too many irons

... that's not referred to my disinclination to iron clothes (except tatted hankies), but to all those working in progress projects that are only a short step back to be called UFO. Too many irons in the fire.

Just remembering that I should have done the bookmark for September, too :(

There's no reason to worry, they will be finished in a dozen of years or two! I'm still young!

But there are even more irons on the fire! This coming weekend those ladies from Bosa, masters of their Sardinian filèt called  “SU LÀURU 'OSINCU”, will be here again, as they did last year. One of them is Mimmina Pinna. I can't wait to learn something new from her!
I found a link with info, but it's in Italian: 
http://www.ladonnasarda.it/magazine/chi-siamo/3087/tradizioni-e-saperi-si-intrecciano-nel-filet-il-ricamo-di-bosa.html

And for Christmas? It's quite the right time to start thinking what to do as a xmas project. More tatting on the go!

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It couldn't miss here a picture I've taken in Milano, a sculpture called "Needle, Thread and Knot", by Claes Oldenburg and Coosje van Bruggen.

Ciao,
Ninetta

hide or not to hide

I tatted again the wheel in 3 colours, but this time I left 2 tails at the start and used them to connect the last ring. I like it better.  

Muskaan previously commented to hide the pink thread under the last half stitch of purple rings (mentioning a suggestion by Judith Connors about another motif somewhere), but actually I like how the pink peeks out. What do you think?

Update: link to previous post: https://ninettacaruso.blogspot.com/2015/09/ready-to-be-sewed.html

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The other city we visited this summer was Milano, we were among all those huge number of people that visited Expo, I've heard that one quarter of Italians did the same. I've some photo to share from Milano, too.

 Here it was the Duomo of Milano, routine maintenance, of course...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milan_Cathedral

 ... and that was Hungary Pavilion for Expo, there was a loom and people who were spinning.

We managed to be at Expo only one day, too short time because it's enormous. We could queue into those pavilions with few people wishing to enter in, we couldn't go inside Italy's or Japan's for example, I've heard that 2 Saturdays ago it required hours (from 3 to 7!) to enter in!

Ciao,
Ninetta

use it safely

If it happens to feel a strong desire to learn a new type of lace, I try to use the new obsession safely in any combination with tatting.

If you ask around, they always recommend the importance of a varied diet.

Center has been made in Sardinian Bosa filet lace, a type of embroidery on a handmade net, so there're two techniques to learn.
I used dmc thread size 60.

Ciao,
Ninetta

light as a cloud

Ciao,
Ninetta

ready to be sewed

I managed to sew all ends in the Priscilla's edging. Now it has to be washed (sigh!) and ironed, then I will keep it away for a long time, for the first of my sons that would like using it as wedding rings' pillow... Too early now: they are 13 and 17yo! I love it and I'm planning to start the other one at page 8, fig.23 of the same Priscilla Tatting book #1. I still have some thread left on the dmc size 100 ball.

To hide all ends I used the classic method of the needle.
I put the needle (very thin, in the picot and needle gauge it seems a size 8) under the head of 4 or 5 double stitches, then I cut the tail a little far from the last one, in the picture you see it's almost the size of that picot. The thread it's so thin that the sewing is invisible, even from the front, but I prefer leave all this "dirty" work at the end, so I can't be wrong sewing all ends on the same side of the work.

Here it is a drawing. I sew threads in the opposite direction, colours permitting. That is the thread coming from the ring will go sewed on the chain and vice versa.

Then I started again the wheel, playing with colours. But this time I used everywhere the magic thread method. I feel dumb that I didn't thought to this method while I was tatting the edging!

The green ring in the center is tatted separately. You may like re-reading this:  http://janeeborall.freeservers.com/MagicThreadTrick.pdf (Thank you Mrs Jane!)

The second round is tatted with 2 shuttles, in this way:

With the light pink I started a ring: 1ds, a picot 1/8" long, 5ds, join to the one picot of the center, added the second purple thread hiding it along the core thread, 6ds.

Leave a bare thread of the purple - I left about 1/8" - then tat a "large" ring 4-2-2-2-2-2-4. Before closing, I passed the other shuttle inside the loop as I was tatting a first half ds. Close the ring.

Leave a bare thread of the pink - I left about 1/8" - then tat a "small" ring 6+6, joining to the next picot of the center ring. Before closing, pass the shuttle with the purple inside the loop with the same movement of the first half of a ds. Close.

Alternate small and large rings, pink and purple, then at the end I joined the pink picot with a LJ, then started the last large ring, hiding the pink along the core thread. Before the last 6 ds, I put the auxiliary thread for the magic trick and had no ends to sew in!

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I'd like showing you two big chandeliers I saw in Venezia: on the left there is one placed in Museo Correr, XVIII century, in perfect style of Murano.
On the right there is one among many found into Teatro La Fenice, it was destroyed by fire in 1996, completely rebuilt and reopened in 2003, those chandeliers are copies of the originals.

Ciao,
Ninetta

anything but pressing

No no, when I tat something for me, I don't feel under pressure! The reference to the pressure will be clear if you go on reading, as you please.

The little layered rings don't show off well with a multicoloured thread, I already had tried with different hues and my favourite are those tatted with solid colours.

But with that hanky, bought during the recent visit in Venezia, I like how this thread changes smoothly from light blue to white.

At first, I tatted following my own noted direction to have one picot in the center layered ring for each petal, but the central didn't pop up, a matter of optical illusion, I think, it melted in the center and quite disappeared. Then I tried with only one picot and now it seems more similar to the original pattern. That is Plate VI, pic.29, in
"Tatting" by Th.de Dillmont.

When in Venezia, we visited Museo Correr, in one room there was a treasure from XV century.

That is a machine for pressing handkerchiefs, that it is understandable if you were ironing with an old heated iron - and maybe not so clean because warmed up on the fire -. I have another better pic of it, but don't know if it is fair put it in the blog, because they didn't put a photo in their official site. If you like seeing it, please leave me a comment with your email.

Ciao,
Ninetta

three to go

And then, a lot of ends to tie and cut.

In the next photo collage, on the left there's the lion in front of Duomo in Milano, on the right that lion is in Piazza San Marco in Venezia.

The first lion we visited this summer was in Venezia. It's the third time I've been there, last time was 20 years ago. I wish I could go back there again, definitely, there're many beautiful cities in Italy, but Venezia is marvellous.

It's really funny discovering that they call "ninetta" a type of sandwich!

Ciao,
Ninetta

reinventing the wheel

I've been testing an idea that blossomed from a comment by Karen Cabrera to a previous post. I'm quite sure that wasn't what she said, I'm still wondering and testing...

Stitches's count in the center it's the same as the Priscilla's wheel, then the second round has little rings of 4+2+4 and chains of 2-2-2-2-2-2, opposite sides have same rings as the wheel.

As that was a test tatting, I used thread already loaded, so please don't comment my colour choice :-(

I think it needed a long picot in the first sr, to mimic the missing bare thread.

This summer I visited two lions, here in Italy, with my family. I'll tell you more next days.

Ciao,
Ninetta

sharp turn

A close up:

Ciao,
Ninetta

with a little help from Jon

Thank you very much, Jon!

I've followed her blog, full of beautiful tatting, free patterns and a lot of useful hints and clear photos. In may she posted about the vintage wheel and how she cleverly used a technique to tat the center ring. That is, the technique is a single shuttle loop-tatted ring, I haven't used it in my wheels, as you read in previous post.

But then I had to find a way to tat the half-wheels.

Aunt Priscilla said to tat a ring 1-2-2-2-2-2-2-3+2 (7 free picots) join to a middle picot of the insertion. Then leave bare thread (she didn't care too much of cutting and tie) and start the ring of 6+6 of the wheel, joining one of 7 picots of the center. You must close the half wheel with 7 little rings 6+6 and 7 larger rings of 4+2-2-2-2-2-4.

First problem: there are 4 picots in rings of the insertion to join to. Which is the middle one?
Second problem: first ring in the round is a 6+6, last it is a larger one, I can't see a way to tat continuously all wheels.
Third problem: if I used the same method used in the wheel to climb from center to little ring, I'd had to hide (where?) one end more.
Fourth: both in text and in the picture also little and large rings are joined to the previous row in a "middle" picot.

--> A solution for the third problem, a guess and a compromise.

Solution for the center ring came from Jon's blog:
http://tatsaway.blogspot.it/2015/05/the-tatted-wheel.html

A guess: what if I join 2 picots for each ring in the insertion? It seems it's working.

Compromise: I have to accept tatting each half-wheel separately, with one end to hide. One is better than two, this time.

Ciao,
Ninetta

wheels alla Priscilla

Wheels it is also the name for a kind of pasta in shape of wheels! But that is for a different kind of blog...

Pattern for the wheel: one shuttle. I promise: it's not an aunt's recipe!

- Start the center ring leaving a tail from the shuttle, about 12cm (5in) of thread: 2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2  (11 picots)
- leave a mock picot then tat a split ring with the shuttle and the tail: 6ds/6ds
- leave a bare thread - I left about 1/8" - then tat a "large" ring 4-2-2-2-2-2-4

A)- leave a bare thread - same as previous - then tat a "small" ring 6+6, joining to the next picot of the center ring
B)- leave a bare thread - same as previous - then tat another "large" ring, 4+2-2-2-2-2-4, joining the last picot of previous large ring

- alternate small and large rings, repeating A) and B) for 10 times but for the last large ring:
- last large ring: 4+2-2-2-2-2+4, joining the last picot of previous large ring and the first picot of the first large ring.

The tail left at the beginning, it must be hidden inside the last large ring, with a magic loop trick or whatever you want. I use this method: http://sharonstattedlace.blogspot.it/2008/11/adding-in-new-thread.html. That bare thread is part of the pattern.

Actually, now I'm having troubles with half-wheels in the last round! I'm afraid I have to tat them all apart, with a lot of tails. I'll keep you updated!

Ciao,
Ninetta

satisfaction

I've a little collection of handmade hankies, the tatted ones made by me.

Edgings are the best way to learn a new technique, about one meter of exercise, tatting and retro tatting, then a great satisfaction when you look at the first and the last elements close together, realising that you did it!

That red and green edging was my very first attempt to a "big" project with clunies, pattern is online, copyrighted by Stephanie Peters: http://www.sandbenders.demon.co.uk/tatting/clunymot.htm

Many thanks for her beautiful pattern, I love it, she recommends her designs have to be reproduced for personal use only, not sold. That is for utterly personal use: sometimes I take it out of the box just to gaze at it, enchanted!

Ciao,
Ninetta

Dianna

I loved tatting this bookmark, one among few I know, that really ask for 3 shuttles to be tatted. Another one it is a beautiful snowflake designed by Teiko Fujito, lately tatted by Carollyn, you can see it in her blog: http://tennbrown.blogspot.it/2015/08/japanese-tatting-with-3-shuttles.html.

This pattern is called "Dianna", by Mimi Dillman. It was very short with my size 80 thread, so I added some more flowers. Sorry Mrs Dillman, I hope you like it!

Thanks to her, when I found her photos in 2010 (here: http://home.netcom.com/~ntrop/cluny/instructsplit.htm), I learnt how to tat clunies.
UPDATE link for instructions: http://mimidillman.com/tutorials/tatting-cluny-leaves-by-hand/

Pattern is free: http://home.netcom.com/~ntrop/mimi/dianna.html
UPDATE: link to the pattern: http://mimidillman.com/patterns/bookmark-dianna/

Another reason to go with this pattern it is that I followed all posts by Muskaan about clunies and there was something that I wanted to try. In particular, I liked what she calls "One Small Step behind the scenes", I think it's effective in reducing the twist of the loop. I do a finger loom, then I pass the loom shuttle into the loop just after I finished the leaf.

What is coming next? An hint: look at the upper side of the picture, I needed a bookmark for that page... May you recognize the book? Layered rings emerge from time to time into old books.

Ciao,
Ninetta