Monday, October 05, 2009

Tatting: Rings and Chains


Tatting: Rings and Chains, originally uploaded by ambrosianbeads.

For decades, I've wanted to learn to tat. No-one in the family did it, and I tried to teach myself using a tatting shuttle. I didn't even know about needle tatting. I was clueless about the shuttle and gave up after trying a couple times. A few years ago, I learned there was another method, but never ran across a class that I could take.

On Sunday morning, I was reading the local section of the paper, and saw that there was a class taking place as part of the Victorian Day activities at the Ben Lomond Historic Site in Manassas, VA. I called about the time, and headed over there a couple hours later, throwing all my previously laid plans out the window.

In a matter of minutes, the teacher had me making rings and chains and I was amazed at how easy it was ! I finished my first ornament in under three hours, but the next one I hope to finish in under an hour. Actually, I don't plan to make coasters, doilies and ornaments at all. I've got some plans brewing for using other yarns, adding beads, doing freeform with other techniques, who knows ?

Sunday, October 04, 2009

Crafty Bastards Craft Show

Yes, that's the name of the show, and it is a very cool show. The name comes from the back page of the Washington City Paper where "crafty bastards" can advertise their wares. Several years ago, the paper started a craft show where the advertisers could sell their stuff to the public. I first became interested when I read about a crafter who made dolls out of tampons. I thought, "what kind of a craft show is this ?" and knew I had to check it out. There are alot of Etsy sellers there and everything (I mean Everything...except for the doggie product vendor's stuff...argghh....is handmade). I bought some herbal soaps from http://biggsandfeather.com .

One of the big reasons I love to go is that they always have the "B-Boy Battle" (breakdancing competition) going on at the same time. The crowd is huge, the competition fierce but friendly and the "dancing" is mesmerizing !