Tatting in the movies

This is my opinion. I am not compensated for anything mentioned in this post.

I was watching a Christmas movie yesterday (yes, I know it’s not Halloween yet!) and there was a dress with tatting on it!!

I was searching for something to watch so I could sit down and tat. I’m not into watching scary movies so those are out. I just wanted something kind of light-hearted, maybe with a little humor. There are a lot of Christmas movies streaming right now so I tried a couple and found them too silly so went on to another one. I found the 2015 movie “The Spirit of Christmas”. I’d never seen this one and it sounded interesting.

The movie is a little different than most Christmas movies as Christmas isn’t the center of everything. It is a romantic mystery set at Christmas time about a ghost. I was pleasantly surprised by it and my husband liked it, too. Parts of the movie take place in about 1921. And one of the characters wore a dress with tatting on it!

Tatting in “The Spirit of Christmas” movie

I think tatting was on the dress cuffs as well, but I’m not sure. But this is obvious! So cool!

If you are into this kind of show, I highly recommend it. Not just for the tatting.

“The whole of life is just like watching a film. Only it’s as though you always get in ten minutes after the big picture has started, and no-one will tell you the plot, so you have to work it out all yourself from the clues.”
― Terry Pratchett, Moving Pictures

Book and button

Last week our library had a book sale which I actually had time to go in and check out, which is dangerous. I like books. I like to browse through books of all sorts, getting lost in all the interesting things they present. It is also very easy to give them a nice new home. My husband was fortunate that I only brought three home with me, for the amazing donation of $5. One of them was a tatting book in very good condition.

Library book I found

This book is edited by Barbara Foster and published by Handy Hands Tatting Publications. It is a reproduction of a 1952 Australian book written by Norma Benporath with a few additions from Barbara.

Original cover of library book

Except for the later additions the patterns in this book are all written in the long form.

Example of written patterns from book

This method of writing out patterns is not used much anymore, for good reason. There are other, easier to read, methods that also take up less space that are used today. I learned to tat reading this kind of pattern but I would probably note down in an easier form any pattern I make from this book.

There are other things in the book, too, like a a short history and a few tips and hints on tatting, tools, and mounting tatting to material, as well as pictures and written directions for tatting. I love reading about this kind of thing. This book had not been used much, which is sad for the library (probably why it was in the sale) but exciting to me, giving me the chance to purchase it.

I have been tatting a bit, mostly around buttons and other small things. I have other projects going on that I’m working on but nothing to show yet. One button that I did yesterday was to wear to my granddaughter’s volleyball match last night. They were having a ‘pink out’ night, their way of supporting breast cancer awareness and support. They had QR codes posted around the gym so you could donate money on-line if you wanted. They encouraged everyone to wear pink, which is great, but I don’t have anything that is pink. I had to make something.

Pink button and ribbon

I used Lizbeth #622 Pink Med in size 10 to make these. I added a pin back to the button and wore it on my shirt. I made a second ‘ribbon’ and wore them as earrings. It was fun seeing all the kids at the school in their pink shirts, skirts, and face paint. FYI, my granddaughter’s team won both matches, yay!

My daughter helped me do a bit of Halloween decorating in my yard this year though not in my house. It was a lot of fun but I think I’ll just do Autumn and Thanksgiving decorating inside instead. I can leave it up longer that way. I haven’t done much ‘fall’ tatting but I suppose fall isn’t over yet. Maybe I’ll get a bit of it in before I start the Christmas tatting.

“Books are a uniquely portable magic” Stephen King

Victor and other fall things

Believe it or not, I have finished the pattern for the Victor Snowflake! Amazing, isn’t it? If you are interested, please leave a comment or email me for the pattern.

Victor Snowflake in fall colors

When test-tatting Victor I decided to use Lizbeth # 694 Bright Orange and # 698 Fudge Med in size 20, because it is fall and I felt like using fall colors. Using two colors helps define the pattern, which is helpful when writing it out.

I’ve been getting out the fall and Halloween decorations in the hopes of putting a bit up in the house. I usually decorate at work not so much the house, but this year is different. Now I have to decide what I’m putting where, and how much. It would look best if I clean up the house a bit first, so this may be limited. I think I’ll leave the spiderwebs until after Halloween, LOL.

One thing I have already hung up is the quilted ball ornament I received from Isdahara way back in 2009. She had a giveaway on her blog, Ambitatterous, and I won! The really fun part about the giveaway was that we actually met up for her to give me the prize.

Victor Snowflake and Quilted ball by Isdahara

Not only did she make this lovely quilted ball but she added tatting to make it extra special. The pumpkin on the front and back is ‘Tatted Pumpkin’, pattern by Sherry Matthews ©2004, and the edging is ‘Pumpkin Vine Edging’ pattern by Heidi Sunday. Isdahara doesn’t do much with her blog these days but she is the admin for the Facebook group Summer Snowflakes. Always fun snowflakes to see there if you’d like to check it out.

To enter Isdahara’s giveaway you had to make up a ‘fractured quote‘ about tea and tatting. Tatters came up with some good ones! Below are the two I came up with. Not saying they were good, but they were fun to make!

“Tea and tatting – Mmmmm, two of life’s exquisite pleasures that together bring near-bliss” tattrldy (mis-quoted from Christine Hanrahan)

Hey diddle duddle, the cat and the shuttle
Tatting all over the room
The little dog sipped on honey and tea
And wrapped all the knots on a spoon
tattrldy

Another snowflake

I mentioned in my last post that I didn’t complete any tatting while on vacation, which is true, but I almost did. I finished this snowflake the day after we got home.

Victor Snowflake

I still had the Lizbeth #674 Garnet Dk on my shuttles while trying to decide what I wanted to do. I started the center and was very happy with it. I’m not as happy with the outside arms, probably because the dark thread made seeing the stitches hard when I didn’t have the best lighting. Which was often. The reason the arms are a bit wonky is, I suspect, incorrect stitch counts as well as different tensions. This is what happens when you put it down and pick it up at odd intervals while making it.

Overall I’m happy with this snowflake, which I’m calling Victor after where I started it. I’m thinking this might be my family Christmas ornament this year, but I could change my mind at any time.

Victor, Idaho, is a cute little town right on Idaho state highway 33, just five miles from the Wyoming state line. The town has some nice businesses, several of which we visited while there. We did find the street parking kind of odd, none of us had seen it before. All the cars have to back into the parking spots on the street.

Victor, Idaho parking

We were asking ourselves what was going on when we spotted the sign.

Victor, Idaho parking directions

At least they gave directions. The street is marked with a line to give you space so you can pull over in preparation for backing in. Speaking to one of my daughters when we got home I was told that she had seen this before in a business parking lot. I guess you never know what you are going to find when you travel.

“We travel not to escape life, but for life not to escape us.” travel ad