Failure

The artificial clay is too brittle for a tatting shuttle. It broke! I think my shuttle was probably too rough too, though that's not the clay's fault, I could've smoothed it. I'll have to find another material to make a Lady Hoare type shuttle.

LadyTat's Suggestion

Yesterday I went to the local craft group meeting and played with clay. Well, it wasn't really clay, it was an artificial substitute called Gold Mile. It can be rolled and cut, shaped and manipulated, but doesn't need to be fired. It can be painted with acrylic paints too but, luckily for me, doesn't have to be.

This morning I thought, hmmm, I could perhaps use my left over clay to make the 'Lady Hoare shuttle' that LadyTats told me about. In a comment on my post about using 4 ply cotton for tatting, LadyTats gave me a link to a shuttle on etsy that I could use for tatting with thick thread. The ones on etsy are wooden, but I thought I might be able to copy them in the artificial clay. I rolled it out, then rolled the tatting onto the clay to mark it and cut the shuttles out. Now I must wait for them to dry before I can try them out. Thanks LadyTats.

Another pair of earrings

I made another pair of earrings using the little shell discs, a bit more elaborate than the previous ones. It's a shame that the discs have a right side and a wrong side. You have to be sure to get the hooks facing in the right direction.

Market Bag Tatting

The thread I used to knit the Market Bag is 4 ply mercerized cotton, Elle Premier, made in Bulgaria. Far too thick for tatting, of course. But so smooth and tightly spun, it was tempting. Why not give it a try? It works fine, though I won't get much tatting from one bobbin. It's interesting that the work doesn't curve as much as with finer thread. I assume that's because it's difficult to pull the stitches really tight? How about adding beads?

Yup, that works too. I'm thinking this thread might work for barefoot sandals. I'd better find my biggest shuttle.

Lining the Market Bag

The blurb on the Market Bag pattern says its stretchiness is a virtue. But I didn't like the way the bag sagged when I put my purse into it. I also didn't like the way the handle curled. I thought that lining the bag with fabric might overcome these problems. I hurried and scurried to finish knitting the bag before I went away, but then had to wait until I came back to do the lining. I think it works. The bag lining is loose, the handle lining sewn to the knitting with back stitch.

Market Bag

This is the pattern for which I originally went looking for cotton yarn. I was a bit distracted by bright pinks and purples, but I went back to it eventually. It's also the pattern for which I practised brioche stitch. The pattern is 'Chevron Market Bag' by Kristen TenDyke. I downloaded it as a free download from Interweave Press, though it originally appeared in Interweave Knits magazine Spring 2010. I still have to finish the strap and make an i-cord for fastening, but I'm nearly there.

I'm going away for a few days - not to Tat Days, unfortunately! Much closer to home. 1st September is officially the first day of spring in South Africa, I hope the weather will be spring-like. We had frost yesterday morning and this morning, winter is reluctant to leave.

Two Earrings

Earrings are like socks - you must make two and they must be reasonably similar! I had to 'go around again' with the second earring, I made the beaded chain too long the first attempt. I like the way the different circles hang at different angles to each other.

I hate the word verification that is found on some blogs - I don't want to prove that I am not a robot. So I was mortified yesterday to discover that my blog was using it. Luckily Jane Eborall not only let me know about it, but told me how to get rid of it. I hope that's the end of that. Thanks Jane.