Tuesday 2 February 2016

Winter Frost At Last

Not in my garden (we've had very little of it this winter in fact) but from my shuttles.  I started tatting this... before Christmas!!    But then too many things got in the way and I never got around to finishing it... until now.  I found it again and decided it was time I completed this very pretty design by Robin Perfetti called "Winter Frost".



Annoyingly I managed to miss a ring on one of the repeats!  I'm sure you can spot it (clockwise, third repeat from the top).

This pattern reminded me to talk about a technique that I regularly use when tatting short chains:  and that is NOT to reverse work and tat the chain with not-flipped stitches.  This means you always work from the front so you don't need to reverse work and have to wind back your shuttle between elements.  This makes for quicker/more efficient tatting, particularly when short chains are involved.

I made a new video illustrating this.  I have a new camera set-up and I hope that both image and especially sound are much better now.  Any feedback would be most welcome.

I still find it incredibly hard to speak without hesitating, saying the wrong thing or forgetting to say what I did mean to say!!  So yes, still much room for improvement but I'll keep working at it!


You can view this video right here, on this page, in small format
or you can either click on the "YouTube" logo
or on the "full screen" icon to see a larger version of it.


I'd love to read any comments on how you think I could improve and/or what you'd like to see in future videos.  There are already lots of videos available, do you think there are enough perhaps even??

Best wishes,
Frivole


24 comments:

  1. Great tatting, I must try that short chain technique.

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  2. Great video! Thanks for sharing! I will definitely try this out on a short chain. It makes sense. Oh, how I wish I could tat that quickly. Any time I try to tat quickly, my stitches become very uneven. Therefore, I tat much more slowly. It was also nice to hear your voice. I always wonder what my tatting friends sound like!

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    1. Thank you very much Diane. It took me ages to work up the courage to speak on my videos so I'm glad you think it's nice to hear me :-)
      And as I said in the post, I'm finding speaking well and smoothly on a video still incredibly difficult!

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  3. Excellent video & demo ! No changes :-) And you use the rolling bobbin method !!!!
    Your Mystery Doily is spectacular.
    I use the reverse stitch, too, but cannot tat as quickly as you.
    Used in block tatting as well.
    And I noticed that in some serpentine patterns like the magic square , it is easier to use this & work from the front so that one can follow easily without getting 'lost' ;-)
    There are, however, a couple of 'limitations' like when working with 2 colours where pattern does not ask to RW, but to TW or turn work. Then SLT is required .... Also, if I am not careful or vigilant, my reverse st can sometimes be looser than the ds.

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    1. It's interesting to hear your call it "reverse stitch"... I've had a discussion with another tatting friend about what to call this "not-flipped" stitch. "Unflipped" which is often used seemed wrong to us as it implies it was once flipped and now is "unflipped" if you see what I mean. So in the video I purposefully said "not flipped". In fact it could probably be called lark's head knot stitches (but that's a bit of a mouthful). I think I'll make a blogpost to discuss this.

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    2. Oh, and I agree with you that this doesn't work in all circumstances, that's why I don't use it all the time but it's really good for short chains and saves a lot of rewinding time.

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    3. Never thought of the 'unflipped' in that way ! But it did make some sense. So off I went to check out dictionaries, etc. to be certain. 'Unflipped' means "not flipped" & can be used unhesitatingly. And it is a fairly established term in tatting.

      Secondly, I tried thinking of other action words that are prefixed with 'un-' ... here are a few that we use often : unsung ; unbreakable ; unbroken ; unsaid ; remain undone ; & plenty more.

      As for reverse stitch, who am I to invent terms ;-P I learned all this from threads & posts mainly on InTatters/Craftree started/shared by Judith Connors (she has published an Illustrated Dictionary of Tatting Terms), & others. I am merely passing it forward ... I am often fearful that it may come across as being cocky .

      As for lark's head knot (or macrame knot from which the term came), citing Judith from a recent correspondence with her, it is applicable to Both ds & rs. It's just that over time it started being associated with rs.

      I have listed a few of the synonyms for tatting terms in my Jottings and/or Tatting Resources pages on my blog. It is still a WIP.

      Thank you, Frivole, for your immense patience with me ((Hugs))

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    4. Thank you Muskaan, I can always count on you to get into the detail of things! :-) Your discussion of the "un" prefix is really good and you are right, that makes it acceptable for "unflipped"!

      I think I like "reverse stitch". But I need to think about it some more. Then it makes it simple and matching in a way with ds & rs.

      I love having these discussions because in the end, the best terms are the ones that people use! Language changes and terms come in and out of fashion and new terms are constantly created.

      It's interesting trying to find the best way of writing patterns clearly in terms that most people would understand and find user-friendly.

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  4. Oh this is so clever!!! I've read it before but now I understand! I can't wait to try it. I am going to be a powerhouse snowflake maker!!!

    Or at least give it a go.

    Please do keep making videos, they are SO helpful!!!!! And like Diane, I love hearing my tatting friends voices.

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  5. I had read about this method before, but was unable to find videos so executing it remained a mystery. Thanks for making the video, it all makes sense now! It reminds me of the split ring technique because you start with the second half of the stitch and then go on to the first half, all unflipped.

    No suggestions for the video. Sound is clear, explanations are clear, all in all a good job. I think it's helpful to have many videos to choose from to learn a technique so I don't think there can be too many out there.

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    1. Thank you for your comment Robin - I'll keep working at the videos then. :-)
      Yes, it is really like when you make a split ring and I've just added a comment to the video now because I realised I'd forgotten to say that the order of work should be reversed with "not flipped" stitches and the 2nd half is made first, followed by the first half.

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  6. Very beautiful snowflake!!! :)

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  7. Excellent video demonstration! I have seen the term "reverse stitch" used to describe a "not flipped" stitch. Also the term "wrapped stitches" as in encapsulation, which is the same technique as what you're doing on the short chains here. A cool trick! I always enjoy your videos, and there can never be "enough" tatting videos!

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    1. Thank you Marilee! Much appreciated coming from a pro of televised tatting like you. :-)
      Yes, I think I like the term "reverse stitch".

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  8. What you have to say and what you show us is so worthwhile and truly useful that I really wouldn't care how you speak. But it just so happens that I love your voice, you speak beautifully and your entire manner is charming. I feel like I've got a friend sitting right beside me who is generously sharing her knowledge and showing me how to do tricky things that perhaps I didn't even know I wanted to try until you showed me. Your videos are wonderful - and even more wonderful when you "chat" to me at the same time!

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    1. You have such a nice way of putting it Megan, thank you!! I know my videos are far from perfect but I'll keep trying and I thank you for your kind words.

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  9. Excellent work with the video.
    I like this technique and I am using it for a long time.
    Short and long chains. I call it "macrame knot".

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  10. I liked the video, and found it easy to understand. Do you ever use a picot gauge? If not why?

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    1. Hi Ruby,
      I only use a picot gauge for when I need really specific size picots (where in some designs they really need to be very long or of an exact length for the design to work) otherwise I prefer to eyeball as I find it too slow to have to make each and every picot with a gauge.

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  11. Excellent video. I also use the technique of unflipped/not flipped/reversed stich/wrapped stich. In french they are often called double feston. Is there a dictionary out there somewhere?
    I also liked hearing you speak, y a t'il un accent du Québec dans ce bel accent?
    And, what is that Mystery Doily? So beautiful!

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  12. Once again you have excelled at sharing your tatting expertise! The video is perfect and I do find hearing your explanation to be more effective than watching your hands and reading the little written dialogues. I have used this technique for a number of years and find it to be very useful as well as faster. Terry McGuffin, aka "Terry the Tatter," impressed upon me the viability of making chains using the unflipped double stitches. I believe that Terry used the technique almost exclusively in her tatting. (Sadly, Terry is no longer with us.) Thank you for sharing! The snowflake is lovely.

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  13. I am a bit late your videos are perfect and there's never too many videos on new and different techniques
    Margaret

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  14. It is a great time saver and worth getting your head around. Thanks for the video.

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Thank you for taking the time to write a comment, it's always appreciated!