Somebody Stop Me, Please....

I think I've gone just the smallest bit mad with this whole tatting thing.  Honestly, ya'll, I can't stop.  You want to know how bad it is? (How bad is it??????)

I was going through my pre-1930 craft magazines looking out tatting patterns for a challenge in the latest Piecework Magazine and I came across a 1925 issue of Needlecraft magazine that featured a tatted bedspread using size 8 cotton.  That's thread.  Not teeny tiny but small enough.

The instructions say that "When finished, the spread contains one hundred and twenty squares, each about nine inches."  Did you get that.  120 squares.

I realized how crazy I'd become when I looked up from the pattern with the realization that I had actually been considering making it.

Samples

I found a book at the library called, The Torchon Lace Workbook, by Bridget M Cook, which has a really helpful format with 10 lessons at the beginning and 25 patterns in the second part of the book.  So, here are my first samples.  The first one is something I did from another book and is just a series of stitches.  The second one is practicing the half stitch and a linen stitch and the last one is practicing the half stitch.  The half stitch and whole stitch are ways of making the background of the lace and the linen stitch is one of the stitches used for creating the "picture," such as the diamonds in the middle sample.

Cool, right?  I don't know where this will lead but it's fascinating!

True Confessions

I have a confession to make.  A couple of weeks ago I posted about some (many) (a few) of the projects I've got going.  I've added to that with:

*  2 pairs of kids gloves.  I don't usually make things for people but this really sweet lady who adores her grandkids and showed me all the pictures of them she had in her wallet asked me to make a pair of camo gloves for her 9 year old grandson and purple gloves for her 7 year old granddaughter.  How can you not say yes to that request?

* fiber from Bishophill Spin-in (8 oz)

* Cormo wool (for white on white project) (4 oz) I've never spun Cormo but it's super soft and I've been told it loves to be lace yarn.  Good enough.  No pic because it's just so much white fluff.  Use your imagination.

* Mohair roving (1 oz) not from Bishophill but added to the list nevertheless - also for the white on white project (same as above - white stuff, imagination)

* New tatting project - doily that is much harder than it looked and I'm having lots of trouble with it.  No pics yet until I can stop throwing it across the room thinking sweary things about it.

So, don't you think that sounds like enough projects for any reasonable person who, by the way has a full time office job?  That's enough, right?

If you said, yes, then you're obviously well mistaken.  Obviously mistaken.  Because if you're not mistaken, then that says things about me that I'd rather not contemplate.  I obviously haven't enough to keep me busy (oh, yeah, add to that 4 public classes and working with Jane and Old State Capital folks to develop a new program).  I know you're mistaken because of this...

Bobbin lace.  Never done it before, never seen it done (before I visited You Tube).  I got a beginner's kit at Bishophill and this is my first effort.  A simple background stitch.

Look, Ma, I'm bobbin lace making!  Top of the world.

And oddly enough, where do you think I got instructions for bobbin lace?  With the kit?  That would be a "no" because the instructions that come with the kit leave quite a lot to be desired.  With one of the many books floating around on bobbin lace?  Yeah, right!

I went to my trusty Weldons books which contained a section on Torchon lace (more about the various types of lace another time - Honiton lace is also a bobbin lace), which is one of the names for this type of lace.  The instructions are clear, the woodcuts are fabulous and there are patterns that you can use (as shown in the first 2 pics).  I know this doesn't look like much but I managed to use 12 pairs of bobbins (that's 24 bobbins for anyone keeping score)!

Maybe I need help.

Checking in

I'm afraid I don't have any photos of anything tonight.  I've managed to catch this whatever's going around and it's laid me out. 

The Knitting With Jewelry Wire and Beads class went great on Friday night.  In fact, I felt just a little bit like a fraud because all the ladies had experience with knitting and beading.  So once I got them started and used to how the wire reacts to the knitting, they were off and running.  For once I ended up sitting around because they were doing so great, there was nothing left for me to do!

My final LLCC class is this Friday - Intro to Shuttle Tatting.  I'm really looking foward to this class because I am loving the tatting so much.  Just can't get enough of it.  But it will be the first time I'm teaching it so I hope it all goes well.

I haven't said too much yet about the event that the folks at Lincoln Land are planning for January 15th but it's being called "Needle in a Haystack."  It's going to be a whole day dedicated to all things needlework - knitting, crochet, spinning, weaving, sewing, embroider, quilting, tatting.  You name it and there will either be a class or a demonstration.  If you're in the Central Illinois area, I think you're going to be very sorry if you don't plan to spend that day with us.  There will be 4 class sessions during the day with a wide variety of class offerings, there will be demonstrations and presentations from a variety of needleart guilds.  So if you've always been curious about what the Embroiderer's Guild does (like I have been), you will be able to see their stuff and talk to them.  Very exciting.

When I get a little caught up, I'm going to show you what I got at the Bishophill Spin-in.

White on White Start

I mentioned before that I'd started the spinning for my white on white project.  I've finally got the first step accomplished:

 Here's a little closer look at the yarn:

I have been trying to remember what the fibers were that I bought in Santa Fe.  This was one and it's definitely got silk in it and I think it's angora and silk.  The other one, I think, was cashmere and silk.  I just got 1 ounce of each but got 250 yards of lace weight out of this ounce.  To put the lace weight label in perspective, this fiber spun in this way would give 4,000 yards of yarn from 1 pound of fiber.  Of course, a pound of this fiber would cost in the neighborhood of about $100 so I'll just settle for my ounce!

This was spun on my Fricke wheel using the highest ratio.  It was spun z twist for the singles and s for the plying.  I was reminded again how you really need more twist than you think you're going to need when you're spinning this finely.  I was fine with the singles, got sufficient twist with no problem.  But I had to adjust my treadling when I was plying because I was definitely not getting enough twist into it.  I was a little concerned, in fact, that I would have to feed it through again to get a little more twist in.  I think it worked out fine in the end but a little more twist wouldn't have hurt anything.

The fiber came in a pretty thick strand of roving.  I found that it went much more smoothly to predraft a little bit at a time as I went.  On a softness scale of 1-10, I would say this is about a 9 and on the elegance scale, it's a 10, no doubt.

Done

Ladies and Gentleman, I give you the 1925 Tatted Baby Bonnet.

Thanking you very much.

Counting on my fingers.

I've been feeling a little torn lately but only realized this morning what might be the problem.  I started counting...

1.  Baby bonnet - It's getting along and I'm on the last round.  I changed the last round a little to match the photo.  It was the only instructions in the whole pattern that wasn't completely clear but the photo was really good so I think this is a good representation and I think it will finish it off nicely once I get the ribbons in it.

2.  Baby sweater.  A friend just had a baby so I'm back in baby-land.  Know how hard it is to pick just one thing?  I always decide I'm going to dress the baby until they're 18! It's so hard.  But as soon as I saw this little vintage matinee jacket, I knew it was the very thing.  The new parents are Canadian and this is a vintage Canadian pattern.  Seemed just the thing. The top section is smocked with a contrasting color and their nursery is yellow and lavendar so I decided just to go with those colors.  Besides, I already had the yellow and I think it's such a great color to brighten up the winter.

3.  Clun Forest wool being spun for socks.  I've got 2 bobbins and need just 1 more to finish it off.  This is the first time I've ever spun Clun Forest and everything I've read talked about it being difficult and not so fun to spin.  Once I kind of got used to it, it hasn't actually been so bad. The difference between this and other wools is that it's a very short staple.  It's got a lot of bounce but it's short.  I'm spinning it using a pretty high ratio.  It's not really soft but it's supposed to be great for outer wear and supposed to be really great for socks.  I'll let you know.

4.  White on white project 1.  One of my spinning buddies, Mary, made a comment about a white on white project.  It really caught my interest so I decided to do something with white on white on white.  This is the first white - it's 1oz of merino/tussah silk mix and 1oz of cashmere/tussah silk mix.  It's going to be a 2-ply of the the two.  You can't imagine how rich this fiber is.  I'm spinning it on my Fricke wheel.

5.  White on white project 2.  The second white of the project is silk being spun from these silk hankies on my Kromski Minstrel.

6.  Gray Lace. This is not a part of the white on white project.  This is some gray wool roving that I'm spinning on my new Country Craftsman.  When I first got the wheel, I read that it's supposed to be particularly good spinning lace and this was on top of the pile.  Spins like buttah.

7.  Sock and shawl.  I was running out of time to take photos so I put some of these together.  Socks with Berroco Sox (my favorite sock yarn) and a "Half Square Shawl" from an 1850's knitting book.  Wait until you see this.  It's made with fingering weight and lace yarns using a lozenge pattern.  When I decided to try it out, I went straight to the stash.  I'd forgotten about the fingering weight yarn but it's a silk yarn that I've already used to make 1 shawl which I wear all the time.  I decided to pair it with a matching alpaca lace yarn from KnitPicks. 

8.  Lace and Lace.  Since I'm still able to sleep a couple of hours each night, I guess I've decided I've got too much time on my hands.  I started this orange shawl from "Victorian Lace Knitting" about a month ago.  As you can see, I haven't gotten too far but it's beautiful and I love this yarn.  It's got a light variagation and is merino soft.  Next to it is some blue-faced leicester from Frabjous Fibers that I recently finished spinning.  It's the one that I loved in roving but wasn't so crazy about once it was plied and finished.  Well, I just got looking at it this morning and decided I did like it so not it's ready to be cast on and I know exactly what I want it to be.  I won't say it out loud yet, you'll just have to wait and see.

On top of these projects, I've got 3 classes at Lincoln Land, starting the new Heritage Knitting program with the Old State Capital folks and having a full-time job.

It's all beginning to make sense now.