How have I started my new year? I've been catching up on blogs, drinking tea using my new Brown Betty teapot and tea cozy and my tea cup and saucer from LadyShuttleMaker, and believe it or not, I've even spent some time tatting! How's that for a long-winded run-on sentence? The English teacher in me says go back and correct it. The rest of me says pooh! On with the blog!
What inspires you to tat? I've collected quite a few tatting books, but I'm seldom inspired by a pattern in a book. I'm inspired by the beautiful pieces on everyone's blogs, especially those that are nicely blocked. (I hope to become better at blocking in the coming year!) Seeing the choice of thread makes me want to jump right in, especially if I own the book or the thread!
I'm also inspired by beautiful tools... shuttles, picot gauges, picot hooks, etc. Yes, I love my Clover shuttles, but I feel special when I use one of my hand-crafted shuttles... more like I'm using a work of art to create another work of art!
A couple of months ago, Dave at Grizzly Mountain Arts listed a picot hook in his shop... you guessed it... I jumped right on it! I love Dave's fiber art tools. Each one is crafted beautifully! The picot hook was no exception. Yes, I have shuttles with hooks in the ends, but I tend to get the hook caught in my tatting... a very frustrating situation, especially when joining picots! I'm a slow tatter, and it doesn't bother me one bit to pick up a picot hook to join picots.
Anyway, I loved the picot hook so much that I contacted Dave and asked him if he would make me a set of finer hooks for working with finer threads... and he did!
I admit, I'm drawn to the names of the different woods... Purpleheart, Padauk, Pau Ferro, Maple Burl... but it's the feel of the tools themselves that keep me wanting more! Yes, I could use a regular crochet hook, but the wood feels nicer, and the bulk makes it easier for me to hold and manipulate the hook. Besides, it's beautiful!
Now, I think its time to get off the computer and get back to tatting!
You must have inherited the love of tools from both your father and me. I get that "feel the goods" feeling when I use beautiful tools.
ReplyDeleteOooh I think I want one too! those are beautiful.
ReplyDeletethose are GEORGOUS!! I love them and I bet they are so wonderful to use...
ReplyDeletemy word verification is priza does that mean I won a prize LOL
Oh Wowzers those are terrific!
ReplyDeleteI understand what your mom means. My dad did a lot of cabinet building as a hobby and he loved wood and working with it. I have inherited this trait.
ReplyDeleteThus...
Those tools are soooo tempting!
Fox : )
I'm so glad you are enjoying your picot hooks, Diane. It was a pleasure to make them for you.
ReplyDeleteDave
Those hooks are GORGEOUS.
ReplyDeleteThose picot hooks are lovely. Agree you can't beat the feel of natural wood, and the smell of it when being worked. Jane and I have been test tatting the new shuttles that my husband has been making - in wood of course, but they do have hooks on, sorry!
ReplyDeleteAlso agree that patterns in books come to life when they are tatted and then blogged by someone else.
Those are really cool hooks, Diane! Any needlework tool from Dave at Grizzly Mountain Arts is a treasure! How very nice! They are beautiful. I'll bet they do feel nice in your hand!
ReplyDeleteWow they're awesome.
ReplyDeleteOk, you enabler you, I am going to have to have one of those also. :)
ReplyDelete