Tat's Heaven

I have had these Lizbeth variegated threads for many years now and can remember so well when I first saw them on the internet and was so thrilled especially as all the lovely colours seemed to jump out at me.   Sadly now that I am used to them there is not the same reaction and its often difficult to find a pattern that will show them up to the best advantage.  However, as I tat these bookmarks I can feel a bit of that old thrill coming back again. Of course people who have never seen the threads or tatting before are usually very surprised at all the lovely colours. There is one question that I wonder if any of you can answer, especially those who live in the USA. Do you know how these brands of threads acquired their name 'Lizbeth' could it be that they were named after someone called Elizabeth?

Tatting these brooches is one of my favourite projects, because not only are they fun and use buttons and beads but also there is actually a demand for them, which means I don't have to stock pile as many as other things I make.  I use Jane's pattern which can be found here, but do not put the extra dangle bit on as that would not fit the packaging I have for them. Another great advantage is that I can make one in an evening whilst watching television  without having to follow a pattern, for it has become well memorised!  

Well you would think that most Tatting Books are not really worth getting excited about especially ones that were written a long time ago.  However, there is one book that seems to get everyone excited and I must admit it was on my list to buy one day if a copy ever became available.  The book is called 'A New Look in Tatting' written by E.A. Nicholls and published in 1959.  And so here is my very own copy. I won it on e.bay last week, quite unexpectedly, yes that is the truth.  Six days prior to winning it I put a bid on the book, not knowing that Jane had also bid for it to bump the price up.  She knew it was a much sort after in the 'tatting world' and wanted it to go for a fair price.  But then for some reason I completely forgot about it didn't even go back to e.bay to see what was happening.  It was only when my husband shouts up to me from downstairs that mine was the highest bid and I had won something, that I remembered.   The description...

On first seeing the Troll Doll pattern in Martha's book I was immediately transported back to the 1980s, a time when Trolls were very much in fashion.  They seem to have made a bit of a come back since the film Trolls was made last year,  but not as much as in the past. The reason is possibly because there are so many others toys and characters to compete with these days and the film Frozen had a great following.  Here are my two troll dolls, they were such fun to make, thank you Martha. I found these two trolls which are really pen tops, they must be at least 30 years old, I seem to remember they came free with breakfast cereal but not absolutely sure about that. From searching on the internet the story is that Troll Dolls were originally created in 1959 by a Danish fisherman and woodcutter called Thomas Dam.   Dam could not afford a Christmas gift for his young daughter Lila and carved the doll from his imagination. Other children in the Danish town of Gjøl s...

We are now into the second week of the New Year and at last I am finding time to do some tatting, which is a real treat.   So I picked up Martha Ess's book Toys for Tatting and have chosen the quickest and easiest pattern the Rubber Duckies.   Aren't they cute?   I had such fun making them as her patterns are so easy to follow that I could go on making them forever, but there isn't much call for ducks unless I can find something to sew them onto. As you can see there are two sizes, these are tatted in some old Coats 20 thread so they have come out a little larger than if I had used Lizbeth thread. I know which pattern I am going to try next, but I am not working through the book, there are other tatting projects to explore and have discovered that it is not good to be tied down to one book!