More earrings!

 

I prefer to share my patterns and teach people to tat. But, I do gift earrings. Last week a small box arrived with earrings tatted by a good friend. I like them!! Thank you!! There were also a few strands of beads in colors I wouldn’t normally gravitate to. More on them later. For now, I’ll enjoy wearing my new earrings!!

Earring collection

 This is a much happier post than my last rant. I was just grumpy. Bad excuse, I know, but some days are like that! Today I post about my favorite way to say, “I tat lace.” This is inspired by this blog. Thank you for reminding me of the beauty in my world!

This is a partial collection of the earrings I have tatted and wear constantly. I do own earrings that are not tatted lace. Honest. I just don’t wear them as often. Being a smallish person, I gravitate to delicate not bold, pastel not bright, tailored not boxy. You get the drift. Tatted lace earrings are just my style!

The trio on the left side are my pattern I teach frequently. I use quilt thread a lot for these. Sometimes I use size 80 and bead size is typically size 15. I enjoy adding a bead or two. The bead cap that provides the base to tat into is not readily available anymore. A local jewelry supply place came to the rescue and sourced quite a few for me. My hope is that someone will come up with a bead cap that I can use as a replacement when that supply runs out.

And yet again

 Ok. Today I rant…..again. No, I’ll try not to sound grumpy. It’s just that today, I repeat the same concept and theory that seems to just not sink in with some people. Perhaps it’s because the concept involves how people used to create many, many years ago. That and a bit of STEAM………

(skip the next paragraph if you’re not up for rant.)

A very human trait to create has led to many innovations. When those dreaming up new ways to do things are informed of history, it’s usually quite a successful venture. Innovation is what makes the culture I grew up in influential. My peers and I were expected to try out new ideas, test each other’s ideas, and adopt what works well. That’s the way I do the thing. So, what concept am I having difficulty with? Using modern tools to accomplish ancient tasks. Yeah. That again. In my judgement, just because a tool is new doesn’t make it better AND just because we haven’t learned how something was accomplished before doesn’t make our way better. Sometimes we do find better ways to do things with newer techniques. Sometimes organic creativity is more authentic than historical practices. But, use your brain people, judge and think with your whole experience and knowledge!

(skep the next paragraph if you're not into STEAM.)

I’m always trying to work the Arts into Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math subjects. The Arts encourages dreaming, innovating, creating in a way that makes STEM useful and influential. History is a lot more fun when you can work in the Arts. Humans seem more human. Evil can be balanced with beauty. You get the drift.

So, tatting……

I’m working on a pattern concept that promises to express music in thread. I’m using newer tools while completing historic lace. Oh and modern style thread. It’s working well. It’ll take a few months to work through the possibilities. But, I’ll hear, “Why?” many, many more times. 

Because STEAM…history…lace…beauty…and because I can.

On to Round 2

 

Now that I’ve decided what my changes will be, and got the beads in the correct (I hope) order for the new tune, I’m anxious to see how it works out. It took me an extra day to make enough progress for the picture. Below is a detail. You can see better that I decided to use both blue and green beads in this round. The black beads show up better in real life. But, needs must!

The tune is changing

 I’m still working at adding beads to Antiks. It’s turning out well, but no pictures yet. Perhaps Thursday. In the meantime, I’ll share some thoughts from past conversations elsewhere:

In music, there is much opportunity for embellishing a simple tune. A famous example is the Twinkle variations. Mozart wrote down his embellishments for us to imitate. Here’s an excellent video posted by Rousseau.

How can we apply these design concepts to tatting? I’m glad you asked!

In the video, you can clearly see how many keys are being played at a time by the white bars that appear above the keyboard. The first statement of the theme is just 2 notes at a time. Much like a simple ring and chain pattern worked in plain thread. (Here when teaching I show a plain flower or butterfly with no picots.) The next statement of the theme has more notes added in the top part. Much like adding decorative picots. Keep track in the following statements and you can detect more than 2 notes (chords) and the melody switching to the left hand. I like to think adding beads relates to adding chords. Color can also be used to express these compositional techniques.

So, that’s how I try to work in beads in a tatting pattern. Yes, I know there will be some designers who don’t support embellishing at will. There are composers who can’t stand hearing their music played any way except how they imagined it. I try to keep my music and tatting embellishing within good taste so that I do not offend or disappoint designers and composers.

Incidentally, if you wish to embellish any of my patterns, please do! Share a picture of your creation. I love seeing how tatters create!!

Beware the change in tune

 My adventure in Antiks with blue was going well. Really well. I liked how the blue was working up and the black beads fit just as I imagined they would. Then I changed the tune. I decided to change thread to a green color a bit earlier in the pattern than I planned to originally.

Now, changing the tune happens all the time in music. Composers change keys, performers improvise, and magic happens. Changing thread color shouldn’t cause that much discordance, surely!

I’m not sure yet……

I keep getting confused loading beads with the new thread color combination. And I can’t go back to my original idea without a couple of hours of puzzling and loading beads back onto thread that is fraying.

Beware the change in tune!

Now appearing in Blue Metallic

 

This is the first few rounds of Antiks in metallic. The bead mounted in the central ring is a faceted black bead. The thread is Liz Metallic color 391. The black rondelle beads are size 11. I have one more round to tat, then I plan to change colors.

Adding a bead to a picot that will be joined to future rings

 I don’t typically try to create step by step documents with photos. I see just how bad a photographer I am. But, a student requested this series, so I try. The pattern is a simple mignonette of two rows of rings. I’ve added beads between rings, on the bare thread between rows, and on the outer picot.

Here is the ring worked to the point of the picot that will create a bead join with the next ring.

R: 3 + (bead join with previous ring) 3 – (bead moved up to create picot) 3 – (picot will create bead join with the next ring) 3 .

Here is the bead on the beading needle threaded with a length of blue Sliver thread.

I brought the needle around the working thread of the ring and back through the bead to create a loop.

Here is that blue loop around the red thread that would be around my left hand.

Here the red working thread is drawn through the bead by pulling the blue thread.

I’ve replace the loop of blue thread with a safety pin.

Now I’m ready to tat the final 3 DS of the ring.

Here the final DS are tatted with the ring ready to close.

The ring is closed and I’m ready to RW and tat the next ring on the opposite row.

To see the finished pattern, take a look here.

Now, you know…….

New Year

 I wish everyone a New Year!

 I realize this blog is not cutting edge,

I create using techniques from long, long ago…..

I realize I’m not producing “new” “stuff” and “things” with a great deal of Wow Factor,

I have listened to my own voice……

I realize how few I can reach with this method of communication,

I have a story to tell…..

Perhaps along the way I can inspire more beauty and loveliness in the world.

Happy New Year!!!