Monday 18 March 2013

Ambitatterous? Moi? Mais Pourquoi Pas!

Ambitatterous...  a neat expression for those who tat with either a needle or a shuttle.

I like the look of interlocking rings.  As most people know,  I'm a shuttle tatter, but my previous experience of making interlocking rings with a shuttle was not enjoyable.  They have a life of their own when made with a shuttle and I got them wrong as many times as I got them right!  After some trial and error, it still seemed a mystery to me when they did work out!



Last night, I was inspired to have another go and thought "why not make the interlocking part with a needle and then carry on with a shuttle?"  Interlocking rings with a needle are easy.  So this is what I did for the motif above.  I made five interlocking rings and then used a shuttle and ball to complete the following two rounds.  I just improvised as I went along.

I'm no expert with the needle and I think I need to firm up those centre rings a bit more so they keep their shape better when making the next rounds but I like the overall look of this. 

So why not use both needle AND shuttle if you can?




And another brief update on the Butterfly doily (are you fed up with it yet?):  I'm now more than halfway through round 15... it has 112 repeats, so that's 336 small rings, two thirds of which are split rings!  It currently measures nearly 20 inches across.



Best wishes,
Frivole

20 comments:

  1. Wow your doily is beautiful! That is a LOT of repeats and rings! Best of luck!
    I love the idea of using both the needle and shuttle in one motif. I've only ever tried interlocking rings with a shuttle and am now excited to try it with a needle! Thanks for the inspiration!

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  2. A very good idea! and a very nice theme! I like the idea of rings. It looks great!
    I admire the napkin will be amazing :-)

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  3. That's a great idea to use needle and shuttle in one motif. It looks lovely to me.
    Your doily is looking lovely with all those repeats I am sure you will be glad to finish it now, I am looking forward to seeing it finished.
    Margaret

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  4. The interlocking ring motif is so cool looking! You did a great job and I really like the color too!!

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  5. Your motif is beautiful!!! :)
    Love that doily!!! :)

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  6. Good idea to use needle and shuttle, no need to decide one or the other. I love your motif. I learnt to make interlocking rings with a shuttle, but couldn't really think where to go from there. Your doily is stunning, and no, we're not bored, we like to see the progress!

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  7. that motif is so cute! And I can't wait to see how the butterfly doily turns out!

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  8. That doi... ahem... large motif is sensational! The colour you have chosen is perfect to display the design and also the tatting itself. Great choice.

    The interlocking rings? I tried the needle and even that did not help so I shall keep plugging with the videos and the shuttle. Your efforts turned out very well . : ))
    Fox

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  9. Great idea, your interlocking ring motif looks lovely!

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  10. I really like the Interlocking Rings motif, very nice.
    That doily (sorry Fox) is sensational. It will be amazing when it is finished.

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  11. What a cute motif. I'm happy to hear you are still tackling that doily. I'm so looking forward to see it finished in real life, so to speak. I have my monster doily to finish as well, but it's no where near the size you're working with. You are my motivation to keep at it and finish.

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  12. Persevere! (I know you will) That doily is gorgeous.

    Never thought about doing both- duh! You are so clever.

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  13. Clever girl! I'd never have thought of combining needle and shuttle in the same motif! Looks like I'll be playing with the interlocking rings soon.

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  14. Great idea, but I probably won't try it. The few times I've tried needle tatting, my work has been so sloppy, I just threw it away. I think I'll just admire yours!

    Tire of doily progress? Never!

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  15. Love the new motif with interlocking rings. Never tried needle tatting. You did a great job being ambitatterous.

    Your butterfly doily is looking gorgeous. This 15th round is so pretty.

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  16. I love your star motif! I have figured out a way to do the first group of rings more easily with the shuttle, and am working on a different way to do the last ring. Hope to explain it on my blog soon! Your doily is another masterpiece in the making!

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    1. Hi Kathy, yes, I can do the first group of rings not too bad as well... it's that last one that was always confusing me!! I could rarely get it to interlock properly on both sides - what a brain puzzle! Maybe I should try again? But I look forward to seeing what you come up with.

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  17. If you had not told me, I would think the center interlocking rings were done by shuttle. Beautiful job, on both, as always.

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  18. Great job working both needle and shuttle to create such a pretty motif!

    I got a chuckle reading "Ambitatterous... a neat expression for those who tat with either a needle or a shuttle."

    As I created the term for my first tatting web site (hosted by Geocities) and for me it referred to anyone who is able to tat either right- or left-handed. (No matter what tool is used.)

    But I quite like your interpretation, especially as it leads to many more ambitatterous lacers in the world!

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    1. Oh Gosh! I'm sorry I got that wrong IsDihara! I really thought from the times I'd seen the expression used at In Tatters that it meant either needle or shuttle - not either right or left-handed!! Though of course, ambidextrous means just that.

      I shall have to correct myself on the next blogpost!! I did mean to put a note about your own website - I wasn't trying to steal your word! I just thought tatters had started using it to mean shuttle/needle tatters.

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