Butterfly and Bauble

I don't know how many of you have been over to Jane's blog today, but she has posted her new butterfly bookmark pattern. She showed it to me the other weekend and it looked so beautiful that I just had to have a go. Well we have both been absolutely hooked on making them. The ones you can see below have all flown away to different parts of the world, as I've put them in with Christmas Cards.
It is a very clever pattern and one of the reasons I like it so much is that I've manged to use up some beads where the colours have got all mixed up due to spillages.
Being Jane's sister means that I get to know tatting projects (although not all) before you do!

Which is one of the reasons why I have not had enough time finalise the bauble pattern yet! But promise it will be the next post.

St. Nicholas - Santa Claus

Today is the feast of St. Nicholas, although this bearded gentleman also goes by the name of Santa Claus or Father Christmas and is known for his red fur trimmed cloak. Yesterday we were treated to a Mummers Play in one of the churches. The Father Christmas you see in the picture is dressed in green, said to be a sign of the returning spring and he is known as Old Father Christmas, still quite a jolly fellow! His companions were St. George, a Turkish Knight, The Doctor and Johnny Jack. The origins of these English plays go back in the mists of time but are said to be pagan. However, I don’t think there is any harm in seeing them being performed in church .
After the performance one of the Mummers read out an interesting fact that had been sent to them (via the Internet). Apparently there is a painting in water colour in existence that shows Mummers performing in the late 19th century in the very village where this church is. The picture was painted by the son of a former famous village resident, so its good to see traditions revived especially on a dark, rainy cold December afternoon.

St. Nicholas was Christian Bishop of Myra, a seaside town in what is now Western Turkey in the early fourth century A.D. There are many legends about this bishop which have been passed down over the centuries and have probably been embellished and expanded far beyond the actual facts, though they may contain some elements of truth. St. Nicholas was very kind to children and has become their Patron Saint.
When living in Germany I well remember this day especially seeing a Father Christmas on the street giving sweets to the children. St. Nicholas is well respected, in many European countries.

This is another picture of a Christmas bauble, this time in a Father Christmas suit! I am a little nearer to posting the pattern only the last few days have been very busy so I’m struggling to get it written down in a clear and concise manner.

Christmas Baubles

I tatted around these baubles earlier this year, in fact it was January when I thought of the design and a couple of weeks ago I picked it up again to make a few more. If anyone is interested in the pattern I've just about managed to write it down, but sorry can't do drawings. Its basically tatted in two pieces.

For the blue on gold I used DMC 30 and the combination of these colours reminds me of Victorian jewelery

The silver one is tatted with Altin Basak cotton 50, not an easy cotton to work with but quite effective when used in a decorative way.

These baubles have a matt finish, I will show you some shinny ones next time, photographed at a different angle so you can see more detail.

I've actually stopped making them because Jane has just created another fabulous design and I have sort of got hooked on it! Anyway I'm sure she will show you soon.

The Shuttle Sisters

Shuttle Sisters!

Here we are together, yes I'm on the left and big sister is on the right, she always looks so scared of cameras doesn't she? This weekend I went to see Jane and took the shuttles that my husband had made for a "tat test". Unfortunately there are a few design problems, so its not exactly back to the "drawing board", but a little disappointing after all his hard work. Still he is undeterred and is now going to make some modifications. I can report that there is going to be a wonderful gadget to go with the shuttles, that will be unique, and with more suggestions regarding its design from Jane it looks like being a very useful tool. Now you are all wondering what I'm talking about. I'm not sure when I can show you some more pictures of the shuttles, its a case of how often I can shut my husband in the garage!

Hallowversary Prize!

I received an e.mail from my son yesterday, informing me that the parcel from Aileen "Wicked Tats" had arrived and he has kindly taken a photograph of the contents. These were from her Halloween Giveaway, the first time I had ever won a prize from a blog giveaway and it will probably be the last! Thank you Aileen I look forward to seeing them soon. My son lives in Singapore and so will forward the goodies with our Christmas Presents. Actually he is going to visit Hong Kong in a few days time so I might send him to do some shopping there. He spent the first two years of his life in Hong Kong so although he will not remember the place he has promised to take photographs so we can see how it has changed over the years.

Today is St. Andrews Day - he is the patron saint of fishermen and there is an obvious connection to tatting, because the German word for tatting is Schiffchenarbeit which translated is "the work of the little boat". St. Andrew is of course the Patron Saint of Scotland so I wish them a Happy St. Andrews Day.

St. Catherine's Eve

Tomorrow is St. Catherine's Day, she is the patron saint of lacemakers and as we tatters don't have our own patron saint, she is perhaps the one we should adopt, and so of course she gets a special mention in Tat's Heaven!

For lacemakers today was known as "Cutting Off Day" when they cut off and sold the lace they had made. Originally lacemakers would produce only one pattern, with which they had become conversant. This would have been worked in one continuous piece, the lace dealer would take the lace from each pillow and pay according to the length produced.

There were quite a few traditions in areas where lace used to be made. In the evening a lighted candle was placed on the floor and each girl would jump over it - if she extinguished the flame, then ill-luck would follow her for the rest of the year. The belief that flame could purify one's life and that by passing through fire then luck could be changed is an ancient one.

Kit be nimble, Kit be quick

Kit jump over the candlestick.

(lacemaker's rhyme)

Lacemakers also made "Cattern cakes" these originated in Tudor times by the Nottinghamshire lace makers who made them as part of the celebration of their patron saint day. A lightly spiced cake with a hint of aniseed. Their consistency is similar to rock cakes

St. Catherine herself lived in the 4th century she was reputed to be beautiful and intelligent and of noble birth. However, she was persecuted for her Christianity and was tortured by being put on a spiked wheel and turned, but it broke so she was beheaded. The firework "Catherine Wheel" is named after her - a representation of it is shown above. I found the pattern in a old ROT book but of course changed it a little and added some beads to make it look as if it was on fire!

Work in Progress

Here in this part of "Tat Land" there is a lot of work in progress, some of it is on this tray. Now there is a story behind this tray, about three weeks ago someone was clearing out a cupboard at church and found this dear little tray, which measures 10 1/2" x 7", and as it was not wanted I claimed it straight away. It has now become a "Tatting Tray." I put a bead mat on it so the beads don't runaway and it is ideal. Actually seeing what is on the tray reminds me of "Kim's Game" - the rules are you put some items on a tray and ask the participants of the game to turn away and then you remove a few items, when they see the tray again they have to guess what items are missing. Trouble is if the game was played on a blog you would all cheat wouldn't you?!
On this tray you can see a bead container, my wooden needle holder, a Christmas bauble just about to be finished, shuttles, wedding hearts, earrings and another piece of tatting to cover a bauble.
This is Wicked Tats tray, which she will obviously never loose as it is a lovely bright colour!


Now lets take a quick peek at what the Shuttle Maker is doing.....................

I took this photograph this afternoon, pinched them from the garage, sorry its all I could smuggle out! Don't you think the ebony shuttles are going to be gorgeous?

Shuttle Making News

The shuttle making process is a little slow, due to a few set backs. My resident shuttle maker, aka husband, started with making the traditional shuttle, but has found that because the middle section which takes the thread, is so small, it is a bit awkward to get exact, he says he needs another tool, but that is always the case when starting new projects! Also he had to steam the wood and clamp it in some moulds so it curves and that took a time to work out and set in motion, especially making sure that when they come into the warmer temperature of a house they do not loose their shape. The first one did not meet at both ends when assembled but the second one is much better (top right) and the picture shows another one (far right) just about to be assembled. He now thinks he has solved all problems concerning this model.

The next attempt was to make a shuttle that would take a plastic bobbin, and that project is progressing well. The picture shows the blanks that he is cutting these from (far left) and one nearly completed (middle) it now needs some fine sanding, but we are awaiting another piece of equipment so that he can get into the crevasses, yes and it has something to do with teeth!

The shuttle with the bobbin containing red cotton is the first prototype, and includes a hook, which he fashioned from a clock pin as we could not find very small hooks anywhere, well not without mutilating a decent looking full length crochet hook! He made a fantastic job with this hook using a watch maker’s lathe, and there are no rough edges on it. Another purchase that he has just made is some stainless steel wire with which he hopes to fashion some more hooks from. Although I have to say this particular shuttle is a little small and occasionally slips from the fingers as there isn’t enough grip, but it is usable. A future plan is to make a facility to wind a bobbin on the end, just as the aero shuttles have.

So far the woods he is using are walnut and cherry with the small one being oak (there is a story attached to this, which I will tell you another time)

Not sure how well the shuttles will eventually turn out, but hopefully a few will be completed before the end of the month so that when we visit family we can take some with us. That means big sister Jane, Queen Jane, Janie-Lou - you are going to be the “Shuttle Tester”. No pressure!