Thoughts of Lace Embrace 2015….

First off Lace Embrace was fantastic.  Not as well attended as some years but there were other things going on at the same time…I do not know how well it was publicized.  I’ve 2 hours plus away by car.  I got the info via an email…

My daughter, Jan, accompanied me this year and I did enjoy the entire weekend while she was here and hope she did too.  The problem occurred because I am a dork and don’t do needle tatting as many people do.  I shuttle tat and teach shuttle tatting…I can teach the very, very basics of needle tatting but Saturday proved why I maybe should not try to do something over my head as a teacher of needle tatting.

Jan is definitely in the bobbin lace camp of tatting…no shuttle for her (at least yet) as the shuttle is not being friendly to her hand…needles are.  This was her first attempt at needle tatting….

[The pattern was a simple ruffled ball from Patty Dowden 2011-2012 all uses permitted (except sale of document).  Continuous thread method used for shuttles. 

R: 1-1-1-1 close ring very firmly, do not reverse work, shoe lace trick closed firmly.  Firm tension allows the ruffles the stiffness needed to stand up.

{Just 3 picots in the start ring.  The shoe lace trick (tie) functions as a lock join onto a picot and the start of the first spiral.  A picot precedes the ds on all the chain segments. }

Chain segments: -1-1 lock join to next picot on previous row/segment.

{Repeat around the spiral, lock join so there is a space to start the next segment.  The first spiral has 2-2-in each segment, the second spiral has 4. The third spiral has 8 segments, the fourth has 16….continuing as large as desired.   It will be very dense. ]

Now that you have read the pattern we are starting where the problem occurred.  (Neither the teacher, a shuttle tatter, nor I and I can teach only the basics of needle method…) Jan did an awesome job on the starting ring…then we went on using the ring method but without the lock join (how to do that with a needle?? Way over my skill with a needle at this time but learning it soon) and the needle won’t bend to make the turn…duh then I noted it wasn’t a chain!!!!!!!!!!!!...start over this part using chain method and taking it off the needle as needed to make it work.  I still (Oct 5, 2015) am not sure how to make it work….

I suspect that will be the last time Jan tries needle tatting….unless a tatting friend, Brigitte, is available to help Jan with tatting.  Brigitte did a good job of explaining how to tat with a needle.  Way better than I did.  Jan picked up adding the stitches quickly but I am not sure she will try it again.  I can only hope…

I do need to figure out how to do the lock join before long as it is in the beginner lessons.

Peace, Cyn