Tatted necklace

Long time, no blog! Blame it on a combination of starting a new job and all that stress it involves and the joy of moving- nothing saps creative energy like unpacking boxes and putting together flatpack furniture.  Which is a pity really, because I've always thought of flatpack furniture as the grown-up version of a giant lego kit!

I only have a small post- a cute little necklace that I made on the weekend before starting my new job as a teacher.  Things will probably remain fairly quiet from me as things I do in the classroom like using osmosis to shrink and expand eggs don't really fit in a craft blog (fun though- dissolve an egg in vinegar over a day or two, then place it in either pure water or a highly concentrated sugar or salt solution and see what happens).

Close up view of necklace

Necklace pinned out for blocking- curve at end due to me running out of cork board!

The necklace was from the book 'Easy Tatting' by Rozella F. Linden and was made using purple crochet cotton and black swarovski crystals.  I think it looks pretty good, can't wait to wear it out and about.

Tatting update and simple lace pattern to try

Second tatting class was last Friday and we started making a simple lace edge for a white handkerchief.  This is a very simple pattern- a variation of it was in one of Mum's tatting books that I tried as one of my first practice pieces.  If you are a beginner then this is a great one to start with- simple enough to remember and also easy to keep track of where you are so you can pick it up and put it down as a project without having to spend 10 minutes working out where you are up too.  And as you might guess, the plan is to attach the lace to the hankie after making it.  And no, the safety pin attachment plan is not my permanent solution, I just wanted to make sure I didn't twist the lace when joining the the end back to the start!

I'm writing this using what I think is the most common  current tatting notation (some very old patterns write things out in full- cor!) but feel free to leave a comment to ask any questions or correct my mistakes!  For beginners like me, numbers refer to double stitches needed with dashes meaning you need to add a picot (unless otherwise indicated in a pattern just do whatever size looks right for you- and try to be consistent as you go!).

Simple tatted lace edge
Use one shuttle
Ring 1:  5-5-5-5, close ring
*Leave a gap of about a 1 cm (or approximately the diameter of your first ring) and start the second ring: 5, join to 3rd picot of previous ring, 5-5-5, close ring.

Repeat from * for as long as you like for the straight part of the lace. 

For corners, form the corner ring don't leave a gap between the previous ring but form the ring hard up against it.  Form the ring the same way (5, join to 3rd picot of previous ring, 5-5-5) or make picot as below for a more decorative look. For the next ring (straight part again), again form this ring hard against the previous corner ring.  By not leaving the gap on either side of the corner rings, you'll find your lace will form a natural right angle corner.

Variation for corners (or use this for all rings is you like!).  Note, -- means to make one picot that is larger than normal.
Ring: 5, join to 3rd picot of previous ring, 5-1--1-5-5, close ring

Tatting- a new craft for me

I'm rather excited to have just started learning a brand new craft- tatting.  Unlike many other crafts I've tried over the years, I'm actually doing a class to learn the basics.  Two hours a week for the next four weeks.

Today was just learning the basic knot and loop.  It's really fiddly and hard when you first try this!  Trying to work out what thread should be where and what the tension should be and such.  But by the end of the class I was going great guns.  You can see my increase in skill as you follow the loops along the thread below (top left is the first successful loop)

First loop- top left, then follow the thread to find my increase in skill/practice

Still, it was a bit of a bummer that the speed of the group meant that that was all I could do by the end of the class- the instructor was busy with the others in the class who were struggling to get the right knot*.  So when I got home I stole borrowed a few books from my Mum who had tried to get the hang of tatting years ago and good old google.

So far all I've managed are picots (little loopy bits) and a join (and I think I'm doing something funny with my joins, they seem to be a little twisted?).  Still, this looks like proper lacy stuff, don't you think?

Anyone know of any simple patterns that are good for a beginner to practice with?  I don't want to try anything involving two shuttles or chains yet until I'm in the presence of a professional with scissors to cut me free in case of emergency :P


*I've discovered in tatting that knots are easy- very, very, very easy!  It is the right sort of knot that is tricky.