Thursday, May 31, 2012

Have I Forgotten All?

#19/100 Motif Challenge

Isdihara inspired this tat, here

The pattern is 
designed by Etha Schuette
Thread: Valdani#12

The mistakes are 
ALL MINE

And, believe me, there were many!  Truckloads!  I cannot believe how many times I had to cut the thread - me -  who can un-tat any ring!  

The scissors flashed and my Paris vacation glow crumbled around my, as teeth gnashed and trucker-mouth erupted.  Not pretty.

The pattern is simple, but demands strict attention. 

Isn’t it a beauty, though, mistakes and all?  I will try it again in another of the new Valdani #12, which, to my surprises, I quite enjoyed this go-around.

p.s.  I just had a look at this post and am horrified to see the contribution Gian has made to the tatting!  What do you in Tat-land do, you who live with feline helpers?  How do you manage the hair?  I clean every day, every single day and mop and pick up hairs as I am finicky... but to look at this pic you might think I live in utter squalor!

44 comments:

  1. Your heart looks great!!! (even with your own personal mistakes added) And for the decorating that Gian added to your work.....well I am like you. I feel like I clean all day, every day! Oh I have to go time to vacuum!!
    Kelly

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    1. Hi Kelly! I KNOW you understand this! Gotta run and dust now!
      Fox ; ))

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  2. LOL I must be blinder than I thought because I see only a very pretty heart :)

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    1. Ah, blindness to the finish on this pattern is surely bliss! Thanks!
      Fox : )

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  3. Tsuru is quite good as not to touch my tatting. Stray hairs might get tatted in. Its inevitable. It looks like an intricate heart and has a great shape. This colour makes it look so pretty. Yes, it is a beauty!

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    1. Hi umintsuru,
      I think you should try this one. I know you will enjoy it and it might look interesting with the pointy picots you sometimes use...
      Fox : )

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  4. Gian only contributes to the beauty of your work. In his view - purrfection.

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    1. Thanks, CM!
      Those hairs may signify purrfection to Gian but they leave me almost catatonic!
      Fox ; ))

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  5. Dear Fox,
    I also live with a cat. Cat hair can be found on any of my handicraft work, but I try not to worry about. I tried to even felt cat hair, but this felted balls are very "spiky" ...
    What you can not change, you have to like

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  6. I have saved the pattern and will attempt to tat this later. Since I am not yet familiar with it, I cannot see any of the mistakes that you so openly admit to making. If you had kept quite about it, I would not know any better, ha ha ha....

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    1. Jon,
      You will love it! It is a fabulous design and a lot of fun to tat...
      Fox

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  7. I didn't even notice the cat hairs till you pointed them out, possibly because my screen is covered so thickly with them. Since there is an irresistible attraction between cat hair and any type of thread or fabric, I just try to think of them as additional accessories to both my clothing and my interior decor, and relax about it. (Although to be honest, my apartment wouldn't be that clean even without a cat.) I do pick them off very carefully if the tatting is to be given to someone else, and then keep the tatting in a plastic bag until I am ready to deliver it.

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    1. Dear Squijum,
      She didn’t even notice? You had better start shaking a bit - I know it is a nuisance, but it is necessary to take control of her oversight - especially near her unfinished work. Shake. Let the hairs really fly. It is the only way. Or add a hairball or two in her box of thread.
      Your buddy,
      Gian

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  8. Personally, it depends.. I live with both a cat and a dog and have two other little visitors on a near-daily basis. I tend to use a lint roller or, when I've ran out of that, a bit of tape wrapped around my hand. I try to use archival tape though.. Am afraid of the acid damaging the threads..

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    1. Yes - tape is a favourite or one of those dollar-store lint brushed... Jess mentioned dryer sheets, but I have never used them... maybe too many chemicals there?
      Fox

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  9. have 2 cats that love to help me tat, one is a longggg hair. Love em and live with it. Can't see any on your perfect heart. Keep em coming!

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    1. Thanks, Marie Drew!

      Once upon a time, for twelve years, I had a long-legged fellow who left clumps of hair but not little shedded singles. Easy to pick up after him - not like the shorter, single hairs I have usually endured with the shorter haired breeds.
      Fox : )

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  10. Looking at the heart it is very pretty and I do not see the mistakes, I see a heart done with love and patience.
    I had to enlarge the picture to find out the Gian additions. and hair gets everywhere doesn't matter if it is fur based or human. mine is now below my shoulder blades and it can get places too. I have discovered it in my crochet, and in my tatting.

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    1. Ladytats,
      I know that my hair, though not very long, always got knitted or crocheted into my work. I have not found it very often in tatting though. Just those of my fur-babies!
      Fox : )

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  11. I tend to think that dryer sheets are a cure-all, but they are pretty handy at picking up small hairs. But really, I smile when I see little pieces of Gian in your work. :o)

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  12. The heart is lovely. I think the key to pet hair is to give everyone you know a sheddy animal (cat or dog). Then, having a hair here or there will just look familiar to us all! (I do know people who routinely brush their pets and seem to keep the hair tamed that way.)

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    1. Great idea! Would make the world a better place!

      I comb Gian! He hates the brush and the comb works very well - but obviously not well enough!
      Fox

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  13. The heart is so beautifully done, and I would never know you made any errors on it. Looks great in that color, too. It's intriguing to me that there was a lonely little ball of thread sitting in a shop, and it gets 'adopted', and the next day it's transformed into a lovely piece of needlework. Did the shop owner know you were going to tat with it? She would be amazed how it turned out!

    I was surprised how 'complex' the pattern seems! I can see that one would really have to pay attention!

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  14. I feel so much better now that you have told your hairy tales!

    I just could not believe the amount of fur on that heart. And Gian gets combed almost every day!

    Thank you all for such delightful words,
    Fox

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  15. I just now discovered that Etha updated her post and removed the pattern from the post and transferred it into a pdf file, which is much easier to read and print. I am amazed you tatted the pattern from the original post, as the type was so small. I certainly appreciate her bringing the pattern back, though.

    PS: Gian, we forgive you your shedding!

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    1. Kathy, I’m not sure what you mean, as I followed the link from Isdihara’s page and got the PDF!

      Yes, it is a beautiful pattern. i appreciate her generosity as well,
      Fox : )

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    2. Computers are so crazy! When I follow the link from both your and Isdahara's posts, I am taken to what was probably Etha's original post, where the whole pattern appears in the post in small text. When I go directly to Etha's web site from Google (ethaschuette.com), it shows just the photo of the heart (no pattern) and says "Edited to be a PDF. Get pattern here" and after clicking on that, the PDF comes up. Didn't mean to cause any confusion! I hope everyone can find the PDF link!

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  16. I think your heart is beautiful with your added design elements!

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  17. It's beautiful! I had to enlarge it to see Gian's embellishments. It's a beautiful color too.

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    1. Thanks JB! Gian had to have his contribution, after all!
      Fox : )

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  18. This is pretty and I don't see any kitty hairs. But I'd LOVE to have heard the trucker mouth! ha!

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    1. Jennifer - NOOOOOO! You have no idea!

      You can’t see the hair and the dust etc, AND a white spot of I do not know what - and I had just vacuumed before I took that shot!

      Well of course YOU would not see it, as your heart is kept safe and warm by not 4 but 8 furry little legs!
      Fox : )

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  19. I have to say, I just scrolled back through about 5 pages of your posts... I have been reading every post you have put up, your blog is one of my favorites... but tonight I really wanted to look through for some reason, and you mentioned not too long ago about how you realized you were doing something different, something clicked and you were doing things you weren't normally doing, etc, and I just wanted to say.... I think your work is just beautiful. The stitches are so even, the work is such pretty colors, the patterns are such pretty choices, and again, your work itself is just come along beautifully, (though I always thought you were good). You are a complete inspiration to me. Please, keep tatting and showing your heart through your work and in your blog :X

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    1. Dear Bree,
      Your words touch and inspire me. Sometimes I feel that I should not spend all this time with a length of thread and a little plastic do-dad, doing this repetitive, time-consuming, creative and crazy-making thing we call tatting, let alone writing all the time to that invisible, inspirational place we call Tat-land.

      Sometimes I feel that I could be doing something more meaningful, useful or contributory, but I do not want to! Then I read comments like yours and I am truly joyful. Thank you.
      Fox

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  20. Hello Fox,

    oh the heart is so pretty.

    greetings
    Ela

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  21. Hi fox

    What mistakes it's unique to you, I was told once that if you make something and there's a mistake it's unique and no one else will have one like it.

    I saw your blog a few times while I was in Crete but unable to comment, I did send you a text as I thought you might like one from Greece now you have joined the modern world of mobile phones.

    Love to Gian, not having a cat I can transfer your question, but I have had a dog with long hair and it's hard to keep the hair out of anything to do with tatting and knitting especially when they take a fancy to the wool.

    Margaret

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  22. Hi Fox
    Wonderful heart, maybe I try this pattern too.

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