Wednesday, January 6, 2010

un update

I’ve been really busy. And i cant share any of it. Drat.
I’m making the wicked awesome skully scarf that I mentioned in my last post. The front side is about half way done, but because it definitely has a front and back I’m going to have to knit up a back for it. Which will take about 1/4 the time that knitting the entire front has.

One super cool thing? I discovered while I was sitting there getting annoyed about dropping one color and picking up the next, that there is actually a use for having learned to knit with both hands… Yep. I can knit with continental and english *at the same time.* Do you know how handy this is? Granted it only really works if you are using two colors and carrying them through pretty much the whole row, but, good god that is a time saver! Plus, I don’t think I’ve heard of a whole hell of a lot of people doing it. Perhaps I’ll post a vid at some point.

On the same note (that being yarn) I’ve decided to go ahead and use up every piece of worsted weight yarn I have on making the hats that I hate, but that everyone loves. (I’ve sold 4 so far, and told about 10 people that I wont make more… because I hate making them). I have a huge stash of yarn that I will probably never use otherwise, and will end up getting donated to the thrifty, so I might as well make something with it that will bring in some cash. I have to admit, I don’t like making them because they are easy… that’s kind of counter-productive.

I got my first official commission for tatted jewelry! On x-mess I had given my aunt a pair of tatted earrings, and wore some of my own work. She called yesterday saying that she wants me to make up a set based on what I was wearing for her sister. Cool huh?

Lastly, I decided to do a little experiment. I’m getting super super sick of hearing that what I tat is fake, that it isn't real tatting because its done with a needle and not a shuttle. Pooie on that. I’ve joined a few discussion groups and whatnot online, and been called everything from stupid to lazy, and been told that needle tatting can never hold up to shuttle in structure or symmetry. Again, Pooie on that. So here is what I decided. I’m going to do the TIAS, and I’m going to use both needle and shuttle, and the same thread. So I’m going to snap a photo of each one as I go, and see if anyone can actually tell which is done with needle, and which is shuttle. My guess is that it will be about half and half as far as who guesses right. This isn’t really going to be a priority for me, I have other stuff that is top of the list, but fortunately each day is only a small portion of the whole piece, so I might actually be able to do it in a timely manner. We shall see!

2 comments:

  1. I have suffered the same, needle tatting is fake drama, but you know what, I don't hear it anymore. My designs have proven themselves & my needle tatting looks just as good or better than most shuttle tatting.

    You have nothing to prove, acceptance will never come for some and there are plenty who already know what we do.

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  2. three cheers to that!!!! And actually, I ditched the tias idea in favor of more spiffy hat making. Also the fact that I just got commisions to make tats to be used in gourd art has totally re-affirmed my belief that what I do is actually pretty darn cool

    This just in! If you don't like the fact that I dont use shuttles... to darn bad. Bah!

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