Drama and Lace

Ah Friday, that magically day. Only one more day worth of stuff that has to be done before there are couple of days where stuff only 'should' get done. Yeah, there's barely a difference, but I am wiped this week so I'm clinging to it. Yesterday was another odd one, sure it was my own fault for being curious and diving into the tatting drama that I stumbled upon. I'm not going to go into details as it serves no other purpose than to drag out the issue which I honestly think was someones intention...sorry, I'm stopping. Anyway the drama brought up other fairly non related drama and my morning was spent in a search for the truth of that matter. I ran into a phrase I had not actually heard before in reference to needle tatting and that was 'faux tatting'. This set me off more than I would like to admit and after much research I came back to a phrase I saw not so long ago though I can't remember who said/wrote it first. 'The knot does not care how it was made.' I thank that person who I can't remember the name of immensely for that peaceful thought and that it where I would like to leave all of that nonsense. Again, sorry for the cryptic, but as much as I needed to vent, I was not about to start even more drama as a result of it.

Back to the caterpillar. I've been staring and hoping that it would say to me in plain language, 'I'm done.' but it hasn't happened as of yet. I did fix the issue I was having with the lace folding with a small piece of wire. I thought about the questions brought up in the comments and here are the answers. I stopped the spots because they are only on the head portion of the 'real' caterpillar and as to the other question, I can devise no way to add eyes that wouldn't come off as creepy. Back to the dots though, just now, I looked over at the piece and I think that might actually be the ticket. I got caught up in reproducing that I forgot that this is suppose to be inspired by the character, not a reproduction of him. I think adding the dots all the way around would give the piece that finished look that has alluded me. Thank you, oh readers for your comments, they are useful...especially you victats for the questions.

Though I remained stumped on the caterpillar I moved full steam ahead on the new necklace design. After faithful reproduction of the original pattern, I busted out the scissors to cut away a useless row. Then I was back to my old ways of making stuff up as I go. I came up with a few adjustments and a whole new row. This actually shrank up the piece a little, so I'm now in the process of devising a continuation of the pattern that makes up for a small amount of space. Seriously, sometimes the hardest bit of a necklace design is adjusting for the right length without completely mangling the design.

After I get that worked out and apparently after I make a zillion little blue dots for the caterpillar, I'll work the piece up in black and them it's final color combination that is part of the secret so I won't be sharing that. Then I need to design a variation of the necklace. One that matches, but is different. I already have a good idea of how that is going to work, but as we know, things don't generally work out as planned. Now I shall leave you with yesterday's picture from my 365 project, because I liked it a lot and thought you might too.

Tunnel of Lace

Not Quite There Yet

I think I had another off day. Something just wasn't right...you know when you can't quite put your finger on the problem, but it still manages to soil the day. I did spend a little time trying to get the caterpillar just right. I made a few more adjustments to the metal bits and I think I'm almost there. I just have one more little problem with the way the lace will behave hung like this. If I can suss out a solution to this issue, the caterpillar might get it's photo shoot today and get listed...if I can suss it out. I like the way everything hangs, but it put a little stress on the bottom of the lace to bend. I may just insert a bit of wire to solidify the piece, but that is so not fun.

In other designing news, I started work on a set of custom necklaces. The only odd bit is the customer wants to remain a bit in the dark concerning their design as one is a surprise and apparently she is not so good at keeping those a secret. The less she knows, the less she can share. Makes sense. So I shall do my level best to remain a bit cryptic on the design work, but I have to share a bit don't I?

This little section is the edge of a doily that I plan on doing a bit of reverse engineering on to create the final design. I of course had to make a section of said doily before I could begin to break it down and use the elements properly with a few other ideas to create the final design. It's always hard to follow the exact pattern in the first place. I always want to start modifying right off the bat, but the process works so much better if I have a correct representation of the original. I am likely to axe the extreme picot party of this design and there is much work to do to join it to the other sections, but I have already tested the design for shape and it's perfect on that front.

Oh, one more small bit of news. In a continuation of the fashion blogging news I've already shared, yesterdays google alerts brought me another feature., this time at trend hunter. This time it is perfectly clear that they have mistook the 'tats' in' TotusMel Tats' to mean tattoos and again are assuming that my attempt was to create non permanent tattoos. I mean, sure I'll take all the press you want to give me, but I'd much prefer that they 'get' what it is. So...

Dear fashion blogging world, thank you for the notice, really it is wonderful, but it's tatting, not crochet or knit. It has absolutely no relation to tattooing except in your perception that it resembles it. Thank you again, please continue to mention my work at your convenience and I am available for interviews.

There, that ought to do it right? Maybe? Anyway, I'll be working more on the custom pieces as well as hopefully putting those final touches on the caterpillar today and maybe it will be a 'normal' day.

Hookah

Well, yesterday was a bit off. I spent a very long time on the twitter discussing a custom order. Not that I mind the custom order, nor the venue of discussion, only that I got little done in the morning. I went straight from that discussion to the child's schooling for the day, so it wasn't until much later that I made any progress on the caterpillar.

Trying to stick with the whole, use up the stash theme, I gathered a few beads and a headpin to attempt to create a hookah. I think I said I wasn't going to do that, but he is the hookah smoking caterpillar, so it was worth a shot. I made the chain using large jump rings twisted to make two rings out of each. Again, that whole using only what I've got thing. When I presented the hookah for opinions on twitter, they ranged from,'that's perfect' to 'nope, looks nothing like a hookah'. I made a few adjustments after this picture on advisement of a twitter follower who I'm going to assume has more familiarity with the hookah than me, which is to say he has any at all.

I had accepted that the necklace looks little like an actual caterpillar, only that it feels inspired by a caterpillar...or perhaps snake. Anyway, I wasn't going to try and give this thing a face or anything, but I did decide to add a few more details. here we have one of those. The blue dots that one can see near the head of the caterpillar. I made small rings and sewed them onto the piece with rainbow filament. The result of the filament is a very subtle shine, which is good since I didn't really want any other bling after the hookah.

I still don't feel like the piece is done, but I'm not sure what else it needs. I'm certain that it will come to me at some point and I do have a custom piece to deal with so I might move onto that for a spell so I can come back to this one with fresh eyes. I'm also not entirely pleased with the clasp either so it might get moved as well. I guess what I'm saying is it is a work in progress until I say otherwise.

The Caterpillar

I know I should do something epic today, but I just this moment noted that this is my 500th blog post and all I can really think is, yikes. So, I shall just leave it at the acknowledgment and move on. Usually, I rely on my google alerts to share features with me but it was the analytics that alerted me to a new one...in French. A lovely facebook fan apparently shared my work on a fashion networking site and this is actually the second article to result from that. The very similar wording leads me to the conclusion that they originated at the same place as does the comparison to Chanel's new rub on tattoos. This one is at The Trendy Girl and the first one was at Set Your Style. So thanks to the fashion blogging world...keep it up, no really...go right ahead!

Back to the tatting world now. I did decide to get on with the caterpillar. I went with my new hand dyed green thread as the base color then set it aside to work out a pattern. I could have sworn that I had a vintage edging around here with the proper undulating effect that I wanted, but after a search through my abandoned and prototype tatting box, I came up empty. I did of course run across several older designs that might be brought back to life at some point. I do hate to give up on a design. Anyway, with no preexisting design to work off of, I started by modifying the basic vine pattern to make it curve in and out. Then I added a second row that switched from one side to the other further enhancing the curve. It kind of reminded me of drawing a ribbon.

Once I was happy with the prototype, I switched to the hand dyed thread. I hate to waste any thread, so I wanted to be sure before I began. Here, you can see the wave forming with the vine pattern. I made a fairly long length, but I think I should have gone longer since the second row really does pull the curve up making the overall length shrink up. I have a clever idea for joining the necklace, but I'm not certain how to accomplish it yet. Yes, this is another of my just tat it and see how it goes moments. I am not a good designing role model...don't do what I do.

When I started the second row, I added rings at the joins on a whim. I thought perhaps they would give the impression of little caterpillar feet. In a subtle way though, not the 'there's a bug on my neck way'...okay maybe a little like that. So this is where I left off. My Grandfather who had just visited from two states over came right back to bring us some things. I think he was insane to do so, but I thank him for the visit as well as the things. We took him out to dinner and he was already back on the road this morning before I woke up and I wake up early. Today is finally a school day again and though I do enjoy a bit of a break, I relish in the routine to get things done around here, including my tatting. So hopefully I'll get some more done on the caterpillar and then I feel compelled to create some new fashion pieces to play to the blog attention. Can't let trend potential slip me by, now can I?

The Tweedle Brothers

So when is a Monday, not a Monday? When ones spouse has managed to create a five day weekend from Thursday to Monday of course. It is further reduced by the sheer magnitude of the 'weekend' I just had. Seriously it was so very long. I shall give you a quick recap so that you may understand my fatigue at this early hour. Friday began fairly normally, but morphed in the afternoon as we attended a field trip that included the Great backyard Bird count followed by an impromptu trip to the zoo. Then during nap time there was cleaning to do as Saturday evening included the most insane thing this house has ever seen. My point is it the whole thing was already off on Friday.

Saturday began with yard work as the sun was shining and we had much winter to undo, including the destruction the backyard landscapers reaped on the front yard. Weeds to pull everywhere and and cleanup while entertaining the children. More cleaning inside the house and then the hour arrived when we were to babysit my sisters 4 children overnight, but wait there is more. The spouse thought is would be fun to invite his brothers 2 children to stay as well for a big old cousin sleepover. If you're keeping count that equals 8 children between he ages of 2 and 10 including my own. My mother in law stayed to help and my brother visited for a while in the evening with my mom's dog, but lets just say, I am exhausted. As the children departed Sunday afternoon there was still the matter of Valentines to attend to, mostly for the kids and now I am left with a Monday of more cleaning to prepare for a guest tonight and...well...I'm tired.

I did manage to get some tatting done over the weekend. I listed The Cheshire Cat mask on Friday to many views. In fact I think it was my fastest item to receive over 100 views with no feature of some sort. Then I finished up the Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum piece. The tatting had already been done, so only the chain was left to make. This one used seed beads and glass pearls and then I added a few more random red beads of which I have no more, to flesh out the piece. I got that one listed as well.

Then I proceeded to remake a couple of sold pieces, basically busy work during the few moments of rest I got over the weekend. The last denizen of Wonderland that is on the list to be made for certain is the caterpillar. My delay with this piece is attempting to get the right color for him. There are fewer pictures of him out there and he seems to be that same turquoise blue that I used for the cat, but I keep thinking that he should be more green. I already have a concept in mind for him, so once I settle on the color it shouldn't be too long to come up with the right pattern to realize it. I keep thinking about the rabbits as well, but not sure what to do for either of them. There is no one telling me that I need to make something to represent them, so I suppose if I can't think of anything I'll just let it go. This Wonderland stuff has been fun though, it gets my mind off the competitiveness Ive been feeling with a few newer tatters...all up in my Internet space...doing the same things I have done...anyway, deep breath and moving on.

I have a picture from the museum display I helped on for my aunt, but I'll save that for tomorrow since I'm not likely to get much done today worth talking about tomorrow. One last note though...I'm just 15 sales away from 1000 so be warned that celebration is coming soon.

Dee Dum

The Cheshire Cat, he is done. The finishing touches turned out to be the thread outlining. I added a couple of these subtle stripes at the eye edges and in a few spots along the forehead. Oddly enough I think the embroidery strengthened the lace. I mean, I went ahead and very lightly stiffened the ears, but they were standing just fine once the outline was complete. It also seems to have helped the joins to be a bit stronger. In short, good idea. I'll be getting the mask listed in the shop later this morning. I gave a quick preview to the facebook fans and I was a bit overwhelmed with the response. Again, I have to say what great fans and friends I have!

Immediately upon completion of the photos for the mask, I began to drift to the next Wonderland denizen to be done. There are no pictures of me wearing the mask incidentally...I was having a bad skin day. Anyway, I wanted to do the Caterpillar next, but Wonderland had other ideas for me and I began work on Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum. Long ago I made a pendant design I called the faux Faberge. It was egg shaped and I thought perfect for the boys. Now, I did take one liberty with their design, the boys are identical, but I chose to make these opposites, at least in color. I have only gotten the motifs made up thus far and the plan is to attach them onto a chain with perhaps some shinies so that they hang sort of crooked, one higher than the other sort of like they are posed here.

I've got a bit of adventuring to do with the family today, so you'll have to wait until Monday to see what I do with them. I'll likely post it up on the fan page though, if I do get anywhere. Then I might try another stab at the caterpillar. If I had an actual watch face lying around, I might give the white rabbit a go as well, but I don't think I have any. This project started as a way to use up stashed materials, so it would defeat the point to go and get anything that wasn't already here. Though I think we all know, that it moved way beyond that quite some time ago. Anyway, I'm off, enjoy the new Wonderland member.

The Cheshire Cat

I remember a time when I would not tat anything that could not be done in less than a day. In fact if it took more than a couple of hours, it was certainly low on the list. I made and sold only things that flew off the needle. Then you flash forward just a few short years and I'm adding steps to pieces to give them a finished look. I spend extra hours embroidering edges and I'm working with color and what the hell has happened to me? I have theories on the subject of course. In fact, I like to think what happened was I went from being a crafter who simply liked the act of making to an artist who is no longer just satisfied with my fingers simply being busy.

I realized as I wrote that sentence that it came off horribly pretentious. There is absolutely nothing wrong nor inferior about creating for the sake of creating. The mere act of bringing forth a finished piece from a ball of string has all the merit in the world. I just suppose that wasn't enough for me anymore. I suppose I wanted to impress people, mostly myself with what I could make with tatting. I used to think that I needed to avoid using other methods with the lace to keep it pure or some such nonsense, but clearly I've outgrown that thought as well.

Of course all this babbling is brought on by my newest project, the Cheshire Cat Mask. You see the old me, the 4 years ago me, would have laughed at the idea and brushed it off as either impossible or far too much work to bother. The new me is cursing tangling thread and muddling though.

I had the idea to use the same triangle motif as the center for the ears, but attaching them was another matter entirely. I added them on with a second row, but they honestly looked ridiculous, so I added another row. The last one was one of my, 'oh just start tatting and see how it goes' moments. Thankfully, I think it went well. They have that sort of outside bent that the pictures show even.

I could see the cat at this point, but I still had to wrap the eye wires and decided to do them in black to give the eyes more definition and separate the green from the blue. I believe I had mentioned the prediction that this was going to be difficult. I was not wrong. This was a painstakingly slow operation attempting to hide all the other threads. I know that I did not completely succeed there, but I'm okay with the results.

Next, I actually outlined the eyes on the center sides, again a painstaking process, but I really wanted the eyes to stand out. The last thing I started on yesterday was the embroidery. I opted for plain black sewing thread and took the line all the way around the outside of the design. I think that I might add some lining on the forehead section as well, but it is of course forming organically and I'll do whatever it looks like it needs to get it just right. I thought a bit more about the whole embellishment, cat smile thing and have decided that the mask will be basically what you see here. No pearls, they looked ridiculous, nor other shinies, I don't think they really fit. Besides, I think after the embroidery is complete there will be enough extra details to make it fit in with the other pieces just fine...of course I'm a bit worried now about getting proper photos of this one. Meh, one step at a time.

Here Comes The Cat

The Universe has brought the sales back, though I fear by mentioning it I will have jinxed it entirely. The other issue is what is the Universe trying to tell me...that if I whine the sales will return? That seems like a bad message to send Universe. Perhaps you were actually telling me that if I work hard and focus on other things that the sales will return. Yes, I think I shall choose that answer. What was I working hard on you ask? Why, my next Wonderland piece, of course. Yes, the mask that was suggested...I am making it.

At first I thought you were mad, but as I could not come up with a proper pendant or necklace design...I though maybe you were not so insane after all and I sat down during the children's nap time and began to think. The first hurdle was to design the great green eyes. I took a triangle motif and tatted it on the inside of the eye wire. This was not an easy task. In fact, this was the point where I cursed your suggestion with great vim and vigor. I managed to get both the eye created after much fancy crochet hook work.

The second challenge was of course the striping on the the cats head. I am working off of the new Tim Burton designs. If you haven't seen them yet, go look now...I'll wait. Anyway, this bit meant that I was going to be using two colors, which I don't enjoy doing with the needle. This is the one time I wish I could shuttle tat better. The long cut threads are always tangling and making things more complicated than they really are. I decided to not reinvent the wheel and used an existing mask design and merely picked the spots for the colors.

Next challenge up for today are the ears and a second row that will reinvent the wheel a bit. For this piece I am using all hand dyed threads as well. They seemed to be the perfect colors to make this one come to life. Once that second row is done another challenge will be to wrap those eye wires with the tatting on both sides. I predict that there will be cursing. I am not certain how comfortable the mask will be with the green on the eye, but it will be wearable and I suppose most masks are particularly comfortable anyway.

I did get an order that I need to make up, so the cat might be on a break for the day, but I feel like the design is working up so quickly that it should be done very soon. Of course I still haven't decided what embellishments if any this one will have. It seems only right given the other jewel encrusted pieces in the collection that this have some sort of shiny, perhaps some filament running through the blue, or I could hand a string of glass pearls from the corners making a smile...though that might be terrible annoying to wear. Well, as you can see, I'm not done with Wonderland just yet. I hope you're enjoying my trip down the rabbit hole.

Yep, Mad As A Hatter

Each detail I added to the Mad hatter piece got me more excited about it. Seriously, it began almost as a throwaway after the first failure. I was only continuing simply to put the task behind me. I mean, let's face it, these are ridiculous colors here, they are bold, bright, garish even, so I was not entirely invested in the thing. I kept referring back to the Hatter pictures and saying to myself that it was right, these were the colors and I should keep going.



The base of the piece is the same as before, but this time, I used a large central flower with two extra layers. Then I added small rings around the edges the instead of flowers. Each of those was sewed on with a brass swarovski round and then embroidered around. I added some more filament embroidery around the center flower and then I popped that hat pin back in. Then I was in a bit of a pickle. I though I had some brass chain around here, but I did not. So rather than wait and buy some...I decided to make my own. I reshaped large brass jump rings to hold a brass round and then used smaller jump rings to connect them together. My fingers are still a little sore from it...and I remember when I thought I wanted to do chain maille...I'm over that now.

So to recap, insanely colored piece, hand made chain and I am still boggled on pricing the thing. It is one of a kind for no other reason than the pin was a found object. So, I might try to get the pictures done to list it today, but I will probably stress out more on the pricing for a bit, well that and wonder which bold individual will wear such a piece. Here's a secret though, I wore it around the house to test the weight and hang and I actually like it...really. I mean, you'd have to wear it with black because any other color would probably cause clashing, but it certainly makes a statement...even if the statement is 'I'm a bit off'. I think I might recreate the piece in more complimentary colors at some point. Maybe reds, or purples or maybe even greys with steel colored beads and silver filament. Yeah, that might be nice.