Home from Hector Tat Days!

Sarah and I greatly enjoyed our visit to Hector, and especially seeing our friends, old and new, there! We've come away with a bit of new thread (duh, what else would you expect with so many beautiful colors right in front of our eyes?), and happy memories to file away, and patterns to try.

I was most intrigued by Karey's Dragon pattern with beaded scales. Although I do not relish stringing seed beads on thread, this pattern may warrant a bit of stringing.

A real treat was seeing the antique lace, and Mary Koinor's beautiful lace including lots of awesome tatting and a Bedfordshire bobbin lace edging on a handkerchief. Sue Hanson brought these with her for everyone to enjoy seeing in real life.

Good NEWS for everyone who wanted to go and couldn't - There will be a DVD available of clips from the event. I'll post more information about that when I have it. Shelia Boniface took photos and movie snips to make this project.

Sadly, I have acquired another obsession, or two... Naalbinding and Sprang. I taught a few people to make Snake Knot, and learned just a bit about the Viking methods of making clothing.

So much lace, so little time. And now this too.

Hugs all, more later.

Celtic Angel Copyright 2008 Ruth Perry

This angel design is a variation of a machine lace piece that someone showed me last year.

Earring using Balanced Double Stitch and long woven picots
Copyright 2008 Ruth Perry

This could be tatted with any size large bead in the center, just adjust the number of stitches and picots to fit around the ring. This ring has 39 BDS and makes a nice circle. Notice how well it holds the shape without bunching, ruffeling, or twisting! Also notice how I have woven the long picots over and under each other. I used the little case that floss threaders come in as a picot gauge, and Altin Basak thread in peachy pink. The teal blue seed beads and purple E beads contrast nicely with the thread.

Ring (3BDS VLP 3BDS VLP 3BDS VLP 3BDS + 3BDS + 3BDS + 3BDS VLP 3BDS VLP 3BDS VLP 3BDS + 3BDS + 3BDS + 3BDS)

Beads:
Tie a square knot in the two thread ends and put them both through a size E bead, then both of through a seed bead, one from each side, then string 12 seed beads on one thread, and pull the other thread through them from the opposite side, then both threads back down through the E bead. Pull both threads snug so the beads form a circle, and tie them in a square knot.

One thread will go over one side of the ring and the other thread under the ring. Next, string enough beads to go through the middle of the ring on both threads. Next take one thread over and the other thread under the ring again on the opposite side from before, then both through another E bead. And then, one thread through 3 seed beads from one side and the other thread through from the other side, then both back through the E bead, and back through the beads in the center of the ring.

Tie a square knot in both threads at the beginning of the ring, and hide them in the tatting, then cut the thread ends off close to the ring. Put this on an earring finding, or on a chain for a pendant.

Oh, what to do with left over thread? This "Southern Belle" starts with the ring in the center of the skirt. Now, how did I do the rest of this piece? Later. I need to leave to go teach my tatting class now.

The Belle of the ball! Copyright 2008 Ruth Perry

Celtic Tatted Daffodil copyright 2006 Ruth Perry

Click Here! to view the Easter Patterns from the tat-calendar.

Ruth's 2008 Celtic Cross - copyright 2008 Ruth Perry
Click the link above to go to the instructions on the tat-calendar site.

Dragon's Eye Pendants Copyright 2007 Ruth Perry

These patterns will be in Sarah's book, The King and the Dragon