photo by Noreen Crone-Findlay copyright

First of all

check out the

lace behind

the bunny

tatting

shuttle….

It’s  a fragment

of needle lace that

I bought 20 years

from a lace collector.

I am fascinated by fragments of  interesting lace whenever I come upon them, as I feel that they are a valuable resource that have clues to the history of needlework.

Anyhow… check out the tiny flowers… aren’t they gorgeous?  Bear with me… this gets a little convoluted….

photo by Noreen Crone-Findlay copyright

So….

I was doing some

web searching into

Lux knitting books,

because Leslie

sent me a list of

Lux knitting books

that her mother

had cherished

and collected over the years.

I tried all over the net to see if I could track down more about the Lux Knitting books. I am thrilled to have found a 1951 copy that now keeps my grandmother’s 1958 copy company.

Well… in the search for information about the Lux Knitting books (no luck so far, although in a previous post, I listed the links that another reader had sent in for patterns from New Zealand versions of the Lux Knitting books)-

anyhow… as I was searching, I went, of course, to the Arizona University site, to see if they had any pdf’s of Lux Knitting books. nope…

BUT…. I did find the most WONDERFUL pattern for a crocheted doily that has little flowers that are dead ringers for the flowers in the needle lace fragment in the bunny pic. Isn’t that cool?  Here’s the link: 1915 crochet pattern on page 10.

This may not be a thriller for some people, but I am sure that there are lots of us who just LOVE historic needlework, so what can I say, except: Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

Post from: Hankering for Yarn

photo by Noreen Crone-Findlay copyright

One of the tiny pieces that I bought then,

and have cherished ever since,

has always been a mystery to me.

But, now, I am convinced that I  know what it is!

Lynn and Elizabeth left comments

on yesterday’s post and have confirmed

that the piece of  ‘mystery lace’

that I wrote about yesterday is

definitely needlepoint lace.

And, I am convinced that this

3 inch/7.5 cm square is, as well.

It’s utterly exquisite, and is worked on

an extraordinarily miniature scale!

When I was googling around,

researching handmade lace,

I googled on ‘needle lace’, and this

awe inspiring video came up:

It’s entitled: Puncetto Valsesiano

It’s utterly breathtaking!

After Lynn told me to google on ‘needlepoint lace, I found another wonderful site: marlamallett.com

I have been in love with lace all my life, and am delighted that there is still so much to learn about it- how magical is that?

Post from: Hankering for Yarn

Lynn posted a comment saying that she uses  a pasta drying rack for drying her lace bobbins.

I thought that this was a great idea, and filed it away in the- hmmmm… ‘clever… file’….

Photo by Noreen Crone-Findlay copyright

When we dropped in on a garage sale,

I spotted a wire basket

that gave me an aha moment…..

I thought…

it’s not a pasta dryer

but ….

this will work

BEAUTIFULLY

for drying  the tatting shuttles.

So, that’s my ‘yay’ for the day.

And, now, there’s another totally excellent book that I want to give the thumbs up to….

copyright Mary Konior and Lacis publications

‘Tatting with Visual Patterns’

by  Mary Konior

published by

Lacis Publications,

Berkeley, CA,

is a real keeper.

The projects are

presented with

precise text instructions,

as well as clear

and meticulous charts,

AND are photographed

beautifully in full color.

The book is full of excellent hints, tips and guidance for tatters of all skill levels.

I highly recommend ‘Tatting With Visual Patterns’, as it’s a storehouse of information and is timeless in it’s approach.

Very good stuff, indeed. Gold star for this one!

Post from: Hankering for Yarn

The other day, I posted about the Hedgehog Tatting Shuttles that I have just designed and am now making.

Well……

I  offered one of my  Hedgehog Tatting Shuttles (one of a kind, handmade by me) as a prize in the bloggy giveaway carnival!

ANd the winner is #60, Nicole – congratulations! Hope you will enjoy it!

and make sure you leave a valid email address. 

The Contest  is now closed.

Image Source: Noreen Crone-Findlay copyright
Please note: I am no longer writing hankering for yarn. You can catch up with me at www.tottietalkscrafts.com

Post from: Hankering for Yarn

But, we have a greyhound, so we could never have a pet hedgehog. (’Mmmm, tasty’, I can imagine him saying….)

So, recently, when one of my readers asked me if I would make a teardrop shaped tatting shuttle, I did some sketches, and played with it, and came up with:

I am VERY pleased with it!

It tats like a dream, not at all spikey like it’s real life inspiration.

I love it when fun things evolve out of conversations with my hankering for yarn buddies!

Image  Source: Noreen Crone-Findlay copyright

Post from: Hankering for Yarn

The shawl is a combination of tatting and crochet and is a small semi-circular shoulder shawl. It is super comfortable to wear as it stays in place without tugging.

I love putting crochet together with tatting as they are  harmonious  partners.

I went through a fair amount of frustration with making the shawl, as I had to frog it many times to find the perfect combination of threads.

But, now I love it, and wear it a lot!

Here is a list of the links that show the shawl being constructed:

Tatted and crocheted shawl

Some different color backgrounds for the shawl

Working on the larger butterflies

Small tatted butterflies

My kitty wearing tatted butterflies on her forehead

 The Pattern for the tiny tatted butterflies

Post from: Hankering for Yarn

Tatting Chic won the Lady Hoare tatting shuttle that I gave away recently on my blog.

She wrote about it: Tatting Chic and the new Lady Hoare shuttle

She was disappointed to find it slow and difficult to work with.

The Lady Hoare tatting shuttles are slower to work with, but you can move along with them at a fair clip, once you get used to them.

AND, there is a secret to working with them comfortably.

Pinch lightly on one of the openings, and have the rest of the tatting shuttle ‘float’ out in front of your fingers.   A closed shuttle will sit mostly inside your hand, so adjusting to the ‘floating hold’ does make the Lady Hoare easier to use.  It’ll seem odd at first, but it will click for you, and it’ll work beautifully.

Image source: Noreen Crone-Findlay  copyright

Post from: Hankering for Yarn

photo copyright Noreen Crone-Findlay

People have been asking me if the Little Bird Tatting Shuttle is available for purchasing.

I have sold out the Little Bird tatting shuttles, but do have a few of the Blue Birds of Happiness left.

Post from: Hankering for Yarn

I just did a quick google search about tatting shuttles and other needlework tools.

One of the neatest things that came up was a site that has a copy of a book called:

‘Old Time Tools and Toys of Needlework’ 

It’s such a charming read that I found myself getting totally absorbed in it!

I loved reading about the Lady Hoare shuttles.  The quotation about the joys and pleasures of needlework is just lovely. I don’t want to break copyright, so I won’t quote it, but definitely recommend a quick browse (or leisurely schmooz ).

Interesting that the poet Chaucer wrote about ladies doing something he called ‘pearling’ or ‘purling’, but it sounds like tatting, not knitting…..  hmmmm…..

intriguing…..

Image source: Noreen Crone-Findlay 

Post from: Hankering for Yarn

I fell in love with Kreinik’s Metallic 1/8″ ribbon thread and wanted to tat some butterflies with it:

There’s 5 meters on the spool, but I didn’t know if that would be enough to tat 2 butterflies.

So, I decided to do an experiment.

I wound 5 m of Rainbow Hemp Beading Twine from Jolly store  onto my tatting shuttle and tatted these Rainbow Butterflies:

Poifeck!

You can get a pair of earrings with less than 5 m!

So, I went ahead and wrapped my shuttle with the spool of

Kreinik Metallics #209C 1/8″ Ribbon yarn  

and it tatted up BEAUTIFULLY!

I am delighted with them.

I tatted them while blissing out to the music in the bistro where my husband’s jazz trio was playing.

People kept coming up to me to ask what I was doing and to admire the thread.

Don’t tat in public if you are shy!

People are intrigued by it and want to know what on earth you are doing.

I am still waiting for the little Flip video camera to arrive (it’s almost TWO months now that I have been waiting for it!).

When it gets here, I’ll do a video tutorial on how to tat these incredibly easy, but oh so gorgeous, earrings.

And, perhaps, I should make a pair to give away in a series of ‘Yay, I’ve been writing Hankering for Yarn for more than 2 years now’ celebratory give aways next week….

Whaddya think?

Image source: Noreen Crone-Findlay copyright 

Post from: Hankering for Yarn