Nouveau Tatted Jewelry Set pattern is finished

Nouveau Set original tatting pattern is all done! It's for sale at my Etsy Shop and also in my Craftsy Pattern Store.

The curving, natural forms of the Art Nouveau style was my influence in designing this jewelry set of necklace with matching bracelet and earrings. To create these undulating curves in tatting, I used 2 shuttles and reversed direction of the chains frequently.

The level of pattern difficulty has been set to "advanced" and although this is definitely not a beginner's pattern, it would be an enjoyable challenge for someone already comfortable with basic tatting skills and working with 2 shuttles. There are many in-progress photos to help with unusual techniques. The pattern includes written instruction in English and diagrams.

There's a lot of possibility for thread and bead color combinations. Since the necklace structure has small motifs surrounded by a tatted framework, the small motifs can be a different color than the rest of the tatting.  In the green necklace in the picture below, I choose a bright lime green for the small motifs and a darker green for the rest of the necklace, for a shaded effect.

The pattern came out to be 11 pages, and I estimate that I put in at least 400 hours of work into the whole project of designing, tatting, photographing, diagramming, and writing.

Greater Milwaukee Tatting Guild, June meeting highlights

 Good times! Sue Anna and Barbara G. were able to join us this time, too. We heard about their experiences at the Lafayette Lacemakers "Lace Day" on Saturday, and got to see some pattern books and other goodies they had bought while there.

We tatted, chatted, and admired new patterns and latest creations.The beginners worked on mastering the "flip" of the double stitch with help and encouragement from the rest of us.

Sue Anna brought tatting in size 3 and size 20. The size of the thread sure makes a difference!

A fun, relaxing time, tatting and visiting with friends, and making new friends!
 
Sure is convenient having the meeting in the Mayfair Mall food court, where there's plenty of food available.

Still working on the "Nouveau" tatted jewelry set pattern

It's much more work writing up a pattern that will make sense for others to follow, than to just tat it :) I am making some progress, though. Showing the bracelet in process. The pattern when finished, will have the necklace, bracelet, and earrings, all in the same style. Using a lot of "switching shuttles" to change direction of the chains in order to give a natural, wondering vine sort of floral effect.

Tatted "atoms"

 Handmade lace, beads, and science. All cool stuff.

When tatting a 6 shuttle pattern like my "atom", that's when the lesser used shuttles in a tatter's collection feel needed :)

The reason for 6 shuttles, is to allow the "orbits" of the "electrons" to cross over each other. Each orbital path is tatted as a separate chain. Only 1 pair of shuttles is in use at any one time. To minimize tangling, I've learned to keep the threads not in current use wound up onto their shuttles. I hadn't yet learned that trick at the time when I wrote up the pattern :)

The "atom" pattern is definitely not for beginners, but experienced tatters may enjoy the challenge. It's in my Up and Tat 'Em book.

By the way, it's supposed to be a Lithium atom.

Tatting with friends at Hinsdale

 There were 8 of us gathered, but I only managed to get a photo of 4 of us "Tollway Tatters" together. Lace-lovin' Librarian ~ Diane has more photos on her blog!

 Diane showed us her elegant silver shuttle and a shuttle case from Janemactats.

 Diane's doily that she made from a pattern in Tatted Treasures by Jan Stawasz shown with the "Grandfather Clock" that she received from Battatter.

 Sue's beautiful dangles that she tatted onto rings and added cross charms.

Sue's gorgeous sun-catcher tatted with sparkly beads and hand dyed thread.
There were a lot more amazing things to see including some of Diane's shuttle collection and handmade bags from Barb, but these are all the pictures that I managed to take. More visiting than tatting got done today :)

Off Topic: Concert

A medley of the season's last concert of the community orchestra that I played cello in this past year.
So, here's your chance to see me play the cello :)

We are players of all levels, and just play for fun, so the music's not highly polished, but people seem to enjoy it anyway. The conductor of our group is Veronica Chairez, and she's very talented and super-nice!

I'm posting the video here to help it get more views and likes, to build self-confidence for the people in the orchestra.

Photos from Greater Milwaukee Tatting Guild meeting

 At our May meeting we had a new tatter join us. Here I am (I'm wearing the "Craftsy" shirt) helping her learn the double stitch.

 The new tatter's very first double stitch! The girl is a natural!

 Here's her first tatted ring! An amazing accomplishment for someone who never tatted before.

 Some of our happy group. Next month there may be more, as a passerby became so interested in what we were doing, she signed up to be notified of our next meeting.

By the way, our group now has a leader's assistant, Ana (in the blue shirt). She'll take my place (helping new tatters and passing out "goodie bags") if I'm not able to make it to a guild meeting.

Beautiful work, not yet blocked, by Heather, a very prolific tatter.

Slowly getting my "Nouveau" pattern written

Just a peek at an in-progress photo for my "Nouveau" earrings design. I did some tweaking on the original so it would hang together more securely. Several requests came in for the pattern, so that prioritized it on my "to do list". As it's an earrings, necklace, and bracelet set, it'll take a while to finish all of it, but I wanted to show that I have done some work on it.

The sample is shown in my current favorite, scrumptious shade of aqua beads, combined with size 20 Lizbeth in very pale yellow #612. It's summer-y! I'll need to do a whole set in this combo.

You may recall my original black Nouveau necklace:

So, in between other commitments, I'll be writing up the pattern, taking in-progress photos, and trying to get it to be easy enough for other tatters to follow, although like many of my designs, it's a challenge.