Back To Business

So apparently I was talking to myself yesterday. That's okay, I just needed to vent I suppose. So today I'm back to my creative self. I am of course working on a new mask design. This one is based on my Grand Daisy motif and though I'm certain to make the first one for sale in black, I think this one will be great in many colors for perhaps a fairy costume. I know it's hard to see in the ecru, but that's my prototype thread. I use it not only because I have a mile of it, but also because I can count the stitches so much better with this thread. I have yet to write down the patterns for any of my masks. I know, I should should know better by now. If I wait too much longer, I'll forget the changes I made from the prototype to the final design and they will be lost to the ages, but I'm on such a creative roll that I'm afraid that stopping to write them down will stunt my growth.

Since I'm back on the subject of tatting, I thought I'd share that I finally joined my first tatting community. Why is this a big deal? Well, when I first tried tatting I was using a shuttle and I failed miserably, but I was determined to learn this skill. I went online for help and ran across a small mention of needle tatting, bought a book and learned like lightning. Once the book had no more to teach me, I went back to the Internet for help, techniques and patterns and though I found lots of that, I also found unpleasantness. I ran across people claiming that needle tatting was not only, not "real" tatting, but insinuated that it was akin to cheating. I also found folk who thought that they were the only worthy tatters and they rest of us should just shove off. You can imagine that I tried to avoid all contact with other tatters for fear of being judged and told that I did not belong.

I'm certain that nearly every discipline or craft has the same problems in their communities, but I was so afraid and unsure of myself that I stayed away. It wasn't until I started my blog just a few months ago that I began to develop friendships with other tatters. I've since met some amazingly talented and wonderful people and it is because of them that I finally realize that I do in fact belong. I look forward to using this new resource to learn and grow. It is also refreshing to network where my ultimate goal is not selling something. I don't know how much time I'll devote to this new adventure as I'm stretched pretty thin already, but I've dipped a toe in and water seems fine so far.