How I Learned to *Sort of* Tat
I love the internet! I love YouTube!
Seriously, my life has been improved in so many ways by the advent of the intertubes. Sure, it's a massive time-suck and I lose track of what I'm supposed to be doing. Yes, my face is typically stuck in a screen of some variety or another (looking at you, iPhone) and I'm fairly certain my children have no clue what the natural color of my skin is since it's always reflecting that eerie glow from the monitor. Yes, I start the day with grand plans of ignoring my laptop, but then stuff calls to me. Stupid, useless, pointless stuff (that does keep me up with what's hip and happening in the world--see: Memebase on the Cheezburger network) that I don't think really improves my life in any way or another.
Until I want to LEARN something. Then, the internet is a powerful tool. I wanted hand-tatted snowflakes for my Christmas tree. I went to etsy (great place, love it, another excellent time-suck), found snowflakes and wondered if it might be possible to make them.
Helll-loooo, YouTube. Want to learn how to repair a broken sliding door on a 2005 Chrysler Town & Country minivan? There's a video for that. Need to entertain a four year old who has a cookie decorating tutorial habit? There are videos for that.
Want to see how difficult it might be to learn to needle tat (shuttle tatting still scares me...a lot...), well, gee whiz golly, there are video tutorials for that as well!
I found this woman and fell in love with her personality and teaching style.
Here's tatting video tutorial number one for those interested:
Seriously, my life has been improved in so many ways by the advent of the intertubes. Sure, it's a massive time-suck and I lose track of what I'm supposed to be doing. Yes, my face is typically stuck in a screen of some variety or another (looking at you, iPhone) and I'm fairly certain my children have no clue what the natural color of my skin is since it's always reflecting that eerie glow from the monitor. Yes, I start the day with grand plans of ignoring my laptop, but then stuff calls to me. Stupid, useless, pointless stuff (that does keep me up with what's hip and happening in the world--see: Memebase on the Cheezburger network) that I don't think really improves my life in any way or another.
Until I want to LEARN something. Then, the internet is a powerful tool. I wanted hand-tatted snowflakes for my Christmas tree. I went to etsy (great place, love it, another excellent time-suck), found snowflakes and wondered if it might be possible to make them.
Helll-loooo, YouTube. Want to learn how to repair a broken sliding door on a 2005 Chrysler Town & Country minivan? There's a video for that. Need to entertain a four year old who has a cookie decorating tutorial habit? There are videos for that.
Want to see how difficult it might be to learn to needle tat (shuttle tatting still scares me...a lot...), well, gee whiz golly, there are video tutorials for that as well!
I found this woman and fell in love with her personality and teaching style.
Here's tatting video tutorial number one for those interested:
Well, that seemed simple enough to me.
We have a Chrome Cast device (lovely thing that, you can cast YouTube, Pandora and so much more to your big TV instead of watching on a small screen) and I decided to cast parts 2 and 3 and Lil decided it was something she could do too. She has now added tatting needles and crochet cotton to her birthday/Christmas list. ;o) Meanwhile, I finished watching those tutorials and was compelled to make a trip to JA (I picked up some Christmas gift supplies for Bitty while I was there--birthday/Christmas gift post coming soon) because I need to get started. RIGHT NOW!!!
I made the little flower OVW made in her tutorials--but added another circle and chain because, you know, snowflakes have six sides instead of the five OVW made.
Then, I found
Then, I found
a snowflake making tutorial and decided to follow along with it. It provided a link to the pattern where I discovered I canNOT read patterns. D'oh!
But, I can follow along tutorials (with judicious use of the pause feature) and created the snowflake on top there in the photo.
I knew it wasn't spectacular by any stretch of the imagination--the tension was all wrong for one thing--but knew that once I had made it, I could certainly do so again.
And, I did! As evidenced by the snowflake on the bottom.
Squee!
But, here's where I ran into a problem...
I didn't want to make 20 of the same snowflake. You know? I wanted some variety.
But, I can follow along tutorials (with judicious use of the pause feature) and created the snowflake on top there in the photo.
I knew it wasn't spectacular by any stretch of the imagination--the tension was all wrong for one thing--but knew that once I had made it, I could certainly do so again.
And, I did! As evidenced by the snowflake on the bottom.
Squee!
But, here's where I ran into a problem...
I didn't want to make 20 of the same snowflake. You know? I wanted some variety.
So, I pulled out a snowflake I already had and decided to copy it. I had the basic idea for circles and chains and how to put them together, and DID IT! Then, I wrote down a pattern for what I did (hm, maybe I can figure out this pattern reading yet...) so I can copy it again later.
Then, yesterday, I copied another snowflake I already had.
My plans for today include copying one last snowflake (I have more that are tucked away with my Christmas ornaments that I might try to recreate as well, but I won't have those out until after Thanksgiving) and then making quite a few. I hope to be able to give them as gifts to teachers and friends this year, as well as having ones to hang on the tree(s). *ahem* (I have issues, I know this about myself.)
Because I knew I hadn't quite tackled all parts of snowflake making--these guys are a bit floppy--I went in search of info on how to stiffen them. This lead me to learning about blocking and starching. And, it led me to a series of videos by RustiKate who has a number of tutorials and worthwhile videos as well. I've not had a chance to view them all, but the ones I have were quite informative.
Now, I know these flakes aren't quite perfect, but I don't care. I'm so chuffed with myself for even figuring this out in the first place I can't even stand it! I know that shuttle tatting is more common, and, it provides a cleaner, neater look to your projects. Maybe I can pick it up down the road...
Because, you know, I need another hobby... ;oP
****************************
In other less fun or exciting news, Bill fell early Saturday morning and broke his hip. He had it replaced that afternoon and GG and his daughter, Patti, are looking for rehab facilities for him as he'll most likely be discharged from the hospital today or tomorrow. Boy, they don't give you much time to recover anymore, do they?
Bill's 84 and rather frail so we're all quite concerned about his health and recovery. If you're a religious sort, would you please consider adding him to your prayer list? If you're not religious, could you please send positive vibes his way? Thank you so much.
I mentioned to Grandma (GG--used interchangeably, sorry.) how glad I am they are living where they are so they could get the help they needed so quickly. She told me so many folks have been stopping her in the halls to ask about Bill and tell her they're praying for them and how sorry they are he fell. She's not alone, and this means the world to us.
My plans for today include copying one last snowflake (I have more that are tucked away with my Christmas ornaments that I might try to recreate as well, but I won't have those out until after Thanksgiving) and then making quite a few. I hope to be able to give them as gifts to teachers and friends this year, as well as having ones to hang on the tree(s). *ahem* (I have issues, I know this about myself.)
Because I knew I hadn't quite tackled all parts of snowflake making--these guys are a bit floppy--I went in search of info on how to stiffen them. This lead me to learning about blocking and starching. And, it led me to a series of videos by RustiKate who has a number of tutorials and worthwhile videos as well. I've not had a chance to view them all, but the ones I have were quite informative.
Now, I know these flakes aren't quite perfect, but I don't care. I'm so chuffed with myself for even figuring this out in the first place I can't even stand it! I know that shuttle tatting is more common, and, it provides a cleaner, neater look to your projects. Maybe I can pick it up down the road...
Because, you know, I need another hobby... ;oP
****************************
In other less fun or exciting news, Bill fell early Saturday morning and broke his hip. He had it replaced that afternoon and GG and his daughter, Patti, are looking for rehab facilities for him as he'll most likely be discharged from the hospital today or tomorrow. Boy, they don't give you much time to recover anymore, do they?
Bill's 84 and rather frail so we're all quite concerned about his health and recovery. If you're a religious sort, would you please consider adding him to your prayer list? If you're not religious, could you please send positive vibes his way? Thank you so much.
I mentioned to Grandma (GG--used interchangeably, sorry.) how glad I am they are living where they are so they could get the help they needed so quickly. She told me so many folks have been stopping her in the halls to ask about Bill and tell her they're praying for them and how sorry they are he fell. She's not alone, and this means the world to us.
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