Friday, April 24, 2009

WHY TAT? What's it Get You?

A few family and friends have asked me "WHY?" They all have a strange kind of querulous, expression when they say "tat". These folks will never appreciate how stumbling onto this odd hobby/obsession has changed my life.

As those on the old eTatters, now re-born as InTatters, may already know, I wa
s given a shuttle by a stranger, visiting from the American South, who was chatting with me in a yarn store. I said I tried the shuttle a few years back and couldn't fathom how to make anything pretty. In fact, I couldn't make anything! She smiled sweetly, whipped a little plastic thing out of her pocket and said, "It's time to try again."


I think she gave my hand a small squeeze...
I say this because I think she reminded me of the book and movie - Midnight In The Garden of Good and Evil... If you haven't seen/read this, they are charged with an element of mystical spells, magical inference etc., that this woman seemed to wear like a lingering cologne.

Anyway, I took the shuttle, thanked her and promised to try my hardest. I never even got her name.

A few days later, I signed up on eTatters and was littering my living room with hens and chicks and other arcane twisted scraps of thread.


Then, while visiting Auntie, who is 92 (SHE appreciates my tatting! ) I met her friend. This complete stranger gave me a wonderful, tiny pair of scissors she had acquired years ago in Japan, which she no longer used.


There is an inscription on the blade
- perhaps a commercial name or logo. Someone from that part of the world on eTatters tried to find the meaning, but couldn't. Anybody?

They are THE BEST.




Lynn
of eTatters is also the best.

Of all the tru
ly amazing and unbelievably helpful women I have met online - all my tatting teachers out there in computerville - (I know NO ONE who tats personally) she is the one who deserves the prize. From the start she encouraged, instructed, corrected and helped me so that I became more confident about not only tatting, but using my computer to ask for help. That was a great leap for me.

I AM SHY! Communicating on-line has become a lot of fun. So, a blog was a natural development. I was not prepared for responses right away and I could not be happier. You see, although I am shy, I also ADORE AN AUDIENCE! How pathetic is that!!!!!

It would be pathetic, indeed, not to give credit where it is due. People should always be acknowledged for their contributions.
For the tips and encouragement on downloading , I have to mention The Dark Ranger. For those of you who are aficionados of
Hockey, this blog is amazing and already quoted in The New York Times.

To me, a puck looks a lot like a picot.
But a good friend is a good friend, no matter the sport.

So, from an unexpected gift to an old lady in a retirement home; from an old pair of scissors to teachers and friends on the Net; a new blogger is born. Sheer magic.


~Fox ~
~Aspiring Adept of TATROMANCY (magical meanderings with rings, chains and picots) ~

8 comments:

  1. Hockey and tatting are inevitable. Thanks for the shout-out, oh honorable Foxy One!

    tdr

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  2. My goodness! How have I missed your blog before today? I'm going to have to do some back-tracking to catch up on all you've done since your chance encounter with a tatting stranger! I think I'll start carrying small plastic shuttles around with me to pass out to people I meet. I love the idea!

    Thanks for visiting my blog! Diane

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  3. Hi Diane,
    You are so welcome! I have already given one away - an orange one, like the one given to me.

    I think I felt I had to continue the wonderful gesture! So, I always carry a spare. I'm glad you are going to do the same.

    Tatting needs all the publicity it can get!

    Thank you for visiting and commenting on my baby-blog.
    Fox : )

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  4. What a wonderful story of how your tatting adventure began. Thank you for sharing it.

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  5. Thank you so much, Bonnie. Glad you enjoyed it. : )

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  6. Hey Fox, can you rub some of that magic on some thread or shuttle or something and send it my way. I love to tat but I sure struggle with it sometimes. I need a little extra "magic". Your baby blog is very good. Congrats on being a blogger. You are off to a great start. I am a little shy myself and have had a hard time sharing with others in blogland. It used to embarrass me to tell people I had a blog but now, I enjoy hearing that my friends keep up with me this way. Some of them will ask me, why haven't you blogged lately? What are you working on? It's fun but can eat up some time too that can be spent tatting or quilting. Anyway, glad your posting now and I can keep up with you better. Hugs, Linda

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  7. Hi Linda,
    What a wonderful message! You made my day. I am so pleased to hear you like the babyblog.

    I am shy, too. Can you believe it? The blog seems to give me confidence the more I get courageous and "go for it!"

    Sometimes I break into a sweat before I post! Crazy, but I know what you mean - it is confronting, to say the least. But, it gets easier and it is so much FUN!!!!

    Well worth it. I say, you go Linda. You will e glad you did!
    Fox xxoox : )

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