday morning who is Scottish, he helps with the computer group held in our church each Wednesday.

Robbie Burns was truly remembered in style yesterday and I am sure he would have appreciated the celebrations in his honour.

THISTLEPATTERN ©Sally Kerson 2012

Abbreviations:

R ring

p picot

Ch chain

Cl close

+ join

LJ lock join

SLT shoelace trick

VLP verylong picot

T& C tie and cut

Thethistle is made in two parts (green thread and purple thread), withno ends to sew in for either part. Ring one, when looking at the thistle, is the second ring on the left, you go back and work the first ringon the left with the second shuttle (R4)

Materialsrequired: size 20 thread green and size 40 purple

Bottompart of thistleusing green thread and starting with second ring from left:

Windtwo shuttles CTM. 1½ yds on shuttle 1 and ¾ yd on shuttle 2.

UsingShuttle 1

R1: 4– 3 – 1 – 1 – 1 – 1 – 6 Cl

R2: 6+ (R1) 1 – 1 – 1 – 1 – 3 – 4 Cl

R3: 4+ (R2) 1 (5 graduated picots with 1 ds between each and making thethird one the longest) 3 Cl RW and change to shuttle 2

R4: 4+ (R1) 1 (5 graduated picots with 1 ds between each and making thethird one the longest) 3 Cl RW

Tail

Shuttle1 make a lock chain to the length desired cut and finish with an overhand knot.

Toppart of thistleusing ball and shuttle.

Wind¾ yd of purple thread on to shuttle.

Firstrow:join to first picot on top of thistle (R1)

Ch: 1Lj (next p) – Lj (next p) – Lj (next p) – Lj (join between ring1 & ring 2) - continue as before until last but one picot - Lj tolast picot SLT & turn

Secondrow:LJ to first picot 3 VLP join to next picot. Repeat to end but onlymaking 2 VLP before joining to last picot on R2. After that join tiea knot and cut the same length as the VLPs, cut the other VLPs tomatch.

Hint:Iused PVA glue to make the head of the thistle stand up straight!

Necklace and progress on Font

2012-01-21T10:40:00.001Z

My first attempt at a pattern from Marilee Rockley's book Tatted Jewelry which Sue Anna kindly sent to me. The aim was to start with a pair of earrings, but instead I went straight to the necklace featured on the front cover called "Newcastle Necklace" I was intrigued at the name of this necklace as we have a city of Newcastle in England, perhaps Marilee can tell us what prompted her to name the necklace as I am sure it had nothing to do with England. I think I might rename mine "Celtic Dream" only because the charm looks celtic and of course it is green for Ireland. Actually I had little choice on the colour as apart from some HDT which I am saving for the other necklace in the book, I only had green in 10 that was usable, the border was the combination of two threads. The charm was also the only one I had in my stash so hopefully it does not look too out of place.

As promised this is the progress on the font, designed by us, we had the plans drawn up for it by a qualified architect. They were then submitted to the diocese and had to be approved by them with a proper signed and sealed document. Before this final approval was given a notice was posted in church for a period of time so that if anyone has any objections they had a chance to put them forward. There were no objections so work has commenced.

The font was going to be made out of this mahogany originally purchased for coffins but there was a change of plan which I will explain when the font is finished as it has a lovely story behind it. The piece of wood you can see on the top is going to be turned into a knob for the lid, it has nothing to do with the other wood as it comes from a table leg!

A tale of two woods

2012-01-17T16:55:00.003Z

There has been great excitement here in the last few days and we are in "wood heaven". I admit not everyone gets excited by wood, but when there is an "Im in the garage" to please, then it is a good enough reason! The first bit of excitement was learning that a piece of Oregon Myrtle kindly sent by Karen had cleared the dreaded English customs and was on its way to us. The other was discovering when walking home from work yesterday that a tree just around the corner was being cut and it was an English oak. My first instinct was of course to ask the men felling the tree if I could take a piece, and yes I was allowed, but obviously I could not carry much.

The tree looked like this yesterday after its massive prune, it definitely had had a "bad hair day" or a "close shave".

When "Im in the garage" returned home from work we went out in the freezing cold and dark to gather a few more choice pieces from the huge selection. It felt as though we were thieves in the night dressed up with hats and gloves and carrying a torch, there was no vehicle access either unless you went over a field, by some houses, not advisable.

Anyway we manage to get two more pieces and put them in the garage for fear of the frost which could have split newly cut and damp wood.

Back I go this afternoon to see the latest on the oak tree and sadly it had been chopped down, and here is the stump to proof it. What a sad sight.

I then had an interesting conversation with the men who were felling it, who must have thought this is a crazy woman interested in a tree! I did find out why it had to come down and the reason is this, it had fungi growing around it which was killing the tree. It would have taken a long time to do but as the tree was near some houses they could not risk branches falling on them.

All the wood is going to fuel a power station, but they said that there is no danger in using bits for wood turning, or obviously shuttle making. but it would be impossible to explain what a tatting shuttle was to these men, so I did not try.

This morning I went to collect the Oregon Myrtle which Karen had posted from of course Oregon, this meant carrying it quite a way to where the car was parked as they had closed the road due to re-surfacing, so over the last 24 hours I seem to have done nothing but carry wood around the village.

Just look at the grain on this piece, apparently the different minerals in the soil cause the different colours. Whatever stress the trees have undergone influences the configurations too. Oregon Myrtle wood is used for many things but one prime one is musical instruments, well I can tell you it is music to my ears at the moment!

Thought I would show a little bit of tatting and to also add a bit of colour. As you can see Jane and I have been talking over the internet again, and she let me have the pattern for her latest cute little heart.

I have only managed one so far but go over to her blog and you will see many more.

Jane has done it again!

2012-01-13T18:05:00.000Z

If you go to over to Jane's blog you will see a beautiful Christmas tree that she has designed, it is so clever and fun to make. Whilst I was with her at the beginning of January she showed me one of the trees she had completed and kindly gave me the pattern (perks of being her sister!). I could not wait to try it out in lots of colours, but so far only managed one and here it is. It will look fabulous in white, silver, gold, purple.............................

Again many thanks for the comments regarding the new hooks, I have now ordered the crochet hooks but will have to wait for two weeks before they will arrive at the English supplier from Japan. However, I can inform you that there will be a variety made including double hooked ones (thanks to Jon for suggesting that idea), but obviously these particular ones will have to be slightly more expensive than the single hooked ones.

In the meantime 'Im in the garage will be concentrating on the baptismal font.

Today is Friday 13th, and for some it is an unlucky day. I suppose the only unlucky thing to happen to me today was that a funeral service that I was taking this afternoon was held up by another funeral service at which there was a horse drawn hearse, making me late for another appointment. It was quite chaotic at the local crematorium this afternoon.

A new line?

2012-01-09T15:45:00.001Z

Thank you to all who purchased shuttles over the weekend, they went incredibly fast out of Jane's shop and I can inform you that they were all posted this morning. 'Im in the garage is having a little break from shuttle making as he needs to catch up with some other wood work projects. He is just about to start to make a baptismal font for one of the churches. I ordered the bowl for it today and work will commence this weekend, if I am able I will show your pictures of its progress.

We have been thinking of a new line, but need some feedback to whether it is worth making a quantity of them.

Not everyone likes a hook on the end of a pop-a-bobbin shuttle and others prefer to use a post shuttle so we were wondering if a hook on the end of a piece of turned wood is an item that people would wish to purchase? The picture shows three in purple heart wood (the shuttle on the right of the blog header), they have removable caps on the end with a ring on the other end so that they can be hung from something if required. The item from the tip of the ring to the end of the cap is about 3 1/2". So far we only have 0.6 hooks, finer hooks will have to be purchased for those who use them to pick up beads, namely 0.4. Or may be there is another size that you would prefer? They can be made in a variety woods and therefore will match the shuttles.

Epiphany

2012-01-06T16:31:00.000Z

It is the Feast of the Epiphany in the church, and strangely enough I seem to write a blog post on this day every year. Epiphany means a sudden realisation or comprehension of the meaning of something. My Epiphany was this week when Jane showed me, probably not for the first time, how to do a split chain, something that in the past I just could not get my head around and tried to avoid as much as possible. My only problem is now finding enough time to actually sit down and put into practice what I have learnt, especially since returning home and catching up on things that need doing.

Just as I was having a tatting lesson the post came and a card with a red envelope arrived through Jane's door. Inside the envelope was a tiny little sock and tiny little mitten. The mitten was for Jane and the sock was for me, we are not often together so the timing was excellent and as you can see it has a pop-a-bobbin shuttle in it, a Mahonia one which is my very own shuttle. The gift is from Teresa thank you so much.

Jane and I went out shopping, the sales were on but we were attracted to the glittery jewelry which was half price in many shops. Well it was a bit tempting!

In the tradition of gifts and wise men, oh yes and of course wise women! Just look what beautiful gifts Sue Anna sent me, an amazing array of HDT and Marilee Rockley's new book. But please do look at the lovely snowflakes that were also included. Thank you so much Sue Anna, I am definitely going to make some of the items in the book.

There will be more pop-a-bobbin shuttles and post shuttles for sale tomorrow evening in Jane's shop.

A Partridge in a Pear Tree

2011-12-31T10:35:00.003Z

As you will recognise the title of this post is actually part of a song called the "Twelve Days of Christmas" and today is either the 6th or 7th day depending on which tradition you are following but the days end at Epiphany, either the eve or actual day itself 6th January. So may I present two post shuttles made from pear wood.

On the theme of trees here is a tree with birds in, although probably not partridges, the wood is cherry. I'm in the garage made it many years ago. The wood came from a tree near where we lived at that time in Germany, sadly it was chopped down and we missed it greatly as it produced some beautiful cherries. This tree is really a jigsaw and the birds can be displayed however you wish. It stands approximately 6 1/2 inches high and 5 inches wide.

I am aware that Pam Palmer has published a tatting book called the Twelve Days of Christmas, however I do not possess this myself but I know someone who has a copy, big sister! It must be interesting to tat all the twelve days, has anyone done this?

The funniest take off of the song Twelve Days of Christmas was written by John Julius Norwich

It is written in the form of a correspondence. I have in the past used the words at an informal carol service here it is on youtube

I will be taking the pear shuttles and some post shuttles to Jane's (AKA big sister) home next week, so watch out for them appearing in her Etsy shop, unless of course she becomes too busy with her TIAS!

A very Happy New Year to everyone

Just go over to Lady Picots blog

and see what Geraldine has done after tatting Pam Palmer's twelve days of Christmas.

It is so impressive

Christmas tatting

2011-12-27T19:03:00.001Z

This year was good having Christmas Day on a Sunday, giving a clear week before the usual Sunday services begin again. Although of course next Sunday will fall on New Year's day and that means an early start. At home though our Christmas was quiet, no family gatherings and everything pretty low key. In fact we have a small artificial Christmas tree which has in the past stood on a table and I was going to decorate it with my tatting but never actually managed to set it up, it is still in a plastic bag near the sofa. This is the nearest I got to a decorated tree, taken from Martha Ess's new book. It is tatted in Lizbeth Christmas green, the thread is a new addition to my now ever increasing collection.

And I sat and tatted this snowflake on Christmas Day, it comes from Le Blog de Frivole and the pattern can be found here . Thank you Frivole this is the first time I attempted the snowflake and could have perhaps made it a little better but food and drink had taken over at this point! Frivole has designed some really beautiful snowflakes, so pop along to her blog and have a look.

Yesterday we visited the Hobby Craft shop and I managed to pick up a few reduced items, including delica beads and acrylic paint, particularly as I have a few more boxes to paint and decorate. Will explain how I decorate the boxes in another post. I have also asked I'm in the garage to make post shuttles from pear wood, especially as he used his lathe to turn some lovely trinket boxes for Christmas presents from this wood, unfortunately though I forgot to take a photograph of them before they were given away.

I have also a basket full of pop-a-bobbin shuttles to test before being delivered to Jane next week.

Rings, Robins and Angels

2011-12-21T18:08:00.001Z

It was a craze a few years ago, well it was for me, to buy wire bangles from shops as they were cheap and cheerful and were good for displaying tatting, especially at Christmas. However, the fashion has changed and now they are not so common, well not here in the UK. Fortunately I still have a very good supply and now and then use them for such a purpose, some tatting fits exactly whilst others, not quite.

I made three big sister angels (from Martha Ess's new book) to fit in rings using Lizbeth, Coats and Manuela thread and they all fitted quite differently. The angel above is using Manuela

In my 'awaiting to finish' tatting pile were some robins, I had seriously got stuck with their eyes for some reason or another and they were abandoned for over a year. The other evening I managed to finish that part of them. But then had trouble with the legs, you can just see where one was started, on the bottom robin and then it was chopped off!

They remind me of that song entitled 'When the Red, Red Robin Comes Bob-Bob Bobbin Along' but
then I thought of pop-a-bobbin shuttles and bobbins were on my brain for the next 24 hours! So I sat
down and started attaching their legs and aim to stop their 'bobbin' and to get them static in the rings.

Just three more pairs of legs to do now - the pattern can be found on Jane's blog here

But going back to pop-a-bobbin shuttles more are in the process of being made and in the New Year there will be another delivery.

Tool and Tree

2011-12-17T16:23:00.001Z

The trouble with using exotic woods for the pop-a-bobbin shuttles is that it is difficult to match the plug for the middle of them. Him in the garage tried to make them with the tools he has available but it took a lot of time and effort. So he looked on e.bay for a dowelling machine, these are now obsolete, in other words they are not made anymore and are really collectors items. Of course there are big machines that now do the job quicker and efficiently in factories and the wood is cut to shape in bulk. A machine was found, in the USA, an offer was made for it and accepted and was duly purchased, it cost nearly £400, but this did include a cutter and the customs charges. But he is so happy with his new toy, it is vintage probably made in the 1960/70s. If you look closely you will see that it says Stanley USA on it. It works on the same principle as a pencil sharpener.

The plugs after coming out of the new tool but they still need to go into a grader and then sanded

The Vicar phoned a few days ago to say that a branch had fallen from a tree in one of the churchyards in the high winds, he asked if we wanted it? Well of course we did but have only had a chance today to go and get it, armed with a saw. It came from a tree called Sequoiadendron – Wellingtonia

The so called Mammoth Tree or Wellingtonia, the 'Big Tree' of California.

The light was failing when I took the photograph but it is a extremely tall tree

Now I know for many people in the world these trees are very common, but it is not often the tree itself but where it is actually growing. This one stands opposite the cedar tree from which other shuttles have been made from and is growing in the churchyard where the father of the Revd Awdry (author of Thomas the Tank Engines stories) was once Vicar when Mr. Awdry was a boy.

Earrings and Eclipse

2011-12-11T12:27:00.001Z

I have been designing and making earrings, although when I say designing, I just didn't follow a pattern, made them up myself, however there is sure to be a similar design somewhere. I apologise if I have unintentionally used someone elses pattern.

Yesterday my son, who lives in Singapore, witnessed a lunar eclipse and posted these pictures on facebook. Just felt the need to share them with you, I did ask his permission!

Atotal eclipse only happens during a full moon. It occurs when themoon passes through the earth's shadow.  

This eclipse was also seen in other parts of the world, from Alaska toCentral Asia and Australia. So did anyone else see it?

It is a busy Sunday for me, the Hanging of the Greens service went extremely wel this morning, and thanks to the internet and the churches in America who gave me the idea. This afternoon it is a Scout carol service and baby Jesus is in the boot of my car ready to take a journey into the nearest town, just hope that a Mary and Joseph can be found, with less than three hours to go, I have no idea if they will appear. Wish me luck!

One eyed Angels!

2011-12-04T21:44:00.001Z

I made these angels about twenty years ago, the pattern is in a tatting book that was basically the only one I used at that time as it contained, what appeared to me, such very modern designs. How life has changed in the tatting world. The book is called The Complete Book of Tatting by Rebecca Jones. The sad thing is that these angels will have to be thrown away, they have gone yellow, probably because I used sugared water to stiffen them, all I knew in those days, and they are a bit worse for wear. Also I think they are having a 'bad hair day!' Not to mention the the loss of one eye.

I can't stop tatting Martha's snowflakes but think they do look better without beads.

Or may be not!

Had a really nasty cold last week so have a lot to catch up with, including finding some angels for a Scout Carol service (no not tatted angels or one eyed ones!) sorting out some carol singing and readings for Thursday evening in accommodation where some elderly people live. Also compiling a service for Sunday morning entitled 'Hanging of the Greens" which I believe is more common in the USA, we have never done it in our church before. On Saturday I am going to find some holly and other greenery and in the service encourage the congregation to make some decorations for the church - wish me luck it is going to be a busy week!

The Winners

2011-11-28T13:26:00.001Z

Many thanks to all who entered the give-away and I am pleased to announce that the winner of the Zebra wood pop-a-bobbin shuttle in the blue box, is Tattin' Kat, congratulations, please can you send your address to popabobbinshuttle@gmail.com. The window sticker has been won by Teresa, again congratulations and please can you also do the same.

Iwant a number between 1 and…

Result:

Entera number:

Iwant a number between 1 and…

Result:

Circles and squares Snowflake from Martha's new book 'Playing with picots', I only finished this today and it is unpressed and thrown on the scanner so excuse the way it looks at an angle!

The really interesting part of the give-away post was reading what you all like (with the exception of few including my sister!) to listen to whilst tatting. I did research a few of your choices, particularly the ones that I was unfamiliar with, and thanks to Gill Devon who prompted me to watch 'The Choir' on BBC iplayer. Being once a serviceman's wife (I'm in the garage used to be in the Army) I could relate to how these wives live. Thank you Gill, and no not all husbands will make tatting shuttles, unfortunately! Perhaps you should try locking him the garage until he does!

St. Cecilia - Giveaway

2011-11-22T14:56:00.001Z

Today is the feast day of St. Cecilia and in honour of this 3rd century martyr, who is the patron saint of music, I am announcing my giveaway.......... a zebra wood pop-a-bobbin shuttle and it will be packed in the blue box that you saw in my last post.

All you have to do is to leave just one comment on this blog and, if you are a music lover, tell everyone what you enjoy listening to most, especially when you are tatting. I will use a random number generator to determine the winner.

This is a photograph of the St. Cecilia window in Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford which I took whilst visiting the city back in June. The window was made in 1874.

Another milestone has also been achieved in 'tats heaven' as this is my 180th post, so I am also giving away an angel from my piece of heaven, playing her musical instrument, it is a window sticker and it will be given to the second number that comes up when using a random number generator, so please only comment once as the same comment will be used for both the shuttle and the window sticker.

Good luck to everyone, you have until Sunday 27th November and I will announce the winner on Monday 28th.

Getting ready for a giveaway

2011-11-16T16:19:00.001Z

As promised I am holding a giveaway, but not quite yet! Details will be given in my next post, which will be within the next week or fortnight, depending on when everything is ready - a bit of a hint there! Although my intention is to make it as soon as possible as it would be good if the winner were to receive the gift by Christmas, especially if it has to be posted abroad.

This is the latest box that I decorated, there are a few of these boxes painted and ready for their bits of tatting but somehow I never seem to get them completed, a sort of on going project.

Thank you to all who follow this blog, near or far, and keep watching!

11 11 11 11

2011-11-11T10:30:00.000Z

The garage is buzzing with activity at the moment especially since the arrival of two different woods. The first was the zebra wood which you can see in this post. The second is thanks to Ladytats who posted a huge box of American black walnut to me. The wood is from her father's yard and I am sure she is eager to see a shuttle made out of it. Well here are two shuttles made from the woods, not by any means finished, they also have a slightly different shape to them and at the moment this is being tested.

The American Walnut in its raw state resting in the garage before getting the chop!

The zebra wood after being cut

Today at the 11th hour of this the 11th day of the 11th month in the year 2011 we will be ringing the bells in our churches, after two minutes silence, remembering those who died in wars and conflicts of the past and those who are serving in the armed forces at the present time. Another unique date.

And to link with all the 'ones' in this date, I am soon going to announce a giveaway and you might be the 'one' to win it!

Remember, remember the 5th November........

2011-11-05T22:43:00.000Z

My neighbour had an abundance of lavender this year in their garden and so they let me gather as much as I wanted. Last weekend I made these bags and filled them with the pieces I had dried. I now owe them a bag or two for letting me pick the lavender. The only tatting is the little butterflies which I have sewn on the ribbons.

It has been an exciting evening watching the pop-a-bobbins fly out of Jane's Etsy shop together with listening to the fireworks as it is Guy Fawkes night here in England. We remember the day in 1605 when Guy Fawkes was found in the cellars of the Houses of Parliament in London with several dozen barrels of gunpowder. Obviously we never forget these things!

Remember remember the fifth of November

Gunpowder, treason and plot.

I see no reason why gunpowder, treason

Should ever be forgot...

As most of you probably know, Jane lives quite a distance from me, over two hours drive away. Down in this neck of the woods 'Im in the garage' has been busy today starting to make the next batch of shuttles. Some more wood has kindly been sent by one of my blogging friends, which I am going to tell you about very soon. In the meantime a slightly different pop-a-bobbin is being worked on, same principle just the design has been modified. I can't show you any pictures today as it is evening and the light isn't good enough even with the firewords banging and popping outside.

So congratulations to those who managed to buy a shuttle this evening, you might even remember the 5th of November! As I publish this there is only one left in the shop!

1.1.11 - and would you believe it another one?!

2011-11-01T14:27:00.002Z

Today is one of those rare combinations with all the ones in the date. It is also All Saints Day in the church calendar.
Yesterday though marked 60 years since the introduction of zebra crossings in the UK The first appeared in Slough, Berkshire, in 1951. However, more than 1,000 have been removed over the past five years and the threat of them going altogether has just been announced in the news. Some have already been replaced by more sophisticated alternatives with lights and flashing signs. The number of deaths on the crossings has doubled since 2007, in part because of a growing reluctance of drivers to stop at them, which they are supposed to do when they see a pedestrian waiting or actually stepping on to the crossing.
So let me introduce to you a piece of Zebrano - otherwise known as Zebra wood. This wood was recently purchased to make more pop-a-bobbin shuttles from and it is still in this state so I cannot show you any yet. The stripes in it are very distinctive. As you can see the ends of the wood are a different colour as they have been waxed. The wood originates from Central Africa but we purchased it from a wood supplier in the north of England.

One of the most famous zebra crossings in the world is probably the one that appears on the Beatles Abbey Road album. And yes we do have the LP - here it is, not thrown out in the latest clear out!

This particular zebra crossing in London was given a Grade II listed building status (of historical interest) by English Heritage in December last year, so it should therefore be safe, indeed it is a tourist attraction.

Today's date as a zebra crossing!

Hope you have been over to Jane's blog to give your opinion as to the time of day the latest pop-a-bobbins should be listed.

The Clocks go back tonight

2011-10-29T14:03:00.001+01:00

Before going to bed this evening we in the UK are required to put our clocks back one hour, which means an extra hour in bed, great! The British Summer Time Act of 1972 stipulates that GMT begins on the last Sunday of October and BST on the last Sunday of March (when the clocks go forward an hour). However, there is talk of a trial period with a view to eventually adopting a Central European Time, which would mean BST plus one hour in summer and GMT plus one in winter - confusing us Brits even more! The main problem is that those in the north of the country, particularly Scotland, would definitely not relish an extra hour of darkness in the winter. Between 1968 and 1971 the government carried out the sameexperiment but was forced to end it after complaints in Scotland andnorthern England. So we await to see what happens. In the meantime the pop-a-bobbin shuttles arrived this morning at Jane's and she is wondering at what time to list them, and might need your help with this, taking into account the different time zones across the pond.

I have managed some seasonal tatting, Martha's pumpkin teapot and might even get around to doing some more tatting if time allows, with an extra hour coming up, who knows?!

I just have to show you this little chap. It is an alarm clock purchased when my eldest son was young in Germany. It has travelled a bit and was found in a box in the attic, minus a leg, but a week or two later when we were sorting through my son's belongings the missing leg was found!

Here is a Ticki Tack clock on youtube although the one we have is not battery operated it is a wind up one - but I was thrilled to find it. Enjoy!!

It is good to see both his legs working!

"Parting is such sweet sorrow"

2011-10-25T14:39:00.002+01:00

William Shakespeare's words from Romeo and Juliet, mine may not have quite the same sentiments, but during the last month or so I have been parting and saying goodbye, not to people but to objects. The attic clearance continues, but the end is in sight. Just finding it hard to throw away items that have been up there for years but have no use and are just kept out of sentimentality.
Another parting which will take place next weekend will be these pop-a-bobbin shuttles, they are ready to go to Jane to list in her Etsy shop. There is a good selection of different woods, most shuttles have hooks on them but there are a few without. In a way it is sad to see them go as they do look so beautiful.

And here are a few items from our time in Hong Kong many years ago, no idea why the inflatables were kept but the children's pajamas are so cute. They are though well worn so all are destined for the dustbin in the next few days. "parting is such sweet sorrow". But we do have many other items to remind us of our time in the far East and they are at least on display, not stored in an attic.

I was surprised and delighted that so many people viewed the pendants that I made in the last post and thank you to all who generously commented. Kathy asked how I managed to attach the findings, beads and tatting. Well here are the findings, no idea where they came from just found them amongst some beads that I have had for years. Basically I tat around them (including the beads on long picots) and cut tie and hide the ends. Then to finish I take another piece of thread which is doubled, attach the top ring finding then pull the threads through a small bead then a larger bead which the tatting/finding fits snuggly around and then it is a matter of threading more beads and using a single thread for the last dangle and that is fed up to the middle where the ends are tied.

Pendants

2011-10-19T17:25:00.002+01:00

Last week there was someone in the church foyer selling a selection of knitted scarfs and jewellery she had made, she was raising money for herself and for the pre-school which meets in the church hall. The pendants she had made were primarily of beads and were hanging on long chains. Um, I thought, they remind me of aborted earrings that I started ages ago. I looked for the single green earring I had made, and eventually found it. Part of the reason I was reticent in making the other one was because it looked rather large. So I put it on a chain and it looks much better now, and so I proceeded to make another two pendants.

The original idea for this design was from an earring pattern on Jane's blog. We have a Christmas Fayre coming up soon and I am going to see if they will sell along with some other tatted items.

Martha's Angels

2011-10-09T19:30:00.000+01:00

Martha Ess's new tatting book "Playing with Picots" arrived in the mail on Friday. So I just had to make the angels for this bit of heaven. As Martha has called them 'Big Sister Angel and 'Little Sister Angel' I named them - well what do you think?!

Actually Jane looks like she is dancing! Well come to think of it I'm doing a sort of wiggle too!

The book was waiting for me when Ireturned home after conducting a funeral service. Before the serviceI spoke to the organist (a farmer) to confirm the music etc and learnt that the funeraldirector had asked him to play for this service after delivering a bull to his farm earlier in the week! The funeral director also keeps cattle. After the service another farmer who was in the congregation starteddiscussing the price of lambs to the funeral director. But that wasnot the strangest thing about the funeral, apparently some people who attended the service found that they were at the wrong one. They had read about it in the paper but there was also another deceased lady bearing the same surname and whohad died at the same age 90 yrs in the same town and they had obviously read the wrong entry. Apparently they could not understand why I was referring to thedeceased as Mary when they thought her name was Betty! This particular funeral service was in a church with a burial in the graveyard, whilstthe one they should have been attending was later on in the day atthe crematorium, so they had to sit through two funeral services onFriday! So that is probably why I settled down to tat these angels after a bizarre day.

Martha's new book has many other interesting patterns, and I can't wait to try them out.

Thank you Martha you are an angel!

Oak Leaves

2011-10-06T16:14:00.000+01:00

My attempt at an oak leaf has progressed into these, not sure if anyone else has designed such a leaf so will not claim it as my own, but I am willing to share this particular pattern if there is interest.

Some oak leaves which have been blown off the trees in the wind and the rain we are now having, the temperature has dropped at least 12 degrees since last week.

And some acorns turning a golden brown, just right for those greedy squirrels of which we have many.

"Great oaks from little acorns grow" - an old English Proverb

meaning

Great things often have small beginnings.

HOW TRUE

OAKLEAF PATTERN ©Sally Kerson 2011

Abbreviations:

Rring

Rochring on chain

setafirst half of double stitch

setabsecond half of double stitch

Chchain

Clclose

vsp very small picot

+join

Ljlock join

T& C tie and cut

Materialsrequired: size 20 thread

Wind2 shuttles with the continuous thread method 1 ½ yds shuttles 1

3½ yds shuttle 2

Beginby securing with paper clip or safety pin forming 1^st picot.

Ch:p 8 SS

Roch1: 6 (seta x 6 setab x 6) 2 vsp 4 Cl SS

Ch:6 SS

Roch2: 4 + R1 4 (seta x 6 setab x 6) 6 vsp 2 Cl SS

SCMRch 5

R3:2 + R2 12 (seta x 6 setab x 6 ) 10 vsp 2 Cl

Ch:5

R4:2 + R3 6 (seta x 6 setab x 6 ) 4 (seta x 6 setab x 6)

4(seta x 6 seta b x 6) 6 vsp 2 Cl

Ch:5

R5:2 + R4 12 (seta x 6 setab x 6) 10 vsp 2 Cl

Ch:5

R6:2 + R5 6 (seta x 6 setab x 6) 4 vsp 4 CL

ClSCMR

Ch: 6 Lj to bottom R1(opposite) SS

Roch7: 4 + R6 2 (seta x 6 setab x 6) 6 Cl SS

Ch8 join to first picot

maketail with which ever method you wish. T & C

Autumn/Summer?

2011-09-30T22:02:00.001+01:00

The weather is a bit confused at the moment in England for we are having a heat wave with temperatures expected to climb up to 29 C tomorrow. The leaves are turning brown and the sun is shining, very strange. For the past week, whenever I am able to sit down for more than five minutes, I have tried to design an oak leaf and this is my latest attempt, still needs some more work on it.
Yesterday was the feast of St. Michael and All Angels and from now on you are must not pick any more blackberries this season as the devil is supposed to have spat on them. But I was in the graveyard where there were some beautiful ones this afternoon, so I picked some. Here they are ready in the pan.

And this was a very peculiar sight in the graveyard, a toadstool or is it a wild mushroom? Anyway it was growing out of a stone flower vase, I actually had to go and touch it to see if it was real! It looks rather like a sun shade!

Hope to improve on the leaf in the next few days and will publish the result.

Christmas Decorations

2011-09-20T13:54:00.002+01:00

At the moment there is a huge attic clear-out happening at our house, for the past 25 years items have been put up there and it has ended up being a complete mess. With the past two Winters being very cold in England many lofts/attics need more insulation, although some would say that filling them up acts as extra insulation! So for the past month we have been trying to sort, clear and tidy the contents of our attic in preparation to put more lagging down. However, the process has been extremely slow because my grown up boys have used the place as a storage for university papers/books, CDs, DVDs etc. As one lives in Singapore and the other in a small flat there is no way they are going to be able to remove these possessions in a hurry, or even at all. Sunday morning therefore, I took the opportunity to 'facetime' my son in Singapore on my Ipad whilst sitting in the loft, he then was able to give instructions to what could be thrown out - not much so far!
Christmas Decorations are stored in the loft and they were given a good sort out with old faded tinsel being thrown away, one of the bags which contained this tinsel I used to put my sons suit in to take to the dry cleaners yesterday. Not realising what the bag had originally contained I removed the suit and gold stars fell all over the floor. Fortunately there was a counter so no one saw the little gold stars that came out at the same time, I made a hasty retreat, although I still have to go back and collect the suit.
One of the Lizbeth threads that I am not so keen on, I hasten to say that the majority are fantastic, is the Christmas one, but it looks just right on these baubles.

They are not being stored in the attic, but are ready to be given away at Christmas. This is my own pattern (pattern on right hand side), although I have found that the stitch count has to be altered depending on the thread size and the shape of the baubles.

The edging so far

2011-09-12T13:14:00.000+01:00

It took me sometime to decide on an edging pattern for the Irish linen, I started several but they either did not look right or the instructions were a bit vague. In the end I found Mark Myers "crowning glory" and used the Easter Eggs thread, this is the result. I did alter the ring - top middle slightly, making the picots a little larger. The picture shows it placed by the linen, I have not started to sew it on yet. Not sure if it will be finished this side of Christmas!

It is a sad week in our parish as the Vicar is saying good bye to a car he has owned for 28 yrs, a Morris Traveller. The reason that it has to go is that it is rather rusty underneath and would cost a fortune to repair. He has sold it to someone who can spend the time and money to do the essential repairs. The car has been a topic of conversation with all whom he has met over the years, many saying "our first car was like that". Being a passenger though was not that comfortable, and in Winter it was freezing!

We will all miss seeing the car around the village and hearing the roar of the engine, but at least it will be going to someone who will save if from the heavenly scrap yard!

Lovely Thread

2011-09-05T16:56:00.000+01:00

Sue Anna kindly sent me more beautiful Lizbeth thread and also one skein of HDT which she gave to Jane when she met her in July. They are all going to be put to good use. I just can't get over the colours which I believe are the new range.

Originally I purchased this piece of Irish Linen to put a border of tatting around it, as you can see it has been folded up and put away and still bears all the crease marks. I am so spoilt for choice deciding which thread to use. As you can see I have placed two possibilities next to the linen, but now the next decision is an edging pattern. I would like to tat one that is challenging, only has one round, but also has some depth to it. The linen measures 18" x 17 1/2".

The butterfly that was in my previous post has been framed. I did have to paint the frame pink, but it has turned out rather well.

Well off to search again for an edging pattern...................

The Pink Butterfly

2011-08-29T17:20:00.000+01:00

Someone I know enjoys receiving anything that I have tatted, and furthermore keeps on at me to start tatting classes, but I have never been able to get around to organising any, even though she is not the only one to request such a thing! Anyway she really wanted a pink butterfly for her daughter. I looked for a suitable pattern but could not find one that would fit nicely into a frame. Jane then suggested one of her patterns, however, she thought before I tried it that it would need a "make-over" which she duly did and you can see it on her blog here.

She also asked me, along with others, to test tat it. Now I have to say that I am so used to her patterns and just following them without any trouble, so the thought that there could be an error, really, really frightened me. What would happen if I found it? Would it mean me having to write something on her pattern? How could I possibly tell her that I had found an error? Goodness me what a responsibility. Well I have test tatted this little beauty, and here it is, not telling you if there were any errors in the pattern though!!!

The next batch

2011-08-16T09:26:00.000+01:00

These little beauties will be posted to Jane in the next day or so, and for the first time ever I am really reluctant to see them go. I'm in the garage has really excelled himself this time and the shape and finish of them is even better than before.

And the popper tools are now shaped

From left to right they are Mahonia, Ebony and Purple Heart. There are only two Mahonia shuttles in this batch and there is a very limited supply of this wood because most of the pieces we were given decided to split.

There are 14 shuttles in total and a choice of other woods are also in this batch. Because we have purchased the crochet hooks, instead of making them, the price of the shuttles has risen to reflect this extra expense.

So please go over to Jane's Etsy shop when she has opened it again and look for them, don't worry she will give you plenty of warning!

Hat and Hooks

2011-08-13T13:56:00.000+01:00

I still have not worn the hat, mainly because I was not really happy about the band I put round it, it was a bit bright and conspicuous! Pure laziness really for doing it as I did not want to make one, but forced myself in the end and think it looks much better. Now I really must wear it!

A close up of the button flower

The hooks are being cut for the shuttles, it seems such a shame to desecrate a brand new crochet hook, but needs must. I sneaked into the garage to photograph these

After the 'big chop' they are put into a lathe to make the ends uniform before attaching to the shuttles

Hopefully I will be able to show you some finished shuttles in the next post.

Crochet Hooks for the pop-a-bobbin shuttles

2011-08-07T17:10:00.000+01:00

Hopefully I have found a supplier in the UK who has the right size crochet hooks and can keep up with bulk orders for them. I have purchased 50 so far, some of them will be going into the next batch of pop-a-bobbin shuttles.

A family bereavement has meant that production has slowed down, but these should be ready soon.

I thought the bits of discarded wood on the floor looked so colourful!

Last Tuesday we were at Jane's home, the same day she arrived back from the USA, unfortunately the door bell had ceased to work and so I had to shout through the letter box! I took a picture of her unpacking. It was great fun seeing what she had brought back.

A picture of one of the crochet hooks,

the size seems just right and I am looking forward

to seeing them attached to the shuttles.

Are you?

Where did you get that hat?

2011-08-02T08:00:00.008+01:00

I purchased this hat to wear in the sun, and fortunately the sun has just appeared over the last few days here in the UK. I did not like the original trim on the hat but really was pushed for time to make a new one. So I recycled the pew ends by sewing the button flowers on the ribbon at a different angle.

Not entirely happy with the result, may be it is a bit too bright? Also not sure that it suits the hat so did not go mad and put all the button flowers around it, instead spaced them out. I will look out for a suitable tatted pattern to work as a trim and may be finish it in time for next Summer.

This is what the hat looked like before, not very exciting.

Jane is back today and I might get a peep into her suitcase to see what she has purchased whilst she has been over the pond.

The title for this post came from a very old song sung by Stanley Holloway actually there is a kind of resemblance, I mean the hat not the person!

Flying Saucers - to be a child again!!

2011-07-27T09:40:00.000+01:00

In the 1960s you could buy flying saucer sweets - which are like two coloured communion wafers (rice paper) with a bit of sherbert in the middle. I can well remember walking back from school and purchasing four of them for just a penny from the sweet shop. I made this small needle cushion to look like one as I can never find a needle especially when finishing a tatting project. The pattern is my own but is a little crowded, not sure if I want to revisit it at the moment but the nice thing was it was made in one hit.

Now you can buy flying saucers packaged in sealed plastic bags but somehow they do not taste the same, or have the same appeal as the ones that were put in a paper bag for you, once you handed over your precious penny.

Perhaps I long for those days when sweets were a luxury and were cherished by children and so I covered this tray with them! Notice the flying saucers.

Just one picture of a Beaver Scout enjoying himself on Saturday it was a fun filled day and all the children and adults enjoyed themselves. The weather also stayed fine which was a bonus after an awful week of rain.

This is not a child being captured in a net, in case you thought it was! It is the last part of an assualt course which they absolutely loved.

Sea Shells

2011-07-21T17:25:00.000+01:00

Finished this necklace today, started it months ago but became very lazy when it came to attaching the findings. I did not follow a pattern, so fairly pleased with the result. I think the thread is Lizbeth sea shells. My problem is that when I tear open the packet to get to the lovely threads - I loose the label in my excitement!

Thank you to those who were concerned about where we are going to hold our Scouting event this weekend. Fortunately we have found another field attached to a Scout headquarters that is available, this is a rural area but as you can imagine such places are in demand in the Summer months. The theme of the day is "Long John Silver" to celebrate 25 yrs of Beaver Scouts and so pirates are the order of the day. Activities will include, walking the plank, collecting gold treasure coins, making pirate hats, plus an assault course. The weather has slightly improved, so hope nothing else will mar the day. Everything has been purchased and my car boot is full, now need to work out timings.

Weigh anchor and hoist the mizzen! Yo Ho Ho!

Elephants

2011-07-16T19:23:00.001+01:00

There are African elephants and Indian elephants but here is Jane's elephant.

I went to an exhibition of quilts this afternoon and here is one with elephants.

Here is a line of elephants

Just to let you know that I have ordered more crochet hooks this time 0.60 mm for the pop-a-bobbin shuttles, not sure if they will be suitable, but worth a try.

I am looking forward to being able to find more time to tat. Next weekend is a Scouting event which I am trying to organise but unfortunately travellers have decided to take over the field we were going to use, so the event will have to be re-located somewhere else, you have no idea the amount of extra work this is generating for me, even less time to tat!

Arts Festival

2011-07-10T17:18:00.000+01:00

Today marks the end of a really busy time preparing for the local Arts Festival which has involved three of our churches. There has been a lot of administration work as well as helping set up and co-ordinate the events. Last weekend one of the churches was open for a flower festival and this weekend the two remaining churches were open, one for an exhibition of art and the other was filled with flowers and fabrics. They were all well attended and the thought now of removing all the displays is a bit daunting. I was able to exhibit my tatting in this weekend events, the pew ends which were in this post, and this little display of crochet baskets with tatted flowers, butterflies and bees.

There was a seaside corner which had this little picture in it.

In the other church these pictures were exhibited

The red sticker means that someone has purchased it. There was also an angel picture, but it kept flying around the church and each time I visited was seen in a different place!

Although the seahorse picture was not actually on sale as it was part of the flower and fabrics display someone is keen to buy it. I also had a lot of people interested in tatting, many said that they had never seen it before whilst others declared it a dying art. One person this morning said she tried to learn the craft many years ago and still had her shuttles I pointed her in the direction of the internet and hoped that by looking at blogs and following the many tutorials she would soon pick it up, and left my contact details too.

Above all I felt pleased that I had put tatting in front of so many people as a useful and versatile craft as well as a work of art.

4 7 11

2011-07-04T08:00:00.084+01:00

It is of course American Independence Day - it is of course my birthday, a major one!
But 4 7 11 (pronounced "four-seven-eleven") is also the name of a very famous Eau de Cologne. I have known of this perfume ever since I was a child and have always associated it with old Aunts, gosh I'm one myself now! It is more of a nostalgic kind of perfume, not one that I would go out and buy for myself. However, I found this little bottle unloved at the end of a Summer Fete a few weeks ago, so purchased it for 50p!

I was at the cathredral yesterday attending an ordination service and whilst robing in a side chapel with many others I noticed a priest who had, what looked like some tatting on his stole. I kept looking at him, or rather his stole, and in the end had to ask him if that was a piece tatting on it. He said he did not know as he acquired the stole many years ago off someone else. Anyway I was allowed a closer inspection and it was a tatted cross in gold thread, quite large, I then showed him the tatting around my surplice but I have to say he was not really impressed!

My latest button necklace made with Yarnplayers HDT Garden Afternoon, and the colours are just right for this time of year. I wore it with a flowery top at a church Flower Festival and was asked by a few people, did I make it? How was it made? Did I take orders? Next weekend there is another Flower Festival or rather a Flower and Fabrics Exhibition, in another church which will have some of my tatting on show, so hopefully I will be able to show you some pictures next time of both the flowers and textiles.

Hooks

2011-06-27T16:32:00.000+01:00

Further to the last post when I talked about the Pop-A-bobbins there has been a major development with regard to the hooks for the shuttles. Basically the wire used for making them is becoming almost impossible to source, especially in the gauge required. So we are now thinking of ordering crochet hooks and I am so sad to say, mutilating them! This will of course put the cost of the shuttles up, but on the other hand it means that "Im in the garage" can concentrate on making the shuttles even better, and he has another idea in mind on how to do that. What we discovered when researching crochet hooks, is that they come in different sizes and these vary with manufacturers, so we are not sure what people will want, if you have any opinions they would be greatly appreciated and will help with the final decision. The thinner the better I hear you all shouting!

I tatted this square recently and it is going on something else I am making but you will have to wait and see what that is. This is not my pattern but adapted from another, but I can't remember where from.

Before I close I must tell you of some interesting wood that is being used to make some shuttles, the colour is a greenish yellow, rather like a mustard colour. When one is complete I will show you, but there is a very limited supply so very few shuttles will be made from it.

Pop-A-bobbin shuttle review

2011-06-21T10:00:00.005+01:00

The most popular tatted related item to be invented in our house is the Pop-A-bobbin shuttle and 'Im in the garage' has been very surprised by its success. Sitting comfortable on the chair below, and having a good old natter, are my very own shuttles, not many considering the different woods we have in the garage. The majority of these were made for me last year and it is time to request some more!

Since the Pop-A-bobbin shuttles made their first appearance here they have been sort after by many people, although not everyone. Some criticisms are well founded, they are of course thicker and larger than an Aero shuttle, but they have to be because if the wood was too thin it would split especially with the continual use of popping the bobbin in and out each time.

The hook is hand made only because it really was impossible to get a manufacturer to supply hooks to us, so to keep costs down and without mutilating crochet hooks it was decided to keep to homemade ones. However, the hooks are tightly fitted into a hole without gluing, they can be pulled out, but this is not recommended as they could break, so if people want to put their own hooks in it is best to buy a hookless one for this purpose.

Sometimes other bobbins are placed in the shuttle, instead of the original one supplied with it, they can then appear loose, or too tight, this is because we have found that bobbins do vary. The plastic Aeros can take the difference because they are flexible, the wooden shuttles cannot. To compensate for the looseness one purchaser puts hole reinforcement rings on them which usually corrects the tension.

The next shuttles will not make an appearance in Janes Etsy shop until August/September mainly because 'Im in the garage' is building a toy for himself and it is holiday time soon. Sadly for the tatting world Pop-A-shuttles are not a priority for the garage man, and there is no way to motivate him unless his toy is taken away and he is locked in the garage all weekend!

Different woods are continually being sort after and our latest supply came from a very strange source, here it is - mahogany, originally purchased to make coffins out of and yes we went to a funeral director to buy it.

Some of the wood is hopefully going to be made into a baptismal font for one of the churches, but the rest will not be wasted and you can probably guess what it will be used for!

Fandango Square

2011-06-14T08:30:00.000+01:00

Our visitors from Singapore have gone and we are recovering after a really hectic week. We visited Stratford-upon-Avon and went around the Royal Shakespeare Theatre, then on to Oxford where we went punting on the river Thames and looked around the Oxford colleges. We travelled to Lacock Abbey in Wiltshire to see one of the settings for the Harry Potter films. And finally a trip to the New Forest and a visit to a wildlife park where we saw some fantastic butterflies, so there was not much time for any tatting or looking at blogs. However, I did manage to see the clever design that Valerie Ho discovered from Jane's fandango bookmark. It just cried out for beads, Jane sent me the pattern to try out, although I added a button to the middle and these are the results.

Jane is working on updating the pattern for the beaded and buttoned version.

And because it is "Tatting Tea Tuesday" here is a cup of tea, yes seriously it is - Flowering Dragon Eye, green tea.

The colours seem to match the fandago square!

Time for some more shuttles

2011-06-05T08:30:00.009+01:00

A batch of pop-a-bobbin shuttles will be travelling to Jane's home very soon, this is one of them resting on some sweet smelling thyme, a herb very useful in cooking. The shuttle is made from yew.

The rest of them are in a crochet basket sitting in the garden, may be there is one that you would like?

Some Sweet Williams for Gina, can you smell them?

My son and his girlfriend arrive in the UK today from Singapore for a visit, so exciting especially as the same day he boarded the plane (yesterday) he achieved his 1st Dan (his name is Daniel) in Aikido so he now has a black belt. This is what awaits him, a belated Easter Egg, he is a big Star Wars fan, 'may the force be with you.'

Geckos

2011-05-30T09:59:00.003+01:00

I have always admired Jane's gecko pattern (Pam's gecko) but it was only recently, with the arrival of some wonderful threads from Sue-Anna that I manged to tat it.

The gecko is now framed ready to go into an art exhibition, the person organising the exhibition said any medium would do, so together with two other tatted pictures it will be on show in July, beside some very grand paintings.

This little one is from Marth Ess's book 'More Critters on the Block' and I made it when I first received the book in a hurry, so not very pleased with the result, could do better!

I had to photograph this metal gecko seen fixed to the wall of an alleyway in the High Street of a town, minus it would seem its left foot! Well when I say a town it only has one street in it a quarter of a mile long. The town is famous or infamous because Edward VII used to stay there in the 1890s bringing his mistress Lillie Langtry with him, although they discreetly stayed at different houses on either side of the river, but with a connecting footbridge.

Finally yes I have visited Tatskool home and seen the geckos which reside there, very impressive, never looked on so many at one time.

Buttons and Butterflies

2011-05-23T12:05:00.000+01:00

Thank you to all who entered the give-away, and I hope you found it fun. I can now tell you that there were 294 buttons in the teddy bear jar, and here they all are, so you can count them for yourself! The winner is Patty C, as she was the nearest, and yes you were right Patty there were lots of little ones hidden away. Please can you e.mail me on popabobbinshuttle@gmail.com.

I decided that the metal clips on the top of the pew ends in this post needed to be hidden, or at least decorated, so I have made eight butterflies, they have not been sewn on yet. Also six more button flowers are required to be made for the ribbons and then hopefully the pew ends will be completed, no idea when this is going to happen as my days are extremely busy at the moment. The butterflies are doing a circle dance before they part company.

The pattern is Janes and it can be found here. I have a container of beads that I have spilt over the floor at one time or another, they are all different colours and I nearly always use them for this butterfly so achieving a kaleidoscope of colours. It also means that the beads are slowly being used up, that is until I spill some more!

Button Moon - Mr. Spoon - Give-away

2011-05-17T09:00:00.001+01:00

Please will you celebrate with me my 150th blog post. However, I am sorry to say there will be no shuttles to give-away this time as I'm in the garage has been making a toy for himself rather than concentrating on tatting shuttles, boys and their toys!

So instead I am giving away this bag and Welsh Love spoon. If you want to know about Welsh Love spoons go to this link, notice this spoon has a carved heart and a cross. Around the bag is sewn a length of tatting called Nelson and designed by Orsi.
This is what the bag looked like when I purchased it. It does seem to be a different colour but the sun must have been shinning on the day I took the photograph, it really is the same bag. I took off the bow and then attached the tatting and the buttons. Also my sister Jane Eborall was with me when I purchased it from Stratford-upon-Avon.

To make the give-away a little more fun and to enable you to win the bag and spoon you have to guess how many buttons are in this teddy bear jar. Now due to the weight of the jar and buttons I cannot include it with the prize. So have a go at guessing how many buttons are in the jar, please note that you are only allowed one guess so that everyone can have a fair chance. The person to guess the correct amount (or nearest) is the winner. I'ts as simple as that. The jar is 5 1/2 inches in height.

Some of you know that I am rather fond of buttons and especially when tatting with them so this give-away has been inspired by a children's programme shown in the 1980s here in the United Kingdom - called Button Moon and the adventures of Mr. Spoon and his family, it was very amateurish but the tune is quite catchy! Watch it on YouTube

The deadline is Sunday 22nd May to count the buttons in the jar and comment on this blog!
Good Luck!

Pew Ends

2011-05-11T10:05:00.046+01:00

You may remember back in February I started to make some button flowers to hang from the window sills of the church. Well another idea is to use them on the ends of the pews as they show up better against the dark wood.

The project is very slow, especially when I give the ones I have already made away! Fortunately the 'flower and fabrics' display for which they are intended, isn't until July, but time marches on. What you see on the chair is the work so far.

Yesterday I visited the church to get an idea of what they will look like once finished, the sun was streaming in through the window when I took this photograph, so it is not brilliant.

The ribbon is very light so there is curtain weights at the bottom and a huge glass button which I managed to buy very cheaply from a charity shop last week. The shop is situated at the back of the village hall and last week there were local elections, the polling station was in the hall itself, so it was easy to go and have a look in the shop. Unlike the High Street charity shops it sells odd things like buttons and craft materials and is a bit like an Aladdin's Cave in that respect. Must remember to go there more often. These glass buttons are very heavy and they must be at least 50 yrs old.

Be sure to watch out for my next post in which there will be a give-away as it marks another milestone.

A Heavenly Host

2011-05-05T15:39:00.002+01:00

Now I am quite fond of angels and when I saw Sharren's easy, but effective pattern I just had to add some beads and this is the result. All angels except one have the ends just left loose, and so depending on what I decide to do with them they can be finished off at a later stage.

Thank you to everyone who commented on my last post it was exciting watching the Royal Wedding, although I didn't think it would be. I was also surprised that so many people around the world became so excited about the event. We are slightly worried though that there will be requests for trees to be put into our churches for wedding ceremonies, fortunately only one church is big enough to take any, but the answer is actually "no you can't!"
The honeymoon for the Queen and Prince Philip and also for Charles and Diana started just a few miles from where I live, but for William and Kate it was a secret location, although they only had a short break apparently the real honeymoon is being taken later on.

The Royal Wedding

2011-04-29T09:00:00.116+01:00

The whole country and millions of people all over the world are glued to their televisions today to watch Prince William and Catherine Middleton get married in Westminster Abbey, London. It is a public holiday in the UK although some people have to work as the whole country cannot just shut down. Therefore it seems only right to mark the Royal event with a bit of tatting, so here is a row of crowns, designed by Jon Yusoff and the link is here. I did make the top middle gold ring slightly longer and it is supposed to represent the Queen's crown with jewels in, hence the beads - well you have to use your imagination. Jon said after she had named it that the crowns looked more like scared faces with hair sticking up! So they could just represent lots of people cheering the happy couple.

Then I put the row of crowns around a box and stuck a piece of glass on top, although it looks a bit like a sweet

The thread is some I have had for ages it is Altin Basak and the gold always seems to break when you work with it, but it is useful for small projects like this.

The hype building up to the Royal Wedding has been everywhere and I photographed these pictures yesterday whilst out shopping, the bunting has sort of hidden the words, but you get the gist.

And no I did not get an invite to the wedding, but in 2007 I was invited to another Abbey church three miles from where I live to attend a service where the Queen was commemorating the signing of a royal charter 400 yrs ago. In fact I was on the end of the aisle, so she walked very close by me. The security was very tight that particular day, we had to park our cars in a special place and then get on a coach and go through stringent checks hours before the service. That was the nearest I ever came to being close to Royalty and will ever likely be.

Prince William and Kate Middleton will take the new titles of Duke and Duchess of Cambridge after their marriage today but it is forecast that the popular press will call her Princess Kate - we wish them every happiness for the future.

Holy Saturday

2011-04-23T22:01:00.000+01:00

Happy Easter

Today is

St. George's Day

And I drank to St. George the patron saint of England and Scouting!

and it is also

Shakespeare's Birthday

I was born in the same town as the famous bard of Avon.

"ON a day--alack the day!--
Love, whose month is ever May,
Spied a blossom passing fair
Playing in the wanton air:"

Bluebells

2011-04-20T15:37:00.002+01:00

At the moment England is bathed in glorious sunshine, temperatures are way above normal for this time of the year. In early May carpets of bluebells are seen but this year they are early because of exceptional weather we have been having and the display is almost over. I took this photograph yesterday of bluebells in a wood.

This is the very first crochet basket that I made working together with two threads a variegated blue size 50 and plain green size 30. I have put a few bluebells inside, well not really bluebells - I copied one of Gina's ideas as I wanted to fill the basket with flowers, still making them in different colours.

Not every bluebell though is native to England this one is a Spanish bluebell and is usually found in gardens. All the flowers on a Spanish Bluebell are on the same side of the stalk and the stalk is thicker than the English Bluebell. Therefore, the effect of gravity does not operate in the same way on the Spanish Bluebell so that it keeps its characteristic straight stalk.

This is the traditional bluebell found mostly in woods.When the flowers are fully formed, the stalk of English Bluebells curves gracefully downwards

When I was young everyone picked wildflowers and I can remember taking basket fulls back home, especially in the Spring, primroses, bluebells and cowslips. However, with so many species dying out this practice is discouraged and they are protected as much as possible.

Old books - Old thread

2011-04-15T21:24:00.000+01:00

These two snowflakes are from the book Tatted Snowflakes by Vida Sunderman, the patterns are easy to follow, unusual and fun to make, if you don't mind tying in ends! This book together with Tatting by Rhoda L. Auld I managed to win on e.bay, at different times and strangely enough was the only person to bid on them. Rhoda's book is full of tatting techniques and is very interesting with some great designs and pictures, it is worth looking out for.

The top snowflake is called Minaret. The bottom one Ruffle-edged Snowflake, but unfortunately it did not lie very well even when pressed.

The question that I have been meaning to ask for months now is this. I have some white Coats thread that has gone yellow, obviously with age and it was probably not stored that well. I have tried, after making something with it, washing the article but cannot get it white, any suggestions? Really need to wash the balls by winding the cotton off them, but how do I do that and is it possible to restore them to pristine white?

Crochet and Tatting

2011-04-10T19:18:00.002+01:00

I bought a book called Romantic Crochet by Rhoda Robertson well over ten years ago and nearly gave it away as it was taking up room on my bookshelf, where tatting books were gradually taking over. However, quite out of the blue I decided that I would make something out of it. This basket caught my eye, it was so quick and easy to make and I had some thick crochet cotton lying about in another part of the house.

Inside are some entwined tatted hearts which are for a wedding.

The instructions require putting the finished piece over a bowl to mould it into shape using sugared water, but I used pva glue to stiffen the basket.

I also wove some pink ribbon through it, not shown on the original pattern.

This was not the very first one that I made, the other one I will show you later, just need to tat some other items to put inside. It is also not crocheted in white cotton or the same thickness so looks quite different.

I have given this one away to a friend who said it would look just right in her bedroom

minus the hearts!

Good Intentions

2011-04-05T08:54:00.003+01:00

I found these words............

"We have a choice every day - to act on yesterday's good intentions or get an early start on tomorrow's regrets"

So bearing that in mind I will start the day off with showing you weeks of good intentions, tomorrow's regrets are sure to follow!

The first is this edging designed by Orsi and called Nelson and it can be found on her pattern page. I really enjoyed working this pattern, thank you Orsi. It is to be sewn on something that will be in my next giveaway, but not for a month or so as I am still working on getting the item ready.

With the wonderful discovery of these ezbobs, no longer should there be a tangled threads. I know my sister Jane keeps mentioning them as being terrific but I can see why. This is the latest packet that I purchased from a supplier in England, a rare find, together with how I used to store threads when I needed to travel with them. So my intention is to tidy up the mess that I have got myself into over the years.

The last intention, which I am prepared to mention as regretfully there are many others, is piece of tatting. I made it over a year ago and was going to build it up the patchwork, but never got around to it. The pattern is Janes. She is at the moment making a beautiful version and has just posted it this morning. I think the pattern is really clever especially the false picots but looking at my first attempt may be I need a pit of practice first.

Pleased to say that my next post will be about items that I have actually completed.

Frogs

2011-03-30T16:15:00.001+01:00

At the moment I have five craft projects on the go and this is causing, apart from a lot of mess, a fair amount of my time tied up with trying to get them completed for certain deadlines, although most are for July. Apart from tatting I am making something out of crochet which I will blog about soon. So I really don't know why I decided to make this frog, but it might just come in useful to compliment one of the projects.

After I had made it I was clearing some stuff in the garden and this little fellow appeared. He immediately made a jump for the undergrowth and then when I tried to take another photograph he jumped again and I dropped the camera as I was so close to him and he frightened me!

The pattern for the Red Eyed Tree frog (not found in English gardens!) is Janes and you can find it here

Shuttles and Cuff Links

2011-03-26T12:31:00.000Z

It is time to show you the latest goings on in the garage! I was impressed at Diane's display of blinged shuttles which you can see here especially as they were displayed so well. My attempt is not so good especially when I noticed, after looking at them in detail that there is a wine stain on the table! Six post shuttles in total, three made out of cedar (they have the transfers on) and three made out of Rosewood. The two photographs show you what is on each side.

The cuff links are coming on well with just a few set backs, which always happens when you try something new in the craft line, particularly when you are working with wood, here are the latest designs.

This pair are made out of pear wood (notice same sounding word but spelt differently) they have glass beads in, and look a bit like cherry cakes!

These are made out of ebony

And finally cocobola rosewood

There are some other designs, all should be in Jane's Etsy shop soon. They are travelling to her tomorrow, not by Royal Mail, but are to be delivered personally by 'Im in the Garage'. Also there will be some apple pop-a-bobbin shuttles in the delivery. Now I have to package them all up and perhaps after then there may be some time for tatting.

Surprises

2011-03-22T09:43:00.001Z

We all love surprises, especially the ones that come in boxes or packets. These were in a bulging package that Sue Anna sent me, she has spoilt my big sister Jane as well and we are both thrilled to bits. Sue Anna heard of the trouble we have had importing goods from the USA because the nasty customs people get to them first! And so she came to our rescue. There are some amazing colours, certainly a reminder that Summer is coming and just look at those HDTs from Yarnplayer. She also included bobbins they are so so useful. Thank you again Sue Anna

When my boys were young and they were given Christmas or Birthday presents they usually were more interested in the boxes that the toys came in rather than the actual toys themselves. My son (the one who lives in England) always gives me surprise gifts in beautiful boxes, and then tells me off for liking the box more than the gift. I of course remind him that he used to be exactly the same! Some years ago he gave me this box filled with very luxurious bath and shower gel. Although this one isn't as pretty as the boxes he now gives me with gifts inside, I kept this because it was so strong.

It was transformed over the weekend to look like this.

The flowers are Abutilon (Chinese Lanterns) and by complete coincidence I noticed that Wendy has posted on her blog a picture of the same flower only it doesn't seem to be published properly at the moment, hopefully it will later on today.

Next time I hope to show you the latest cuff links that 'Im in the garage' has made, don't worry shuttles are also still being produced.

Wearing it today!

2011-03-15T09:06:00.001Z

I managed to finish this necklace last night even though it was started many weeks ago, only because I wanted to wear it today. The buttons are larger than the ones in the original button pattern so there was some adjustment and also larger beads were used on parts of it.

Purple is the liturgical colour of Lent, but it is a colour I wear a lot of so rather like the season in that respect. I have given up chocolate for Lent and taken on writing a series of talks about the Book of Proverbs, and don't really know which is the hardest as they are both very challenging.

But I have resisted this chocolate lollipop given to me by my son as a reward for being good at the dentist after root canal treatment, he has got a very good sense of humour. It is resting on some rhubarb leaves which are really doing well now that we are having a bit of sunshine for a change.

Now that it is warmer trying to encourage 'Im in the garage' to stay in there longer!

Challenge and Commission

2011-03-08T15:32:00.001Z

Recently in our house (and garage) we were challenged by our youngest son to make him a pair of cuff links in either tatting or wood. So there were many plans for these works of art, but 'Im in the Garage got in to said place much quicker than I got into my 'tatting corner' and came up with these beauties.

The back pair are made from cocobola rosewood, and the front pairs are made from ebony. After seeing them, that was it, any thoughts of tatted cuff links were abandoned, ah well sometimes you just cannot compete with wood! Also these are now in full use and I dare say go to bed at night in their cuff link box.

Last year I was asked if I could do some tatting for some one I knew who has a daughter getting married in July. Needless to say I have never met the daughter and hardly know mum either, but they saw some of my tatting and have commissioned me to do some tatted butterflies for the wedding. The bride likes butterflies and her mother is embroidering what you see below on the invitations. I had a bit of a problem matching the colours, but as you can see in the end the match was exact, the pink is Manuela and the turquoise is Lizbeth.

I have made 250 so far and will probably need at least another 150!

I am not sure how popular cuff links are but when more pairs are made they will be put into Jane's shop. I certainly don't think they will be as sort after as tatting shuttles, but you never know!

Dagger Heart

2011-03-01T08:32:00.002Z

Thank you to Vicki for this lovely pattern - just added a few beads!

They work well as pendants, although what you cannot see is that I have not finished off the ends of the ribbons, need to get some findings.

The photographs were taken with them resting on a piece of rough glass found in a garden in Ireland, it was originally from the famous Waterford Glass factory and probably dates from the 1960s. This piece is scratched and a bit worse for wear but it has character and although it did not end up as a beautiful item of exquisite cut glass, it was rescued and given a new home and still admired even in its rough and ready state.

"Beauty is in the eye of the beholder"

Swanning Around!

2011-02-25T19:13:00.000Z

It is often said that in England all the swans belong to the Queen, well this is not strictly true. The crown retains the right to ownership of all unmarked mute swans in open water but the Queen only exercises her right on stretches of the Thames and surrounding tributaries. The birds are marked according to ownership during "Swan Upping" in July. I took this photograph on the same day as the branch was taken off the apple tree (in my last post) you may have noticed the water in the background?

The stretch of water is the river Avon

in Stratford-upon-Avon

This is Mark Myers (aka Tatman) Swan and below it has been given a make over, could not resist having a go at playing with the image, thank you Gina!

Now for Jane's swan which you can find here.

And some famous English matches which have the royal warrant of appointment on them.

After the photo-call the swan turned his back on me and swam off!

The Apple Tree

2011-02-22T16:43:00.001Z

It is always good to be able to show you where some of the wood that is made into shuttles actually comes from. So far wood has been taken from trees that are still growing near two of the churches that I take services in, cedar and yew. I must add that permission to cut branches off these trees has to be granted and is usually done by professionals, we are just lucky enough to know it is happening! The holly was found in my late father's garden and now I am showing you the apple tree also in the same garden. In the photograph above is 'Im in the garage' with his chain saw cutting off a branch. And the other photograph shows Jane hard at work tidying up the little branches that are left so there are just logs to take away. This was a few weeks ago so the wood will not be ready yet.

Just to proof that she doesn't sit and tat all day! Oh and that she has not turned into a 'flying pig".

But notice she is wearing her tatting, perhaps she goes to bed in it?!

Here is a reminder of what an apple post shuttle looks like, the wood was also taken from this tree.

I heard that one of the tatting shuttles posted to America just before Christmas arrived two and a half months later! Yet I posted some shuttles on Monday 14th February to America and they arrived on Friday, unbelievable!

St. Valentine

2011-02-14T18:27:00.000Z

Yesterday in church I took a family service and talked about St. Valentine and "love". The children coloured in these hearts, this one didn't get coloured in but Mr. Bell gave it to me after the service. I also had a big tub of heart sweets for the congregation to eat during my talk, mainly so they had no chance of interrupting!

I have just been reading big sister's blog and her tatting story (please follow her link to 2006). It reminded me, when looking at her passport photograph, that I always envied her long plaited hair. I was never allowed to have my hair long, just had a ribbon sticking out of the top of my head, well that is what it looked like! Although I think my hair was probably too fine as the ribbon spent a lot of time slipping down the side of my face!

The same Grandmother taught me to tat, but a few years after Jane. I do remember sitting in her garden with my tatting shuttle a light blue plastic one, no idea where it went, sadly lost for ever. I agree with Jane, as we all do, that the new techniques have made tatting so much more exciting and versatile and the new shuttles have also made the craft even more interesting - well I had to say that! I am pleased that Jane 'nagged' to learn how to make lace, because if she had not 'nagged' we would have all missed her designs and invaluable help with our tatting via the internet today.

So here is one of Jane's tatted hearts and wishing everyone a Happy St. Valentine's Day, especially as tatting is one of the loves of our lives!!!

Olive Wood

2011-02-08T18:10:00.000Z

I quickly made this dove this afternoon, that is why it is far from perfect!! Actually it is my third attempt at the pattern, last year when Jane designed it I tried to tat it, but it went wrong and then last week another failed attempt, which I took to show her at the weekend, and now a fairly reasonable result. She promises to put the pattern up soon.

The main reason for tatting it was that I wanted to show you one of the packets of wood that Sue Anna sent me and look where it comes from Bethlehem in the Holy Land, and also look at the little dove on the label with an olive branch in his mouth.

And now look at this fantastic pop-a-bobbin shuttle made from the same wood, the grain is beautiful.

More shuttles will be in Jane's shop very soon, just keep a watch out on her blog.

Thank you so much Sue Anna this shuttle is yours (when I get around to posting it) Enjoy.

Flower Power

2011-02-01T15:26:00.000Z

As part of a local Arts Festival fortnight in the Summer, one of our churches is holding an event called "Flowers and Fabrics" which basically means that yes there will be many flowers in the church but also quilts and a few other hand crafted items. As one of the organisers I am obviously eager to make sure that tatting is also on display, but was a bit concerned because there is limited space, it is a very small church and there needed to be something that would be noticeable and yet in keeping. So the idea is to make these button flowers and then attach them to some wide ribbon and hang them from the window sills. It is only an idea at the moment though and in the meantime I need to find some fairly wide ribbon strong enough to hold the flowers so they do not flop about!

One of the major problems, at the moment, is that I keep giving them away because whenever I show a flower button to a friend they just want to own one! The buttons are quite large 5/8 inch wide, so they do stand out very well.

The penguin and shuttle which Crysta won in this competition arrived safely in Canada and here is part of her e.mail to me.

"I have now realized that the first shuttle I found and love (a french ivory post shuttle found at a local consignment shop) is actually quite on the small side. I love the shuttle from you it is larger and holds a lot more thread!! (Less ends to hide is always a good thing!). Thank you again for the opportunity to win one of your shuttles- I have so many things to create now!"

More shuttles are on their way to Jane this weekend I would have shown you a photograph of them but you are probably a bit bored with seeing them by now. However, there is one in particular which is the crème de la crème in this batch and needs a special mention in my next post.

Jane's Robin

2011-01-25T17:07:00.008Z

Just over a year ago I posted this robin but found it rather a fiddle to make, ever up to the challenge Jane designed another one and took it to the Palmetto Tat Days. As I was so happy with the result I immediately started a production line of them, but all of a sudden the eyes became a problem and I stopped making them and so bits of robins languish in a bag ready and waiting for the day when I will have enough confidence and time to finish them. This robin now lives in Canada, he flew over there last year. A little bird also tells me that the pattern will soon be available to everyone.

Whilst shopping today I found an instant way to get a robin in your garden! Made by Kingfisher?!

It is Tuesday, named I believe by Isdihara as "Tatting Tea Tuesday" so in honour of her I took a photo of this bag of tea. Hopefully later on today I will get a chance to sit down and tat with a cup of tea. If you would like to win a tatted cup then go over to Wendy at this blog for a chance to win one.

The Apple of the eye

2011-01-18T16:01:00.000Z

On Sunday night because there were so few in church I took the service of Compline the ancient form of night prayer, in it are these words "Keep me as the apple of the eye, hide me under the shadow of thy wings" taken from Psalm 17, beautiful words as the night closes in around us and we feel protected.
The words also reminded me of the apple that "I'm in the garage" has now begun to make shuttles from, the wood comes from my father's apple trees and so is very special to Jane and myself. Although as the branch was only cut in the Summer it was put into a special solution to hasten the drying process and this is the result. Just look at that grain.

One side of a post shuttle

And the other side

And now the centre

We say that someone is the apple of our eye, meaning that they are special and much loved. The saying originally meant the central aperture of the eye, the pupil, presumably because apples were the most common sphere-shaped object around at that time. However, the Hebrew translation is little man of the eye, meaning the reflection of someone seen in a pupil so although I am no scholar, it would appear that when the King James bible was translated in 1611, exactly 400 years ago it acquired the word apple.

Indeed Shakespeare used the phrase in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, 1600:

Flower of this purple dye,
Hit with Cupid’s archery,
Sink in apple of his eye

If you want to see what a pop-a-bobbin shuttle looks like in apple then go to Martha's blog, these are the only two to have been made so far and I think at the moment they are the "apple of my eye!"

ONE - WON !

2011-01-11T14:40:00.001Z

11 1 11
It is one of those days, a day full of ones! I love it when that happens it makes the day seem so special, and it is a special day for some one as I announce who has won the caption competition!
So therefore I am pleased to say that crysta.westoby gave the winning caption as judged my by son in Singapore and here it is. So no it was obviously not to late Crysta for a winter wonderland!

Congratulations and please can you e.mail me at popabobbinshuttle@gmail.com with your address and then I can send the penguin and shuttle to you. Thank you to all the entries, they were all great and I am really glad it was not me who had to choose the winner.

I managed to get Jane's new handkerchief edging finished although she only put the pattern on her pattern page yesterday. Obviously I am not that quick to complete it in a day, but asked to have a go at it before publication, one of the perks of having a sister who is a great designer! It really is easy and quick to make but so pretty, the thread I used was DMC 80 in bright pink together with a variegated colour. The handkerchief was a bit of a challenge, as it is not very even, but the finished result is so pretty.

Three Gifts

2011-01-06T16:04:00.001Z

Today is the feast of Epiphany when we remember the three kings traveling to see the Christ child and offering gifts of Gold, Frankincense and Myrrh. I have three sets of items to show you, only they were not all gifts, unless you can call some of them gifts to myself!

Sue Anna sent me this selection of HDT, bobbins and beads and 'Im in the garage' some wood, but sorry you can't see that as he has put them away in a safe place. This is most generous and Sue Anna and she is most appreciative of the shuttles that are being made by 'Im in the garage".

The after Christmas sales meant that there were some baubles reduced in price and looking very lonely on the shelves. The colours may be a bit dark but I am sure when they are covered with tatting they will look very different.

The last of the three gifts are some Lizbeth threads, Jane and I ordered a batch of them from the USA, she bought loads more than me!! But sadly the customs people charged us for the privilege.

With all these beautiful threads I now have in my possession, would you believe I dug out an old white Coats ball of thread and covered one of the black baubles? Notice I did not even add a bead. It is a bit like a child in a sweet shop at the moment there are so many lovely things to choose from but I don't know where to start!

Jane will be putting five pop-a-bobbin shuttles into her shop on Saturday, there will be no post ones this time. However, if you want to win one of those, then please enter the caption competition that was in my previous post, there is one more day until it is closed. Thank you to all who have so far entered, they are all very clever.

Penguin Talk!

2011-01-02T16:04:00.000Z

I thought I would begin 2011 with a competition/challenge/giveaway all in one, especially as some of us are experiencing a very bad Winter with lots of snow. This picture was taken in the village where I live and so I made Jane's penguin and superimposed it. What I am asking you to do is to write a caption for this little fellow standing in the snow and you can even name him/her if you wish.

The best caption will win this cute little penguin holding a

holly tatting shuttle

To make it fair I will not be the judge, instead I will get somebody quite independent who doesn't know any of you in blog land! Also you have up until the 8th January to take part, the winner will be announced a few days later as I will have to give my judge suitable time to choose the best caption.

This picture was taken by a local newspaper photographer when I was very small, and the caption read "Orphan of the Storm". My parents had left me whilst they went skating, from what I have been told. Your caption doesn't have to be that short, only please don't make it too long, short and snappy is often the best.

So good luck and to get you into a penguin mood this is a calendar designed by the cartoonist Chris Masters of Eric the penguin fame, and it hangs in the garage to remind 'Im in there' that the temperature is very low at the moment, in fact just right for penguins!

Before I waddle off just thought you might like to know what the strange looking object in my last post is going to be used for, thanks to those who tried to guess, some of the answers were hilarious. Well as you can see it is a cuff link holder, that fooled you!

WISHING YOU ALL A PEACEFUL
AND HAPPY 2011

Garage Talk

2010-12-29T15:19:00.003Z

For those of you who have visited Trayna's blog you will have seen the shuttle she has just purchased and have read all about the particular wood. Trayna lives in the far north whilst we are down in the south of the country. There is very little of this wood so, as and when, a few shuttles will be put into Jane's shop. This one was made for me and the markings obviously differ from shuttle to shuttle. It had a little trip outside to bask in the Winter snow!

As you should all know by now 'Im in the garage' is my other half, whose workshop is in the garage.
Before Christmas my youngest son visited us and asked for something to be made, previous to that I had requested a set of tatting trays. So there was a lot of friendly banter on whose woodworking project should take priority. My request was this set of trays, the idea came whilst visiting a shop and I took a photo of them on the left, it was being sold in the bathroom and bedroom department of the store. It seemed a good idea to put tatting objects on and be able to carry it around the house without loosing things on the way. So my request is what you see on the right, the trays are not so deep, and a little wider, as I didn't want to clutter them up with unnecessary objects. Unfortunately the photograph doesn't do it justice (it is the angle I have taken it) as it appears to have different sized trays whereas they are all the same size, with the bottom one being slightly deeper. It is tall enough to have by a chair and work from. I have only just started using it, that is why it looks tidy. I'm not quite sure what I want to keep on it but hope to mainly use it for current projects instead of having them spread everywhere, whilst the rest of the thread, shuttles beads etc live in another place.

My son also got his wish and this was made for his Christmas present. It is not a game, but for storage of particular items, I wonder if you can guess? The inlay is ebony and holly wood which comes from his late grandfathers' garden. Due to his car and himself being poorly we were unable to see him over Christmas and so what you see below is still wrapped up in Christmas paper. He is off to Mexico tomorrow for a holiday so not sure when it will be in his possession. So much for the priority of it being made!

With all these projects there has not been much time to make shuttles, but a few will be heading towards Janes' home soon. Will keep you up-to-date with their journey.

Decorations

2010-12-24T10:40:00.000Z

As I would imagine with everyone who makes tatted gifts for friends and relations at Christmas, unless they have been very well prepared in advance, time runs out and it means a frantic dive into stash or making something very simple. I went to a friends house this week and she had all the tatted pieces that I had made over the years displayed and I hardly recognized them, rarely do I keep any examples myself. I made these three very quickly as time just ran out!

The churches are decorated for Christmas

At home we have the Christmas Pyramid out

Complete with figures including a cherub band

A German Oompah Band

A Vicar and choir

And an African Nativity Scene

As you can see when the candles are alight they all go round and round!

A Very Happy and

Blessed Christmas to everyone

Ring out those Bells!

2010-12-18T13:11:00.002Z

The person that makes the card inserts for the pop-a-bobbin shuttles is an ex-printer and is an absolute genius when it comes to anything to do with printing. His name is Mr. Bell and of course he is married to Mrs. Bell, so with that in mind I have tatted them some bells!

The pattern is Yarnplayer's joyful bell pattern with beads plus the addition of tiny bells which I purchased awhile back, recently I bought the bigger ones you see in the picture, but not sure what to do with them yet. It is a quick and easy pattern but so effective, thank you Marilee.

Three of our churches have bells but they do not have bell towers. This picture shows some ancient clangers that are on the wall of one of them, they are said to be from the 13th century.

Now the rope that you see bell ringers holding on to as they ring the bell has a coloured piece called a "sally". This Sally used to be a bell ringer at a very famous church and below is a very old photograph to proof it.

Can you spot which one is me?

This time next week the bells will be ringing out to celebrate Christmas.

Shuttles and Christmas Trees

2010-12-13T19:34:00.001Z

Just to let you know that Jane is going to be selling a variety of shuttles in her Etsy shop tomorrow, the holly ones, which were on my previous blog and these larger shuttles, one with a hook and the other without a hook. As you can see they are all dressed up for Christmas! I'm in the garage has been very busy and although the garage is so very cold, he is planning on making more shuttles in the next few weeks. But is anyone interested? Not sure if there is a demand for wooden shuttles at the moment.

Here are some of Jane's Christmas Tree ear rings which I started years ago and have recently found in a box. They are all at various stages of construction, but as you can see the two that are finished are not even identical! Really must either finish them off, or probably best if I abandon them all together as I'm not sure if I have the thread anymore. Strange though I did take one completed pair to a Christmas Fayre recently and sold them before the event had even opened! Also not particularly pleased with the quality of the tatting, the deciding factor - start again!

Hollywood Close

2010-12-08T14:31:00.001Z

"I'm in the garage" - a very very cold garage, has spent the last few weeks making these post shuttles. Sadly though it doesn't look like they will make Christmas for those of you who live over the pond.

You may have spotted these shuttles in my new profile picture. The picture was taken before the snow disappeared. In fact the snow had really turned to ice and they kept sliding like little toboggans! The ones with two sprigs of holly on them are a little larger, 3 inches long as opposed to 2 1/2 inches.

The larger ones do not appear so shiny because they have only just had their sprigs of holly put on them, the finished ones will look smoother and shinier. This street name is a short walk from where I live and by coincidence a person I know lives there who tats!

Not the famous Hollywood in the USA!

All these post shuttles and some pop-a-bobbin shuttles will be on their way to Jane over the weekend, not by mail - because if you have been following her blog you will know that the Royal Mail is not very reliable at the moment. Therefore it will not be until next week before she will get them into her Etsy Shop.

This particular holly wood came from our late father's garden so before all of it goes Jane and I must have a shuttle or two made from the wood.

Patterns

2010-12-04T10:39:00.001Z

One of the delights of having a blog is being able to share patterns with others, and thank you to all who do post such wonderful patterns, there are so many talented people who are generous in this respect. I have only put very few on my blog over the past year and have never seen any of them actually tatted by someone else. This could be because my instructions are difficult to understand, which rather scares me, I wouldn't want that to happen. Or of course no one has got around to making them yet, which is very understandable as there are so many other much better patterns out there to choose from.

Snow and ice slowed things up here in England over the past two days, which meant that as I couldn't get the car out so the funeral director had to pick me up and take me to the crematorium to conduct a funeral service yesterday. I didn't want to risk having an accident and not getting there on time, or not at all. So when I arrived home I was able to spend a fruitful half hour or so looking at the blogs and went to Gina's blog and found this snowflake, and then popped across to Spulni-Blog

I was so impressed with the design and then when Gina added beads, well I decided to add more, especially since receiving 20 packets in the post! Also I changed it very slightly.
But is that right should we do this to people's designs? It feels like we are being critical, or it could be classed as imagination?

The blue snowflake was my first attempt but it was a bit squashed in the middle.
Thank you to Orsi and Gina.

Three Button Necklaces

2010-12-01T08:22:00.000Z

Thanks to Jane's help I have at last written this pattern out.

Just can't give this one away, the thread is beautiful and was given to me by Sue Anna.

The yellow one has Swaroyski beads in it .

Abbreviations: R ring

Ch chain

Cl close

p picot

BP long bead picot

p very small picot

R split ring

RW reverse work

+ join

B bead

Cl close

Btn button

DNRW do not reverse work

SLT Shoe lace trick

T & C tie and cut

Materials required: size 20 thread, 14 buttons, seed beads, 14 larger beads, necklace findings

Wind 2 shuttles with thread, adding 14 beads to shuttle 1, the rest of the beads are added as the necklace is worked

Bottom half of necklace

Sh 1 attach to finding with 1 ds take sh 2 and do the same

SR1: 5 – 1 / 5 – 1 Cl

SR2: 1 + SR1 4 – 1 / 1 + SR1 4 - 1 Cl

SR3: 1 + SR2 4 – 1 / 1 + SR 2 4 - 1 Cl

SR4: 1 + SR3 5 / 1 + SR3 5 Cl (Fig 1)

Move B on shuttle 1 along to last SR before starting

R1: 3 vsp 3 + 1^st btn hole 6 Cl rw

Ch: 6 LBP (5B) 3 rw

R2:* 6 + 2^nd btn 6 Cl rw

Ch: 3 + LBP on last chain, 3 LBP (7B) 1 + LBP 3, LBP (5B) 3 rw

R3: 6 + 2^nd btn hole 6 cl rw

Ch: 3 + LBP on last chain, 3 LBP (3B) 3 rw

R4: 6 + 3rd btn hole 3 vsp 3 cl move bead from shuttle 1 DNRW

R5: 3 vsp 3 + next button 6 cl rw

Ch: 3 + LBP on last chain, 3 LBP (5) 3 rw (Fig 2)

REPEAT FROM R2* 13 more times until R3

Ch: 3 + LBP on last chain, 6 rw

R 4: 6 + 3^rd btn hole 3 vsp 3 cl move bead from shuttle 1DNRW

SR5: 4 – 1 / 4 – 1 Cl

SR6: 1 + SR5 4 – 1 / 1 + SR5 4 – 1 Cl

SR7: 1 + SR6 4 – 1 / 1 + SR6 4 – 1 Cl

SR8: 1 + SR6 5 attach finding / 1 + SR 6 5 cl T & C

Top half of necklace (when necklace is finished each button hole is joined into twice

R1: 6 + btn hole with last SR attached to it 4 + vsp 6 Cl SLT rw

Ch: 4 *

R2: 4 + 4^th btn hole 4 (last btn hole remaining without a join) Cl rw

Ch: 4 rw

R3: 4 + 4^th btn hole 4 Cl rw

Ch: 4 rw

R4: 6 + next btn hole 4 + vsp on SR between btns 6 Cl rw

Ch: 6 rw

R5: 6 + vsp on next SR between btn 4 + btn hole 6 Cl rw (Fig 3)

REPEAT FROM Ch 4 *.to R4 then 6 + into final btn hole 4 + vsp on last SR 6 CL T & C.

Saints and a Prince

2010-11-25T09:44:00.005Z

Unless you have been away on a desert island you cannot fail to have heard the news of the Royal engagement here in Britain. This week the date of the wedding between Prince William and Kate Middleton was announced.

St Catherine of Siena, the saint whose feast day falls on April 29 has been chosen as the day the couple will marry next year in Westminster Abbey. St. Catherine was the daughter of an Italian cloth dyer and she died in 1380 and is known for her spiritual writings. However, today is the feast day of St Catherine of Alexandria and she is know as the patron saint of lacemakers. Here is the link to my post last year giving a few more details of how she has been adopted as the patron saint of Tatters!

This is the nearest I have to a Catherine Wheel, but the stars remind us of the universe.

This is the nearest I could find to a saint! The picture was taken in an ancient, and now redundant church, near where I live. There is no indication of when it was put there, or who it is supposed to represent, it does look quite mysterious!

The view at the side of the church.

Jane has kindly made some drawings for the button necklace which I have designed, it will be in my next post together with the instructions.

Beaded Purse

2010-11-19T16:18:00.002Z

Jane mentioned yesterday that I was making one of her beaded purses, so here it is, the completed item.

As she says it is an easy pattern but takes quite a long time to complete mainly because you have to keep loading beads onto the shuttles, 175 beads on each one. The beads make the purse very solid and weighty and for this one I have used orange beads but not all the same shade. The little figure sitting beside the purse was originally a necklace and it was purchased in Macau when I was there over 30 yrs ago. Some of the beads are from the string that was attached to it. The bead in the middle of the purse is orange but has got glitter on it and because of that doesn't look like it blends in, but it does, it is just the photograph has changed it. I fully intend to wear this purse, the cord is made out of split rings, unfortunately my attempts at making the double double stitch failed, need to practice the technique first.

The purse reminded me very much of the flapper dresses of the 1920's the way the beads form a pattern of dangling fringes!

Now further developments on my last post, I went to a garden centre where they are now giving lessons on decoupage and so I was able to pick up this special glue and brush, so now it seems I have the right equipment.

I can't wait to start the decoration on the shuttles, but as yet they haven't even been cut out!

Holly Shuttles for Christmas?

2010-11-16T16:41:00.001Z

For those of you who remember this wood I am happy to inform you that the holly is now ready to be used for shuttles and strips (see below) are in the process of being made into post shuttles. The wood had been seasoning for many years and so did not take too long to dry out. But of course for these shuttles to be a success a lot depends on the next stage, when the wood has to be steam bent and moulded, it could split, or it simply will not bend that well.

As you can see holly is a very pale wood, almost white, ever since we thought of making shuttles with the wood we had planned on having sprigs of holly on them. Since that time we have searched high and low for transfers. Many months ago Decoromana made a comment on this blog suggesting decoupage and using napkins. Today I went in search of them, after all this is the right time of year! A nearby town proofed to be hopeless and walking in and out of countless shops looking for them I almost gave up hope. However, I then went to a local supermarket and of course there they were looking at me from the shelf and just crying out to be purchased! Also there are so many sprigs on each napkin, isn't that great?

See they fit onto the wood perfectly, okay the cutting out isn't too good but I have only just rushed home with them and wanted to try them out for size. Now please you decoupage experts out there, have you got any advice i.e. what glue to use etc. "I'm in the garage" is expert at varnishing but how many coats?

As I said these may or may not be ready for Christmas a lot depends on how well the holly copes with the next stage of the process, not to mention the attempts at decoupage. Will keep you informed.

The one that got away!

2010-11-09T15:07:00.000Z

Jane has already informed the "shuttle hungry" crowd in "tat land" that some more pop-a-bobbins will be in her Etsy shop tomorrow. However, this is "the one that got away" It had fallen off the arm of my chair when I was testing them, and had gone down the side. Unfortunately it was found when all the others were packed and on their way to Jane. It is a sycamore shuttle and will be put in the next batch, so please don't ask for it now. The rose it is sitting next to is the last rose of the season and has just been showered with rain.

The rod that was supposed to be delivered has still not arrived, although it has been paid for, "I'm in the garage" is chasing the supplier up, so I can report that not all the shuttles that were shown in my last post were completed.

Two of Jane's flurrries, the colours are just right for Christmas!

Production Hold-Up

2010-11-03T17:29:00.000Z

"I'm in the Garage" has just started production again of the pop-a-bobbin shuttle. It has been a really stressful time for us since June and our lives are now just beginning to become a bit more settled. We have spent many weekends and weekdays visiting our families, driving over 2 hours to where they live with very little time to catch up on things in our own home! Over the months we have seen two homes be cleared of all the things inside them and life has just drastically changed for us both. When we are lucky enough to be in our own home we have had to make numerous telephones conversations to people trying to sort out so many issues involved with caring for the elderly. Even a conversation today over the phone to someone who was booking her wedding brought a little more information. I have to ask the couples what their occupation is to put down on a form and I found out she was a social worker, she is to date the most helpful social worker I have ever talked to, unfortunately she lives in another part of the country.

These are the latest shuttles enjoying some Autumn sunshine, and "I'm in the garage" fully intended to complete them for this coming weekend, but sadly the supplier for the all important middle bit and the tool has not delivered.

Here is a view of the wood in the garage, all ready and waiting!

And here is some wood in its raw state!

I will let you know when this batch is completed, just hope that the postman delivers the rods tomorrow. Actually it is funny if I'm not in he puts this long parcel through the letter box and it looks so odd sitting half way in and half way out, still at least it will not have to be re-delivered.

Black is Black

2010-10-26T17:54:00.000+01:00

Strange when I was thinking about a title for this post the song "Black is Black" kept popping into my head, reminds me of my teenage years perhaps? If you haven't heard it here is the link

When Jane showed me a sneak preview of her new brooch using the winsome earring pattern I told her that I had made quite a few black earrings and she suggested that I posted them, so here they are. I wear a lot of black as it suits me, but these earrings are going to be, hopefully, sold at a Christmas Market to be held at our church next month. I have asked Jane's permission. They are in preparation for the Christmas parties many ladies will attend, a finishing touch to their party frock!

The black and yellow ones look really good too, they are yellow beads in the middle but the photograph has taken the colour out of them.

I have also made many others pairs in different colours. At first I wasn't too happy about the ends to these earrings and I know that it is possible to add a few more beads and weave the threads in, thus hiding them. However, now I really like seeing them as it shows that the earrings are made with thread and tatted, it adds to their authenticity.

Promises, Promises

2010-10-20T15:13:00.000+01:00

When ever I promise to do something (and remember that I have actually promised), I try my hardest to keep that promise. In August I said I would write the pattern down for this necklace and post it on my blog. Well I haven't forgotten and it is half written but events over the last few months have interfered with so many of my plans including this one. The project has been put away for a day when I can really sit down and concentrate on something for longer than a couple of hours!

The shops are starting to show signs of Christmas and as the weeks go by, more and more shelves are being given over to cards, decorations and all the paraphernalia that goes with the season. To get myself into the mood for writing out patterns again, I picked up another pattern I promised to write down last year - oh dear failed again!!! Here is the link showing the gold bauble covered in black thread, can you believe it was December 2009?!

The top bauble is a thread that Sue Anna sent me called Brilliant Sunset and is size 50, a size that I don't usually use but works perfectly with this pattern. The two red ones are using Altun Basak, the thread adds a bit of glitter to the baubles. Now it is a case of walking past the boxes of baubles on the shelves, I keep telling myself that I have enough!

A Blast from the Past

2010-10-12T17:58:00.001+01:00

Here are two items of tatting that were not made by me, this beautifully coloured one was made by Jane, many, many years ago. It was a present and came with some drink mats to match. I wonder if she remembers making it?! At the time I knew how to tat but my skills were very basic and working in different colours and on such a large item seemed beyond my ability. Sadly this piece was stuffed in a bag and moved around from one country to another and so has become a little stained.

This doily was made by my Grandmother the person that taught Jane and I to tat. Again it is not in marvelous condition but I could not part with either of these little gems. I have also just noticed that the scan is not perfect - it has curled over on the left hand side!

Hopefully soon I will be able to find time to tat, but this week is going to be incredibly busy moving my father-in-law and we don't live in the area either. Still help is at hand from Jane!

Harvest Festivals

2010-10-05T16:18:00.000+01:00

It has been busy over the last month with all four churches celebrating Harvest. The flower arrangers have had a creative time decorating the buildings, I could post so many lovely pictures but you would all get so bored with them!

The book mark is one that I made years ago and it used to live in a plastic sleeve, no idea where the pattern came from and I never really liked the colours until this year but they do go rather well with the season.

This loaf of bread was transported to each church in turn as they celebrated harvest. As you can see it is shaped like a sheaf of wheat and on the bottom there is a piece of bread that is supposed to represent a mouse, although sometimes the cooking throws it out of shape. Also fortunately a real church mouse didn't have a nibble at it!

This is one of the beautiful arrangements sitting in a church window, can you see the apples poking out of the bottom?

Sadly no shuttles are being made at the moment as we are busy with family commitments which are taking all our spare time up.

Season of mist and mellow fruitfulness

2010-09-27T17:09:00.001+01:00

We are falling into Autumn in England the leaves on the trees are changing into beautiful colours, there are misty mornings and the air has a chill in it.

These leaves are from a pattern that Jane designed and I have been wanting to make them ever since she showed them to me last year. Then Sue Anna so very kindly sent me some samples of the new Lizbeth threads and that was it I knew exactly what I had to use them for. Two are tatted with Autumn Spice and the other Leafy Greens.

Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness,
Close bosom-friend of the maturing sun;
Conspiring with him how to load and bless
With fruit the vines that round the thatch-eves run;
To bend with apples the moss’d cottage-trees,
And fill all fruit with ripeness to the core;
To swell the gourd, and plump the hazel shells
With a sweet kernel; to set budding more,
And still more, later flowers for the bees,
Until they think warm days will never cease,
For Summer has o’er-brimm’d their clammy cells.

From John Keats' poem, To Autumn 1820

These gourds were outside a village flower shop and they looked so beautiful so I decided to photograph them, which was a bit of a cheek as my intention was not to buy any, well not at the price they were charging!

Here is part of the menu showing what we had to eat at our harvest supper on Saturday evening. I made all these soups catering for 38 people and my hands were so sore after chopping up all the vegetables especially the butternut squash which like all gourds has a very hard skin.

You will notice that the member of our congregation who typed and printed this menu has a very good sense of humour!

Old and New

2010-09-22T16:42:00.003+01:00

There has been a bit of a change in my life recently, oh not dramatic, just that I am now the proud owner of an Apple Mac mini, not a Mini Mac or it sounds like a hamburger! I was getting on fine with it until yesterday then suddenly when moving the mouse over some of the icons in the dock they went "puff" and disappeared, of course I must have done something wrong to make them do that. My son set up the computer and has gone back to Singapore and unfortunately says he is out now, the time zone is a bit of a problem. Jane has tried to help via e.mail but now fear has set in and I'm reluctant to press anything else!

So fiddling with a new computer and a new camera has not given me much time to do any tatting but I did manage to make one of Jane's flurry snowflakes. Yes a new camera as well, so the quality of the photographs that I post on this blog should now improve.

And the "old" well these are some beads that I purchased in the last few weeks, the ones on the far right are from e.bay and were sold as broken, they are glass and look "vintage". The others beads are mainly plastic, some I got from the tip when I was with Jane and the others from my local tip, it was a surprise to see them as usually there isn't much to purchase when visiting the one in my area. They are to be used in tatting, well at least that is my aim!

Apples and Pears

2010-09-13T19:19:00.003+01:00

"I'm in the garage" has been sourcing wood again and fortunately, although perhaps unfortunately for our friends, a pear tree decided to split and a huge branch came down on their garden laden with unripened pears. The result was that "you know who" jumped into his van with chain saw in the back and had a really good Saturday afternoon salvaging some lovely pear wood.

The picture shows some of the results of his hard work, the pear wood is obviously the pieces with the said fruit on top and the same goes for the apple wood, which has come from one of the trees in my late father's garden. "I'm in the garage" has been after these English woods for a long time and is so delighted that he now has a good stock of them. Eventually he will be able to make plenty of shuttles from these pieces.

"Apples and Pears" is a well known Cockney Rhyming Slang for "Stairs". A Cockney is someone who was born in London within the sound of the "Bow Bells" (St Mary-le-Bow Church in Cheapside). The origins of Cockney Rhyming Slang are uncertain although it is frequently suggested that it began its life as the tongue of the London street trader, the costermongers, perhaps in an attempt to conceal their often illicit practices from the public or more importantly any illegal activities from the recently established police force, known as the "Peelers".

Here are a few more examples of Cockney Rhyming Slang :
Adam and Eve = Believe
Dog and Bone = Phone
Daisy Roots = Boots
Brown Bread = Dead
There are plenty more, some probably not a good idea to publish on this blog! But just imagine listening to a sentence with these words in and trying to understand what the person is on about.

Now more shuttle news - Jane is going to be putting more shuttles in her shop later on this week, would you Adam and Eve it! Details will be published in her blog tomorrow, this next batch will include the large post shuttles with hooks on. So go and have a butchers!

A Picture

2010-09-06T09:47:00.002+01:00

This picture was painted by the same person who created this one. She lives in Ireland and last year I took a few tatting pieces over for her to make another picture. As you can see there are Martha's sheep and Jane's wheel barrow amongst other small flowers and butterflies. Sadly I was unable to collect the picture myself and enjoy a holiday, it was brought back for me by a friend.

When my sister Jane first forced me to start this blog, late one night, it was intriguing to see my first follower, which of course was big sister! Then very quickly the numbers grew, which enabled me to find out about other interesting blogs, and so the story continues! Yesterday however, after arriving back from seeing big sister, I noticed the followers had gone up to 100, a magic number and in honour of this I would like to send a small present to the 100th person. It was lovely to see Sharren's smiling face, so if you are reading this Sharren please can you comment with your e.mail. Of course would really like to thank all the many loyal followers who dip in and out of this blog from time to time you are all valued, many I seem to know quite well without even having the pleasure of meeting you!