Bloggy giveaway carnival time is over…..

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

I have always found hedgehogs to be charming.

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

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

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

Yes indeed.

I’ve been trying to upload them to my website, but we are in the middle of real fratzzsnags with our computer, so phooey…. no website page.

Just send me an email if you’re interested!

Image source: Noreen Crone-Findlay copyright 

My husband’s dad built a desk when my husband was a wee little guy. Sadly, the desk fell apart last winter. BUT!

The desk lives on in all manner of ways!

I have made bag handles and a heap of bracelets from the bottoms of the drawers.

And, today, I made myself another ‘Lady Hoare’ (I pronounce it Lady Harr, as the other possible pronounciations are slightly ‘ahem’-ish) tatting shuttle:

The Lady Hoare style of tatting shuttle is a very old version of shuttle and I absolutely love it. It’s my favorite style of tatting shuttle.

Why? Because it allows me to load it up with a ton of thread, so I don’t have a bunch of little joining knots.

AND… I can tat with thicker yarns, including handspun when tatting with the Lady Hoare shuttle.

At first, it felt a little clumsy, but I have gotten so used to them, that it is quite speedy now.

Here’s how I make them:

First of all, I like to have a template, .so I drew out the pattern on a sticky label. I stuck it to some thin brass that my son pulled out of an old amp before it went to the eco station for recycling:

Here’s the template cut out:

I have a big old pair of scissors that I paid a dollar for at a garage sale. I use it to do things like cut templates out of brass sheet!

Then, I traced the template onto the bits of old drawer. It’s hardwood, but I don’t know what kind of wood:

I traced out 2 of them, because the fiddly bits can be notoriously unstable.

Next posting: Out to the workshop!

Image source: Noreen Crone-Findlay