I think I'm caught up!

I decided to finish all the 'past pieces' I had started, before beginning the 25 Motif Challenge... and what better goal than the last day of 2007!
I had begun experimenting and practicing with some of this pattern and some of that pattern... with the idea that I would eventually put several together to make bookmarks.
Well, the pile of little pieces grew and still no bookmarks!
I am excited about the motif challenge and I KNOW that if I begin tatting for that, I won't want to go back to the 'old things'.... so I finished connecting the pieces and blocked and ironed them yesterday!

They look much better in these small photos... but if you want to look closer you will find larger photos and pattern information here.
After several days of experimenting, I did spray them with laundry starch, twice lightly on each side, after blocking and ironing. Without the starch they were limper than a wet noodle and after some 'test-use' as bookmarks, I decided they were actually hard to put in and take out of the book. With the slight amount of starch, they still drape over a finger, but can be lifted out of a book by one end.

I've Been Tagged!

I have been tagged by Connie.
Here are the rules:

1. Link to your tagger and post these rules.
2. Share 7 facts about yourself: some random, some unusual.
3. Tag 3 people at the end of your post and list their names (linking to them).
4. Let them know they’ve been tagged by leaving a comment at their blogs

I have had fun reading all YOUR 'personal facts', so I guess it is only fair.... are you sure you want to know all this???? ;)

1. I milk two or three cows and a goat, and make all our butter, cottage cheese, ice cream, etc. This past summer I made over 100 pounds of butter... which isn't so much as it seems, when you remember that we don't use margarine, and very little oils, etc. for cooking and baking. I also grind our wheat into whole wheat flour, although I do use mostly white 'store-bought' flour.
2. Now for a fact that seems opposite that first 'impression' of 'Little House On The Prairie':
   I own 6 espresso machines! I have three of the same Krups 871 Model, which I love... (must have extras for when I make lattes for two or three people at once). There is also a stove-top espresso maker... which I bought just for those times when our power goes out! I have indeed used it many times... on top of a small propane burner! Yes, I like lattes, and I wish all of you could have a home-made one, with REAL cows whole milk! YUMM!
3. I have 97 mature African violet plants... plus approximately 284 younger plants, of various ages from very young with three leaves to older ones ready to bloom for the first time. I also have exactly 69 leaves set... most of them have sprouted 2-8 little baby violets... Oh, I give up I am not going to total them all up! I don't want to know!
   
4. I read and collect vintage fiction from 1880-1930. My favorite books are: St. Elmo by Augusta J. Evans (1866), Common Law by Robert W. Chambers (1911 and one of the top ten bestsellers for that year), and The Brass Bowl by Louis Joseph Vance (1907).
5. Instead of going to college, I opened a commercial photography studio the summer after I graduated from high school, which I operated for 10 years until our son was born.
6. I enjoy 'flying' in the online, multiplayer game Airfix Dogfighter. Actually, my son and hubby were addicted, and if I wanted to spend time with them, I had to fly too! But I soon found I enjoyed it... and even made my own plane design, pink and with flowers of course. The logic was: the menfolk may hesitate to shoot down a pink plane! This game is pretty mild, as far as pc games go... with players flying model planes around in a house and yard, staging dogfights with other model planes.
7. My first name is Debbie, but I sign myself Mrs. John.... both in online groups, on my oil paintings, and on our check blanks. I am very happy to be married to John and very proud to be Mrs. John Stout.

I tag:

Linda (love your designs)

Snowy (that corkboard is amazing)

Sylvia (that you learned tatting left-handed and then had to also learn right-handed makes me even more determined to learn it with at least one way!)

If I have tagged someone who has been recently tagged, I am sorry. I tried to look for 'tagged' posts, but I soon got sidetracked by all your photos!

Feeling very humble this morning!

I have been browsing all the tatting blogs/forums for about a month now.... and after looking at the photos of my tatting, as compared to all the lovely bits, impressive 17-round doilies, facinating jewelry, amazing animals and the MANY, MANY other products of creative tatting hands.... well, I feel very humble!

>>> I know beginners in all crafts feel like their very first attempts are perfect. I also realize everyone has to start at the very bottom when they are beginning; that is the way we learn any skilled activity.

>>> But my first stumbling 'tatters' have given me a glimpse into the many possibilities and the many skills needed to really 'tat'. And all of the tatters (this time I mean those people who tat) who share their beautiful projects have given me an idea of what my goal should be... and have motivated me 'to set the bar high'!

>>> I have so enjoyed my 'trip through tatting land'! Thanks to everyone who shares their work, opinions, advice, and personal tatting adventures!

My first Tatters

Here are my first bits of tatters. Nearly all of them are needle-worked.

I decided this would be a 'before photo' as they all need to have the knots fray-check-ed and trimmed, and to block and starch. I am also going to assemble some of the individual odds and ends into bookmarks, add some tassels, and see what else I can make out of these practice pieces. When I FINISH them, I will post another photo.

Shuttle or Needle?

First, the question that I have is: which 'tool' is the best to use: shuttle or needle?
I began with a shuttle because that is what I had on hand.... and then I went to Ebay and discovered there were tatting needles. I ordered a Barbara Foster book and needle set, but while waiting for it to get here (insert tapping toes and drumming fingers), I kept tatting with the shuttle.
My hands got sore! At least my left one did... especially the tendons on the back of my hand and down along the oustide of my wrist! Probably from a very stiff 'posture' as I concentrated on getting just the right balance between tension and 'enough thread to finish a ring'! :)
(I wonder what my body posture looked to my family: teeth biting lip, toes curled under, and my two hands up to within a foot of my nose, as I muttered: "Slide, oh, I hope you slide!")
When the needles and book arrived, I jumped at the chance to hold the thread and needle more comfortably. It wasn't all easy... because there was the 'tying a knot after each ring or chain if using a ball' to remember.
Here is where the 'tatters' came in! My hubby calls this 'tattering' and I thought the word fit the pile of little pieces, rings and chains, and stubborn real knots!
Anyway, for the first week, I would tat with the shuttle for a day, then try the needles. I got somewhat better at both... at last I 'finished' several motifs, if you can call a five chain flower a motif!
I compared the same pattern worked with the shuttle and the needle.... and found that the quality and look of each depended upon CONSISTENT tension (stitch-pulling) and proper 'turning/reversing'.
I think thread size will make as much difference in the look of the finished project as anything. I also think matching the correct needle for the thread size is important.
I am still comparing... although the needle seems easier and so 90% of my first 'little bits' were done with the needle.

It's HER fault!!!

My sisterinlaw sent me copies of the 'how to tat' section in an old needlecrafts book she found... I dug around in the attic and found the shuttle that my mom had bought me while I was in junior high....
and so began a new hobby! Tatting is fun!
I started in November, and haven't had a great deal of time to spend... but I am learning, I hope!
I find that I spend more time picking out 'real knots' and cutting off chains that go nowwhere.... than actually finishing a motif!