Loop-Tatted Rings and Catherine Wheel Joins

For people who like more advanced techniques, this post is about loop-tatted rings and Catherine wheel joins.  I think there is a myriad of patterns that are perfect with just simple rings and chains.  If you only ever used rings and chains, you could still tat a lifetime and not run out of patterns to tat.  Still, there are many techniques out there which I find interesting and I like exploring.

First of all, some people were interested in a video on the loop-tatted ring technique as used in the Candlelight Snowflake (version with bugle beads).

This is a second version of the snowflake which I showed over at In Tatters.
Here I used three beads instead of bugle beads for the loop-tatted rings.

Small question for viewers of my videos:  should I change to a white background?  Is the red distracting too much?

And finally, I've been having a go at Catherine wheel joins.  This is a lovely smooth join which looks really neat.  I've not made patterns calling for it yet but I'm sure eventually it will be exactly the thing I need at a particular spot in a pattern.

On some of them you can hardly tell there's a join, don't you think?  I love how it keeps a nice unbroken curve on the outside chain whilst still making a join.  I don't plan on making a video for this technique because Yarnplayer has the perfect one!  Until seeing her video, I couldn't get my head around this technique but her demonstration is very clear.

How about you?  Have you used Catherine wheel joins before?  And does anyone know WHY they are called that?

(Meanwhile of course, I'm not making much progress on the knitting!!)

Best wishes,

Getting Side-tracked...

Still knitting (slowly... - well, not knitting slowly but just not knitting often enough!).  My problem is I always get distracted by other things...  This time it's my beads that had a sudden renewed appeal.  Just had to get them out and play.

Don't know what I'm going to do with these yet.

Hopefully I'll come up with a bright idea eventually.

They are made from 2in long wood beads.

I was wearing a cardigan with these colours the other day

and it inspired me to make this ring.

On another note, I was sorry to miss out on the great Oovoo tatting event (see Michelle's, Diane's and Happy Bluebird's blogs).  I tried everything to get connected but my faithful Mac let me down on this occasion.

Can't believe it's mid-November already.  I try so hard not to think about Christmas too early but it's getting unavoidable.  If I want to have some snowflakes ready for my cards, I'll have to start tatting again soon!

Best wishes,

If You Don't Hear From Me For a Bit....

It's because I'm knitting!  The weather is getting colder here and I have this very nice Fair Isle Cardigan which I thought I would enjoy wearing.... if only I got it finished!  Really, there isn't that much left:  body and both sleeves done and I'm now up to the shoulders, knitting in the round.  So I thought I would be "good" and have a go at finishing it.  Just a few more inches at the top, then the collar and button bands.

I struggle to leave my shuttles alone (and still do a bit of tatting here and there) but I will really make an effort with the knitting.

I'll try to be back as quickly as I can - I've got a big(gish) tatting project going on in the background and also there's all those Christmas snowflakes to think about!  So it's a wrench.... but back to my knitting needles I go... for now.

Best wishes,

Crowns Scaled Down

I had to have a go at this - I just felt the size of the original was wrong for me and I didn't like too much empty space in the middle and around the top.  So here it is, I've tried to keep the shape as much as possible and just made everything smaller.  The centre ring is now only 20 ds (10-10), instead of 34 which is easily workable and much more pleasant to handle.

I also think the two centre rings (it's actually a ring and a chain around it) fit better together whereas on the larger version, I was struggling to get it to fit really evenly all around (as you can see on the second photo).

Here's the two together, for comparison's sake.

I may add one or two double stitches to the crown curve (the outside top chain),

to get it a bit rounder.

Best wishes,

Frauberger Crowns

Needed to tat something quick so I could get the pumpkins off!  All finished now, Halloween things put away and pumpkins going in the compost bin.

So here is a pattern by Tina Frauberger.  I really like the shape of it though I find the size a bit big.  That center ring has 34 stitches in it!  And I don't like working with big rings or long chains.  I wonder if I should try keeping the proportions but making everything smaller....

Her book is interesting in that it has many variations on a theme.  These crowns are repeated many times with slight variations and in different combinations.  I will be adding to this for the next post, you'll see what I mean.

Best wishes,

Halloween!

My favourite thing about Halloween is...    the pumpkins!

Here's ours on our doorstep tonight.

How Do You Photograph Sparkly Beads??

Every time I try to get a good photo a sparkly beads, it seems impossible!  The snowflakes look lovely in real life and sparkle beautifully as the light hits the beads but it never seems to show in my photos.  Any photographers out there who can offer advice?

I've tried all sorts of different lighting, with flash, without flash, natural daylight (sunshine can be hard to come by at this time of year and there wasn't any today), sideways lighting.... to no avail!  Those beads must be shy, they just don't want to shine for the camera!

I'm on the great snowflake search at the moment.  I'm looking for the 2011 snowflake that will go in my Christmas cards.  The dark purple one in the third and fourth photos, called Kira's star,  is the one I used last year.  There is a beaded and unbeaded version.

So here's another.

Quite a simple one this time.

From the small book "Tatting Patterns" by Workbasket

I find the "empty" spaces a bit too big on this one.

Maybe re-do it with the points a bit smaller?

Pretty sparkly silvery beads but you can barely see them on the photos, can you?

And what do I do with all of these?

This is just a selection of some of the motifs I've tatted.

They just end up at the bottom of a box somewhere and it seems a shame

not to have a better use for them.

I'll occasionally stick one on a card, or attach a small motif to a gift...

There was a thread started at In Tatters about what people did with their tatting.

I should go and read it again!

How about you?

I bet you also have lots of tatted pieces floating about...

Best wishes,