Fun at Hector

Well, it's been over a week since the Finger Lakes Tatting Guild (Hector) convention, and I am still catching up. I was worn out by the time I got home, but I was glad I went. Karey and her group put together an excellent weekend.




Here is a group hard at work in a class.

More classes. Note the lovely shawl tatted from a Mary Konior motif worn by the lady in the right of the picture.

Ginny teaching and a few of her lovely ornaments.

Plenty of stuff to buy.

More lovely tatting.

Meanwhile DH and DS3 went to the park. Western NY has some beautiful places.

Thanks and Getting Ready for Hector

First off, I would like to thank everyone who has ordered my new teapot book, and everyone who has said such nice things about it on their blogs.

I am sooo busy trying to get ready for Hector. I've strung beads for Ginny's class, but I need to find/empty some shuttles for Karey's class and find some more to demo in the class I'm teaching. I remembered to recharge the camera battery, but I forgot to buy eggs for the brownies I was going to make. I need to bind some more books. When will I pack?? Gaaaah!!!

Here's a hint for anyone taking my class. There will be 3 cut and ties in the pattern. If you wind 5 1/2 yards each of the 2 contrasting colors of thread on your shuttles, that should be enough for the first 2 sections.

I am looking forward to seeing old friends there and meeting new ones. I hope to be there in time for supper Friday night. (I'll be the tired, dopey redhead.) Karey recommended the Seneca Lodge and that's where I'm staying. I hope some other tatting folks will be there too. It would be great if I could find someone to ride with to the fire hall so DH and autistic DS3 can sleep late instead of delivering me there. I get to play tatting all day while they go sight seeing.

3 am, really must go to bed.

It's Tea Time!

In honor of International Tatting Day today, I am pleased to announce I am now taking orders for my new teapot book! It's printing right now and should be ready for mailing this weekend.



Gina Brummett, Jane Eborall, Pamela Myers, and Sherry Townsend were my test tatters. I could not have done it without their help.

Please see my website http://home.bellsouth.net/p/pwp-tatsamore for ordering information. By the way, if you want more than one book, be sure to let me know and I can give you discounted combined shipping. I can send a Paypal invoice with the discounted shipping rate or tell you how much to send as a check or money order. If you want just one copy, you can use the Paypal buttons on the website.


Yes, I will be bringing copies to Hector in a few weeks.


Here's one of the teapots I don't think I've shown you yet:



Have a Happy Tatting Day and remember to eat lots of chocolate!

"Tea is for Tatting" -- Coming Soon!

The teapot book will be ready "real soon now" so watch this space for updates.

Pamela's Hearts

I hope you all have been following Pamela's blog at http://tatsakoolchallenge.blogspot.com/

In the entries from Feb 11 - Feb 28, she has worked all of the hearts from my book, Tat's Amore', in luscious color schemes I wouldn't have thought of, (or didn't have the thread for). When Pamela makes one of my patterns, it looks better than when I did it, so I love looking at her work. The other great thing she has done is to list the amount of thread needed for each piece.

Please go take a look if you haven't already.

More about Hector

When I posted my Hector class project last time, I meant to challenge the other teachers (or the ones with blogs anyway) to show their class projects too, just to show everyone how much fun it will be. It was a while before I realized that I forgot to say that. Anyway, a list of the classes follows. The entire registration flyer may be found in the files section of Yahoo Celtic Tatting (as pdf) and Here be Tatters (as Word doc). If anyone wants, I could email it as a doc attachment to you.

Hector fun:

90-minute classes – offered Saturday 10:30- noon, Sunday 1:30-3:00 pm. You may take one each day – please indicate a first, second and third choice on your registration sheet.

A) Chaine Maille Earrings – Bina Madden - Learn how to tat and interlock rings in the Byzantine chain maille pattern, deciding on ring size (number of stitches)based on your individual tension and size of thread; a unique thread hiding method to make rounded instead of tear drop shaped rings will be taught. You will need size 20 thread; alternatively you may use DMC metallic pearl cotton size 5 thread (25 yd skein split to two threads, not DMC metallic on the spool); Dritz Looped Needle Threaders or preferred needle for sewing in the end. You will also need a pair of ear wires (available from vendors).

B) Tatted Tea Coaster – Sarah Kelley – Tat a coaster in the shape of a teapot. You will need a Tatsy tatting shuttle and heavy cotton (these items available from vendors)

C) Christmas Tea Ornament - Ginny Weathers – Designed by to fit over a glass ball, this gorgeously ornate ornament uses lots of beads, including some special ones provided by Ginny, and a long-beaded-picot technique that will be taught in class. Kit fee ($3) includes the ornament, special beads and coil less safety pins. You will need to bring to class about 400 seed beads (size 10 or 11). Pre-stringing information will be sent with your confirmation

D) Orange Picot Bookmark – Karey Solomon - Play with picot variations while creating a bookmark to mark your pages when teatime is over. You will need two shuttles and size 20 thread in the color of your choice – Orange, (Earl) Gray, Green, or another favorite.

E) Tea Party BLING BLING! - Ruth Perry - for advanced beginners on up, create a stretchy tatted bracelet with a combination of Celtic Tatting, Daisy Picot technique, and Dora Young's knotless tatting (also known as split chain technique) using Marie Smith's easy split chain method. These techniques will be taught in the class. Students may bring a small tatted motif to attach to their bracelet, buttons or bracelet charms. Beads, buttons, thread, and charms will be included in the kit ($5) for the class. Take home a bling-i-fied stretchy tatted bracelet, and the techniques to apply tatting to anything, including stretchy closed-circle bracelets, hair bands, even tea cup/wineglass bangles.

F) Beaded Block Tatted Heart – Kaye Judt - Proclaim your love for tatting, tea, or anything else. This block tatted adornment can be decorated with a variety of bead designs. Students need 150 size 10 or size 11 seed beads in a heart color threaded onto 1 ball of size 10 or 20 tatting thread, one shuttle (do not wind) or size 5 tatting needle, and usual tatting supplies.

3-hour classes offered Saturday 1-4:30 (includes tea-and-raffle-break) and Sunday 9:30 -12:30

G) 3-D Tea Blossom – Sabina Cardin (Bina) Madden - this diminutive, sculpted blossom uses rings and Josephine rings that may be tatted two different ways (loop-tatted ring off ring or mock rings with ring off ring) and Bina will teach you both of them. Bring size 20 thread in a floral color and complimentary size 11 seed beads plus 5 green size 11 seed beads; also bring green thread to tat over wire for the stem. Other supplies will be provided in class. Bina, from Everett, WA, is known to many as the developer of the Half Moon Split Ring and the Celtic Knotted Picot, and she is the “Thoughts On Tatting” editor for the IOLI (International Old Lacers, Inc.) Bulletin.

H) Maltese Teapot – Martha Ess - This sweet, two-color teapot introduces the Maltese Ring. This pattern will be in Martha’s forthcoming book and we get a chance to be among the first to enjoy it. You will need two colors in size 20 or 30 thread and two shuttles. Martha returns to Hector from Greensboro, NC. She is the designer/author of “New Critters on the Block” (block-tatted animals), “Tat’s Amoré,” (collection of heart patterns) and “Holidays on the Block,” (block tatted animals and other motifs).

I) Wide pendant necklace – Nina Libin - Dark beads and gold thread (kits will be available for $10) create an elegant Beanile-tatted necklace. Students who wish to string their own beads should contact the instructor for directions (n.libin@gmail.com); otherwise bring shuttles, preferably without picks or crochet hooks. Born in St. Petersburg, Russia, and now living in New York City, Nina is the author of "Tatted Lace of Beads, the Techniques of BEANILE Lace” published by LACIS in 1998 and the newsletter series “Lace of Beads”.

J) Tea-Bag – Karey Solomon – A beaded tatting ball-thread holder will be tatted using size 5 thread, beads and a cabone ring, to attach to a small tatting bag. Learn how to tat onto a ring, lock chain and mock ring. (Kit $5 includes all materials and pre-strung beads) Bring at least two tatting shuttles and a fine crochet hook. Karey has 19 tatting pattern collections in print, writes and edits “Tatting Times” a quarterly tatting newsletter and is one of the organizers of this conference.

Looking forward to Hector

I am looking forward to the 11th Annual International Tatting Seminar in Hector, NY, sponsored by the Finger Lakes Tatting Group under the leadership of Karey Solomon. Classes will be Saturday and Sunday April 18-19, and on the Friday before, there will be tea and snacks at Karey's shop in the afternoon and an informal bring-a-dish supper at the Firehall in the evening.

This Maltese Teapot is the project for the class I will be teaching. It begins with the Maltese ring in the middle, and then it's downhill from there, with just ring and chain in the outer rounds. The cup pattern is provided as well, should anyone want additional practice with the Maltese ring in a smaller piece. The cup does have split rings.

I teach the Maltese ring using the modern method rather than the Riego version. When I figured out how to make the ring that way, I thought I had made a revolutionary new discovery, but then I learned that method had been discovered before and was already in use by the Shuttle Brothers, Mark, and others.

For the class, you will need 2 shuttles and 2 colors of thread. I told Karey that I recommended size 20 or size 30 thread since I find those sizes easy to work with and big enough to see what you are doing. But if size 10, or 40, or perle cotton is your favorite size, I am sure that will be OK. It is important to use good quality thread. Maltese rings can be difficult to close since they have a lot of stitches. If the thread is not smooth enough to slide well, it may break when you close the ring.

I hope to see many of you there.