Sunday, April 28, 2013

This is the pattern...

that started my interest in tatting!



Those of you who have been reading my blog for a long time know the story...

Back in high school, a new girl in the neighborhood tatted a cross for me as a thank you gift. I still have it in the house, someplace really, really safe! ;-)

For 20 years I tried off and on to learn to tat from a book with no success. Then one day, Denise called me and told me that she had learned to tat in 20 minutes from a video. She lent the video to me, and the rest is history!

I was very excited to see this picture on Pinterest, so I printed the picture and began searching for the pattern. I discovered that this is an old Workbasket pattern, and some day I'll take the time to search for the December 1958 issue that I believe holds this pattern.

I've tatted this pattern before, using the original cross as my pattern. However, I really wanted to find the original pattern. There is an Etsy shop that sells a reprint of the pattern for $3.99, but I was sure I had seen the pattern, or something similar, somewhere else.


Sure enough, there's a free pattern from Becky Dempsey, dated 2002! My stitch count on the rings is different from Becky's. Her rings are 8-8. Mine are 6-2-6... such a minor difference!

I need to decide on a tassel for this cross. It is a gift for Rachel, who is going to try her hand at blinging some of my tatting shuttles. She creates fabulous nail art, and she has decorated cell phone and camera cases. I'm really looking forward to seeing her creations! Rachel is a former student of mine, as well as a friend of my oldest daughter, Alison. I now teach Rachel's children in school, but I will be retired before her grandchildren are born! ;-)


I had an unexpected parcel in the mail yesterday... a tatting gift from Fox! She knows my weakness for shuttles, and she sent me two that she was sure I'd enjoy. She is so right! I do own two of these shuttles that I have never taken out of their original packaging. They were a gift from my son-in-law's father, who lives in Slovakia. I am thrilled that I will be able to tat with these little beauties and still have a set in the original packaging! Thank you Fox!

I guess it's time to get on with my day... so much to do, so little time to tat!

12 comments:

  1. That little cross has 'haunted' me since I started tatting well over fifty years ago. I can't remember where I first saw it but I'm sure it wouldn't have been in a Workbasket magazine as America was just a name you saw in books and on another planet in those days. Wish I could trace my first meeting with it.

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  2. I am so glad you found that cross pattern! I was just looking for the same pattern, because I am tatting cross bookmarks for a benefit at work coming up in June. I saw that bookmark online somewhere with a button in the middle. I am not so good at eyeing a pattern and re-creating it yet, but I was going to try! I am so glad you found, and thank you for sharing it with us!
    Tassels-there are so many different ways to do that part, it's neat to see what all the different bloggers do with their bookmarks.
    Do you create your own patterns? I am in the search for an art program/app on my computer and iPad.Anyway, can't wait til you show us your bookmarks!

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  3. Your cross is lovely and thank you for the link, I had a look and there was a couple of other patterns I saw and liked.
    Margaret

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  4. I taught myself to crochet using a book and thought I could learn to tat the same way but it didn't happen. I would love to learn to tat. I would 'swap' a crochet doily for a tatted one if you'd like.

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  5. That is a very old universal pattern. I too have tatted it, but do not remember where the pattern came from. I have a lot of old workbasket magazines so I may have found it there. Just don't remember.
    congrats on your present. Have fun with the shuttles.

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  6. Charlotte, email me and we'll work something out!

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  7. I have that Workbasket Magazine. I may even have an extra copy. I will check for the extra, but would you like me to scan the pattern and email it to you either way? I would love to do that for you.

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  8. Your cross is just so dainty and beautiful, Diane. I'm so glad you found the pattern, and I loved your story. I really hope you find that December 1958 magazine. Hugs xoxo Paulette

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  9. So I just bought an e-book version of "Christmas angels and other tatting patterns" by Monica Hahn. That cross is in that book I believe, and its$2.99 on amazon right now, I'm making ornaments so it worked out well for me. I love the cross you made!

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  10. The Rebecca Jones book that I learnt to tat from has a version of this cross. I think that it is what I taught my sister to make first.

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  11. How fortunate that you persisted in learning tatting. Everything you create with shuttle and thread is so beautiful. Lovely cross. Blissful tatting dear...

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