Tag: books

Putting them all together.

Don’t ya just hate it when you know what pattern you want to make but can’t find where you put it?
I have that problem especially when I print patterns from the computer.  That one or two pieces of paper are fine for a while then they just disappear!  I think there is a secret place somewhere in my house where loose patterns go to party and I’m not invited.
This even happens with my own patterns.  I have written out and shared patterns here on my blog plus I have some that I’ve not finished writing out or diagramming yet and once in awhile I actually want to tat them again.  I go looking for those printed sheets and can’t find them anywhere (I think I hear them snickering at me as I search for them.) Yes, I could just reprint them but I hate to do that when I know I have them printed somewhere!
I started thinking that if they were all together in a folder or notebook that they would be harder to lose.  Think about it, it wouldn’t be as easy for them to slip between the seat cushions or fall behind the end table, or find other ways to sneak off to their private little party.
I began by printing off the patterns I’ve posted here – they are the most complete.
Putting all my tatting patterns together in one place wandasknottythoughts
I printed them in booklet form, reducing the patterns from the original size of 8 1/2 by 11 inch paper to be half that size.  A few of them ended up being on two pages but most worked okay on one side.  The print is a bit smaller of course, but mostly can still be read easily.  The finished size of 5 1/2″ by 8 1/2″ makes it a nice size to take with me if I want – this size will fit in my purse.

Putting all my tatting patterns together in one place 2 wandasknottythoughts

I did not make any changes to the way the patterns show on-line except for the size.  Each one still has their own definitions instead of one page at the start of the booklet.  The pictures are still the same.  I printed on both sides of the paper.
This has given me a lot of respect to anyone who self-publishes, whether it’s patterns or any other type of book.  This was quite a bit of work – trying to get patterns with two pages to face each other instead of back-to-back, putting them in the order I want, and trying not to miss any.  They are mostly in alphabetical order except for a couple that needed to be on facing pages which caused them to be a little out of order.
As I finish up new patterns I will probably just put them in new booklet instead of trying to add to this one.  Having done this one I have some ideas on how I would do it differently the next time.
This was a fun exercise.  And maybe these will now be a bit harder to lose. They will just have to miss the party, ha!
“I’m writing a book. I’ve got the page numbers done.”
Steven Wright
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Spider Web Snood

I’ve finally been spending a little time on Craftree.com finding out more of what it has to offer, discovering more of the helpful things that are being added all the time.  There is a large library of books and patterns you can look through with descriptions of the books, what kind and how many patterns in each, and other facts about the books you might find helpful. These books can be added to your personal virtual bookshelf which makes it easier to find a pattern when you don’t remember which book it’s in.  And just keep track of which books you have so you don’t buy duplicates. 🙂
This weekend I went through most of my books and added them to my virtual bookshelf there.  I found several I forgot that I had!  One of these forgotten books was from Dillie Delights, “Twinkling Stars and Small Tatted Gifts” by Marsha Brackner.  I haven’t thought of this book in years.  Looking through it I remembered I had made (and still have) a snood sized for a doll.  I went looking for it and actually found it!
"Spider Web Snood" © 1986 from Twinkling Stars and Small Tatted Gifts tatted by Wanda Salmans
“Spider Web Snood” © 1986 from Twinkling Stars and Small Tatted Gifts
tatted by Wanda Salmans
I made this snood with size 30 DMC Cebellia thread, though the book recommends either size 10 or 20.  I don’t remember exactly what year I made it must have been either in the late 80’s or possibly the very early 90’s.  It was before I started tatting exclusively Front side/Back side, I just don’t remember when I started that.
"Spider Web Snood" © 1986 from Twinkling Stars and Small Tatted Gifts another view tatted by Wanda Salmans
“Spider Web Snood” © 1986 from Twinkling Stars and Small Tatted Gifts
tatted by Wanda Salmans
The book has several snood patterns that are suggested could be used as bags and pin cushions.  I only remember making the one snood out of the book even though my daughters were young and had long hair at the time.  I have no idea why I didn’t try making at least one for them.
Besides the snoods the book includes patterns for two stars, a snowflake, and a candy cane.  There are also suggestions for ways to use tatting.  I would consider most of the patterns good for beginners as there are few advanced techniques used.  There are no tatting instructions included but does have definitions of how to read the patterns in the book.  For technique help it refers to several other Dillie Delights books.
I’m sure these patterns wouldn’t take very long to make.  I have granddaughters now, I wonder if they would wear a snood?
“How can I control my life when I can’t control my hair?”
Author Unknown

Donations

Book ReViews is a nice little used book store in Newton, KS.  Their stock is donated to them and they donate their profits to local charities.  They only have one paid employee, the others are all volunteers.  I don’t get in much but did leave my card with them the last time I was there and let them know I would be interested in any tatting books that might come in.  I was pleasantly surprised a few days ago when they let me know something had.   It was an old, paperback McCall’s Knit and Crochet Encyclopedia.
Latest copyright date in it is 1977.   The pictures of the models inside reflect this (did we really wear stuff like this???)
It has a section on tatting, including a brief history and description of what tatting is, several pages of “how to”, as well as a few patterns. The history is a version I have heard before.  I did think it was wise of the author to state that trying to explain tatting was rather hard and learning from a person who knew how to tat was much easier than trying to learn from a book.  The drawings and how-to aren’t bad, they are pretty clear to a person who already knows. But speaking from my own experience, though it was many years ago, it’s easier to learn from a person than a book.
The patterns have no diagrams and are written out in the style that was popular at the time.  I guess you could say popular, it was how the patterns I saw at the time were written out (okay, it wasn’t until a couple years later that I started tatting, but all the then-current written patterns looked like this when I did start looking at them.)  This way of writing patterns is long, complicated, and hard to follow compared to most patterns written out today.  Think old “Workbasket” patterns.  But, hey, this is what we knew and expected, and you just learned to read them.
I bought the book – the price was right – and took my time looking through it.  It has a section on hairpin lace which might be fun, but I don’t really have time to do it.  I may try one of the tatted edgings but I doubt I’ll do much else with it.  But it has tatting in it!  How could I leave it? And then I thought “should I have left it there?  Maybe someone else might have picked it up and decided to try tatting.  By bringing it home have I robbed another person of the opportunity to see and be intrigued by tatting?” 
The store gets its books through donations, maybe I should try what I like and donate the book back to be sold again?
“The measure of a life, after all, is not its duration, but its donation.”
Corrie Ten Boom
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Cleaning?

I have a confession to make.
I hate cleaning. 
I would rather watch tatting dry than clean the house.
And I’m not a neat person, making my house somewhat cluttered.  
So when I do clean house it takes a lot of time.  (I keep telling myself I’m going to do better, pick up things more often – but it hasn’t happened yet.) We don’t have people over often  – we would probably keep the house up better if we did – so when we plan to have company we have a lot to do.  Then it comes down to the wire and I start putting my clutter in boxes so I can stash them out of the way in a hurry, thinking, of course, that I’ll go back soon and take care of all of it when the company is gone.  
What usually happens is most of it stays in the boxes and I start the clutter all over again.  Those things I thought I was using/needing are replaced by other things.
Yesterday I was going through a box of such things when I came across a couple of pattern books I knew I had but couldn’t find.  Yea!
The “Tatted Animals” book by Inga Madsen I had purposely purchased to have patterns suitable for boys – what boy doesn’t like animals of some sort?  I have already started a project out of it, though it’s not for one of the boys, it’s for a niece ☺
Also in the box were these note cards I made probably twenty years ago, possibly more.  They are large, unlined index cards – 5″ by 8″? – folded in half.  The thread used is DMC size 8 in various colors, the only thread I could find at the time that came in so many colors.  I wasn’t much of an artist with these, but I was guaranteed that the recipient wouldn’t be getting cards like these from anyone else.  And they would know who it was from.

There were a lot of other things in the box that I had been looking for.  I kick myself sometimes for how unorganized I am.  I really, really need to start putting things away better.
I also need to start spending less time on social media and the Internet in general.  I get sucked in and spend more time there than I plan to.  But, the other day while on Facebook there was a suggested article, you know, one of those that pops in that are chosen for you based on what you’ve read or searched for, from Ancestry.com, which I found interesting. And it mentions tatting by name!
Celina Anzalone, 2264 First Ave. making lace for Cappallino's factory near by. (Library of Congress)
Picture from Ancestry.com
11 Skills Your Great-Grandparents Had That You Don’t
That’s only 10 skills for us tatters!
For myself, better housekeeping should probably be on this list of skills I don’t have.
“Housekeeping is like being caught in a revolving door.”
Marcelene Cox
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Things to do when it’s cold outside

Like a lot of the mid-west it’s been mighty cold here this last weekend.  I didn’t even leave the house Saturday or Sunday.  I wouldn’t have Monday, either, except I had to go to work.  So what does one do for two and a half days of staying inside?
Well, getting some tatting done, for one thing.  Not as much as I could have, but some anyway.
I’m revisiting a motif I made back in October, deciding if I want to write down the pattern or not. I made a bit of a change in the outside round, not sure if it made it better or worse.  It’s made with Lizbeth #670 Victorian Red in size 20.
On Monday I started on Jane’s new TIAS.
I’ve started mine in Lizbeth #130 Island Breeze in size 20.  It’s only day one so there is little hope of guessing what it will be yet.  It’s fun seeing all the people who have joined.  If you haven’t yet but would like to try it, it’s never to late to start.
Then of course there is the usual things that can’t be ignored – you know, the everyday things that have to be done: cooking, a bit of cleaning, laundry (you’ve heard that “no laundry today, naked tomorrow? It can be true).
I was actually slow getting to my tatting. I had a big distraction: a new book.  While grocery shopping Friday I found one I just had to buy.  I admit I haven’t bought or read many books lately for several reasons:
1.  When I start reading I have a hard time putting the book down until I’m done with it. And maybe re-read a few favorite spots…
2. I have decided I should try to only pick up books by favorite authors due to reason #1.
3. I have a lot of tatting and craft projects I want to do and can’t if I’m in the middle of a book (refer to reason #1).
4.  We have some remodeling that has to be done, which I can’t do while in the middle of a book (refer to reason #1).
5.  Like it or not cooking, cleaning, washing, etc, and going to work are necessary evils, which I can’t do while in the middle of a book (refer to reason #1). 
6.  The room we have to remodel has most of my books in it and we have to move them all to work on the room.  There seems to be a lot of books…
So, at the store Friday I found a anthology edited by one of my favorite authors, Mercedes Lackey 🙂 
And yes, I ignored ‘most everything else until I had finished it! **unrepentant grin**
There are several stories in here that can stand alone but are continuations of other stories from “Elemental Magic”, another book of short stories,which was probably the last book I purchased.  I haven’t really gotten into Mercedes’ ‘Elemental’ series (refer to reason #1) but I enjoyed these a lot.  And it looks like her story in this book is the introduction of her next full length novel (“Red as Blood” coming 2014).   
Even though I love having an actual book in my hand I need to see how many of her books are in audio books, then maybe I can get other things done while ‘reading’!!
“The unread story is not a story; it is little black marks on wood pulp.  The reader, reading it, makes it live: a live thing, a story.”
Ursula K. Le Guin
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