no excuse to not decorate!!! Check out the diversity of decorative or ornamental picots in tatting!  This collage is a small glimpse into way more picot types than we would ever use, or use sparingly. Yet it is a pity they get glossed over. Now we have no excuse to skip them, when visual models are laid out in this pdf titled DECORATIVE  PICOTS  IN  TATTING - https://drive.google.com/file/d/1D6l4gQWeGu1Se1ZXAhP2vWLQMd4lfzMJ/view It can act as a quick reference to make our choices. Backstory - It started with Net Best's upcoming book ' Six T's of Shuttle Tatting ..read more

 Today felt good and I was energized enough to take photos of some of our plants. Some are recent, others have stayed with us for a couple years. Hubby has added so many pots and plants that our balcony is flourishing with flora after a long bleak winter. He has placed the smaller pots on two adjoining larger pots for a tiered effect!   Hubby bought 5 Portulaca plants in red to plant in a specially bought flattish pot. There appear to be two varieties; the others haven't bloomed yet. He had asked for the 10 o'clock ones, but I believe they could be a mix of 9 and 10 o'clock.   W ..read more

 A day early, but we love our tatting year round, don't we?! So, keep your tatting tools and materials ready, choose your pattern, friends, and location, and have a blast with chocolate, tea, and chatting!!! This is such a quick and fun medallion from Rebecca Jones' 'The Complete Book of Tatting', Fig. 123. Tatted in Lizbeth size 20, with half-closed rings (HCR) instead of chains or bare thread to bridge the distance. A single-shuttle pattern obviously. TIP: Notice how the top and top right cords appear more pointed than the rest? It shows how you can change the curve by changing how f ..read more

A bit of mixed media card for my March 2024 Small Decorations entry. My heartfelt thanks to splocik for graciously accepting the earring I made in February and I hope this card meets the requirements of the game.  This is where it all started with a counting error I frequently make, despite my cautious counting! Notice that one daisy has an extra petal. Pattern for the classic daisy is from 'The Complete Book of Tatting' by Rebecca Jones  (Fig. 122 page 47, 2011). Worked in Olympus size 40 (equivalent to Lizbeth size 20).   Elgiva Nicholls calls this medallion a Classic D ..read more

 Editing the book, 'The Six T's of Shuttle Tatting' is creating opportunities to try out exciting techniques and effects, long in my to-try list. And learning a Lot in the process. The author, Net Best, had created one glossary for her book, and another more comprehensive glossary for her group and possibly for later digitization. We decided to combine both to make the glossary as updated as possible, which was her main goal. This also means we have to add missing sampler images. I have reached out to several of my tatting friends to contribute some specific pics (with due credit), and so ..read more

 You might remember that we had created categorised Directories of derivatives from Endrucks' patterns and I shared links as and when they were ready. Now all derivatives are removed from the main EP doc which contains mainly the 44 reworked originals in pdf format.  Besides this trimming, we also created a Spreading the Word doc so that keeping it updated, along with good sized pics, would be easy. Check out how members have spread word of the book or Project through teaching, articles, exhibitions, etc. And then there are the games we hold in our FB group. All links to these - from ..read more

  I was tatting a sampler last night to show placement of beads. In my head was a possible zigzag effect but was so happily surprised to see this shape - such graceful arches!  On pondering, it is 'elementary' - since the stitches all face the same direction, the broader waistband of the stitch creates an uneven arch -- the same reason why a normal tatted chain curves! I haven't decided how to put this effect to use - possibly a necklace or even a bracelet?  It would've been even better if the beads were all the same size. Overall the chain remains straight. If anybody is inter ..read more

My Budding Heart pattern was published in the Feb 2024 issue of 'Talking Tatting' (No.58.3 quarterly newsletter of Queensland Tatters, Australia), courtesy of Judith Connors. I think this is perhaps the third or fourth pattern she has chosen for publication and it is such a huge yet humbling endorsement. ?? Several versions have been tatted which I sometimes come across on different platforms, but to remind you of one very special version from Krystyna Mura (Poland) - https://tipsaroundthehome.blogspot.com/2021/02/palentine-day.html ?? And most recently, is splocik's (Poland) play with t ..read more

 Remember when I posted the E37 flower flake and star and was not very happy with my wide picot? I couldn't always get the stitches under/within the picot to stay consistent and neat. So, I explored some more which I should've done at the beginning, having the links in my Tatting Resources page already! Well, my oversight gave me a chance to study it better. Download my pdf of Wide Picot Pictorial here - https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Ejb7tVOk15VQHV0omhUt-HIb1CzYAI7I/view  All tuts I referred to had the wide picot on a ring. This means there is the ring loop besides the loop ..read more

Caps in, counterclockwise spiral I was testing a pattern for Richard Embrey and I needed to understand clearly (through action) how to achieve a particular effect. While I had dealt with the concept here - https://tipsaroundthehome.blogspot.com/2023/12/about-helix-tatting-and-more.html, I needed more clarity on the actual tatting since four visual effects are possible.  positioning for last stitch for Caps out effect It bothered me not being able to identify the path clearly. Just one final stitch in the first row makes the difference! I needed this study. Secondly ther ..read more