Motif Eight (2nd time around)--Jane's Hippo

This is, of course, Jane Eborall's famous Tat-It-And-See Hippo, worked in Altin Basak thread (Turkish size 50, similar to our size 30). Visit Jane for nearly a hundred more hippos: http://tatitandsee.blogspot.com/

Motif 7 (2nd time around)--Teardrop Ornament

Not exactly a motif, but still a tatted item. This was made from a kit I purchased from Terry McGuffin http://www.terrythetatter.com/

The kit used size 12 perle cotton and fit the glass ornament perfectly.

The darker pink spot is a bead angel hanging inside.

Some Stuff At My Mom's House

My mother-in-law gave us a camera for Christmas and I've been trying to learn to use it.

These are some things I have given my Mom in the past. First is the tatted Nativity from Ineke Kuperij, worked in size 80 thread.






















These are some crocheted angels with musical instruments. A shame they don't show up too well.



























A crocheted Madonna from a magazine.





















My favorite crocheted angel (I think the pattern book was Pineapple Home) and one of the few remnants of my basket weaving phase.

Back to the Challenge & Belated Christmas

Well, it has certainly been a while -- I've been a little busier than usual and this poor blog has suffered from neglect.

These are a few of the motif ornaments that I made to give at Christmas. On the left is Mark Myer's Madonna, pattern at http://www.tat-man.net/patterns/motifs.html

I love the way he uses just a few lines and circles to suggest the shape, so subtle and elegant.

On the right is Jane Ebborall's Snowflake #2 (http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~nickeb/ ). I cannot say enough good things about this design -- I just wish the scan showed it better. As snowflake patterns go, this is a quick and easy one, but it's fancy enough even a non-tatter will appreciate it. At first glance you might think it's one of those patterns where you have to count and load the beads very carefully, but really it's so simple. One color beads on the shuttle and the other color on the ball and the pattern takes care of itself. It turned out I was out of cabone rings with Christmas fast approaching, so I improvised with some gold cord and hot glue to make rings.

I had said I planned to do the challenge again. I claim the chick, eagle, and both turkeys as motifs plus these two for a total of six on the second time around.

Happy Thanksgiving

Another pattern progression for you.

Rough Draft--Part 3

The story thus far: I had failed at making a maple leaf, but thought the shape suggested an eagle. My first attempt to turn it into an eagle led instead to a baby bird. Now it's time to try to turn that chick into an adult eagle.

Again I let the shapes speak to me, to suggest what they wanted to be. I know it sounds funny, but it's hard to describe. Think of it as doing "free association" but with shapes instead of words.

I decided that the key to the eagle was to turn the wings upside down. I was very pleased with the next draft, despite a mis-start with the tail. From there, it was just tweaking for the final shape. Designers's trick: note how some of the birds have two different wing treatments. If it's not going to be a final draft, a piece doesn't have to be neat or symmetrical. By trying different things in the same piece, you can cut down the number of drafts. I once made a snowflake with 5 different points. Better to have one really ugly one than to make five separate ones before getting it right in my opinion.

Rough Draft, Part 2

Those of you who guessed I saw a bird here were right on the money, so give yourselves a pat on the back. Actually, I looked at the first rough draft (the failed maple leaf, remember) and thought I saw an American eagle. I worked another draft, but it looked more like a baby bird than an eagle. But that's OK, a baby bird might be useful. Then it's just a few tweaks for shaping. Note how I begin working in cheap, plentiful "ebay ecru" and switch to the good thread as I get closer to the end.

I wonder if there's still an eagle in there somewhere.