Over the years...

 The years passed quickly.  I’m still surprised how long the shuttles lay quiet in the drawer.  There were some tatting accomplishments along the way which were unreported.  This post rewinds to show the final destination for the ‘Edge Without a Cause’.

The edging found a home on my great niece’s christening/baptism gown.

It was a beautiful time for our family.

 

The edge was temporarily affixed to the gown.

My DSL wants to create a different gown with hand made lace throughout.

I hope y’all have a great day.

Pile-O-Knots

Greetings to you all!

Needing a break from the intensity of politics here in the U.S., I’m practicing a television quarantine.  I’ve moved to the second round on the four pass piece for a Christmas stocking. I find a familiar calm in tatting.  

The accompanying picture holds many thoughts.

The small blue case (camera case) was given to me by my father.  He was a kind and gentle man... reminds me of gentle Ben if you are familiar with the fictitious bearded mountain man of the western wilderness.  Early in my life we struggled a lot.  However, I learned he was a powerful man who provided a base for me on which to thrive.  He was one of my greatest supporters through life. 

He and my mom often stopped in Charlotte for a visit. One visit, he was excited to give it to me as a portable kit for my tatting.  It is ideal to hold one project.

We unexpectedly lost Dad To lymphoma in the summer of 2019. As a memorial, I will carry this kit as long as I can.  He was a good man.  In his honor we established the Nance family memorial scholarship at the University of North a Carolina at Charlotte.  We hope to endow the scholarship in the next couple years.  

Helllooooo!? (Echoing)

Yelling into the foggy tatting blog world..... Helllloooooo!! (Echoing)

I’m hoping my tatting world family are still active and nearby.  I’ve missed you!

Many years have passed and life proves full of hurdles and roller coasters.  The ride has been grand!  I’ll share experiences from the past several years along the way.  I hope you are all doing well and staying healthy.

I picked up my shuttles to relieve my mind from the pressures of our world.  It works so well to calm the racing brain.  My first project back was not easy... the pattern was easy enough.  The thread size and color were the challenges.

So, to find a more comfortable process, I went back to the familiar and easy with the icicle pattern I adapted from Bloomqvist & Persson.  

White, larger thread to make another Christmas stocking.  This will hopefully be the finished project in a few weeks.  OK, Make that a couple months...

In other news, I am now a clinical assistant professor at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte in the counseling department.  Career is a joy and pleasure for me as I work to teach others to help.  

I love my career!

A small part of our campus with my building on the left.

The official Norm the Niner

Chugging along

Chug, chug, chug, chug, chug.....

What better way to reduce stress than tat a hanky edge.  For me, the repetition of rings and chains is quite therapeutic.  The familiarity of the pattern allows one to breathe in and breathe out drifting in and out of different thoughts and dreams.

A few more days and I will finish the second round of the wedding hanky.

As I noted in a previous post, the corners have been challenging.  I really don't know what I was thinking.  Let's just mark it up to being a bit rusty.  After the first two 'misses', I figured out the clover sequence that works....however, I didn't have the heart to retrotat nor did I want to rip out and discard the work I had completed.  So, on the second round I've been improvising on each of the corners, adding additional doubles here and there.

Just one more corner and I'll be left with the never ending 'frilly' rows.

On another note, last weekend we traveled to the mountains for a quick getaway and ran across these friends...

Until next time,

Peace!

John

Old, New, and Blue

Another project in the WIP pile is this wedding hanky.  The idea that a bride must have something old, something new, something borrowed, and something blue....this will have all covered except the borrowed piece.  A vintage hanky with newly tatted blue edge will begin as a base for the rest of the piece.  I finished the first round this morning after a year on hold.

I'm a bit rusty on several things as a result of my hiatus with several mistakes on the corners....I have no clue what I was thinking.  AND, I need to review how to join last to first...., other than that, it's fine and DONE.

And another view

And, just a reminder of my plans for this one...

The blue pass is a base for the first round of white rings and chains.  My hope is that I can drop a few rings and chains down each corner to make it quite ruffled.  Any thoughts on this?

As I am a collector, I have a huge stash of vintage hankies.  My goal is to tat a wedding hanky each year.

But, for now, must get ready for another day of jury duty..... (The judge actually warned the jury there was to be no knitting.....he didn't say anything about tatting......). 

Happy Tatting!!

John

Hello to my cyber tatting friends!!

It's been so long since I have been in touch with you all.  I have been nursing my elbow.  The 'gym' injury which might also be tendonitis caused by excessive tatting has healed.

During the winter holidays I picked up my shuttles and tatted a simple snowflake

It felt pretty good so I started a bigger project.  I've been wanting to do another stocking.  So, over the last six months I've been slowly tatting a combined edge for another holiday stocking.  Here is the process and the progress.

Now all there is to do is wash, block, and attach it.

Although I think the tendonitis has healed, the elbow still feels a bit tender.  Therefore, I've been going slowly.  Each day I tat for about 1/2 hour.  Not enough...but enough.

In other news.... the year past has been full of good things.  I turned 50.  Still can't believe the time has passed.  We have wonderful neighbors who helped celebrate and are always so gracious.  Here is the evidence.... an impromptu surprise party.

I hope I've been bitten by the tatting bug again because I've missed the tatting community.  It feels good to be in touch with y'all once again.

Until the next entry,
Peace!
John

Finally, A New Project!

Greetings to you all!!

My tatting life is so different these days.  I used to tat about 2-3 hours each day.... Now, it's down to two-three rings and chains.  BUT, I'm tatting!

I have chosen my next project and need a bit of advice.  Mary Konoir is my newest inspiration.  I'm going to tat a piece for my family again.  This time it's a wedding hankie.  I'm going to adapt the Jabot Collar pattern from Mary Konior's Tatting with Visual Patterns.  Here's the inspiration.

I chose a simple vintage pulled thread hankie for the blank in this project.  This first pass of simple rings and chains will be tatted in a light blue.  I'm hoping the color won't be too overpowering for the remaining white rows.  Your opinions on this will be greatly appreciated!!  I've started the row and will probably continue.  However, plans are to tat a second hankie if the current project turns out well.  I'll begin the jabot pattern on the next row.

Have you tatted this pattern before?  For those who have, were you happy with the outcome?

Also, for the corners, I will be manipulating the pattern again.  My question is, "should I 'drop' the corners the way Mary did for the front of the collar?"  I would only go down about 3 or 4 repeats and then advance to the next side of the hankie.  This would provide added 'frilliness' to the overall lace.

So, I'm hoping my description is clear and you will share your opinions!!

Until next time, Peace!!
John