Sunday, May 25, 2008

Test Tatting, TIAS 3, and an Update on "It"

As I mentioned in my last post, I have been doing some test tatting for Linda Davies. Linda asked me nicely to show some of the completed pieces. Here are a few parts of her Gladiolus flower that will appear in her next book.


These are the large and medium petals that will produce, well, large and medium flowers once two sets of petals are made for each flower. You can't tell in the pictures, but I used the same shade of Flora 20 thread (# 225) for both sets of petals and the bud.

These next picture are the Gladiolus bud, large and small calyxes. Isn't Linda great? She thinks of everything when designing a new flower. I should note that I have reduced the image size to protect Linda's design. I'm sure everyone understands.

I am also following Jane's TIAS 3 that is currently running right now. This is my progress up to the end of Day 4.

I didn't scan my progress for Days 1-3. I probably won't scan after every day's progress, though it will depend on the number of parts the pattern is broken down in. At this point I haven't the faintest idea what TIAS 3 will become. And I'm not sure I want to know yet; it's so much fun not knowing what you're tatting.

I'm sure everyone remembers "It", from previous posts. If not here is a reminder:


Well, I spent this afternoon working on "It" and I'm proud to say he's not "It" anymore. I'd like to introduce everyone to "Red" (coming up with names isn't one of my strong skills):

I'm not completely happy with some of his fins, but at least he looks like what he is supposed to. Red is a male Betta (or Siamese Fighting Fish). I'm going to try blocking him to see if I can shape his fins better. I should also note that I forgot to add a bead for Red's eye when I was tatting him, so I added it in with Photoshop. Here's a picture of Red's big brother, Big Red (I told you naming isn't a strong skill of mine):

Big Red is the fish that I based Red on. Please ignore the plastic plants in the background. This picture was taken before I put live plants in the aquarium. Now, I know what you are thinking, when will the pattern be available? To be honest, I don't know. I'm not sure I can reproduce Red's fins. I have been thinking that maybe I will write up the pattern (and modify the diagram) for the body and have everybody free tat the fins like I did. What do you think? I'd love to hear your comments and suggestions. I going to count Red as my motif # 21 in the 25 Motif Challenge. That's all for now.

13 comments:

  1. Thanks for sharing the photos. I'm really looking forward to Linda's book!

    I was wondering if you were tatting a fish! I think the name is perfect. My beta was named Cobalt... can you guess what color he was?

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  2. I love big RED! What a great design and even better when you show the tatting and picture together.
    Well done Jeff!

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  3. How fun to be a test tatter. You've done a nice job on the glads for Linda, the TIAS (whatever it is-Jane loves keeping us all in suspense) and "it"....er...I mean, "Red". That's quite a motif for the 25 Motif Challenge. Pretty cool.

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  4. I think Red is an excellent name for your fish - and he is sooo realistic!. Realism, for me, counts so much. As far as the pattern goes... I know that you, me and other designers would be able to free tat the fins, but I really don't think that inexperienced tatters would be to cope and then they wouldn't even start the pattern! So my advice is, stick with it and try to pattern it, even though I know this is very difficult. You could always ask tatters like me and Jane for input.
    Thank you so much for putting those lovely pictures up of my gladdy pieces!

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  5. Thanks everyone for the kind comments. Let's see Diane, um, blue? I am quite proud of him Sherry. It is really awesome being a test tatter TattingChic.

    Realism is a big plus for me as well Linda. That was one of my goals when making Red. I will persevere with making the pattern available. I hope you know what you are getting yourself (and Jane et al) into. I just may need help with making the pattern. I am quite pleased with the body, but I may explore other options with the fins. Your welcome. It's been a pleasure to test tat for you.

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  6. Ditto what everyone else said, Jeff! You did a great job on Linda's glads. Test tatting is so much fun! I love Red and Big Red. Job well done. I agree with Linda that many tatters wouldn't know what to do. I'm not as good as Linda or Jane, but I'll help too if I can.

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  7. Thanks Laura. Test tatting is fun! I'm not sure if the pattern is beginner friendly even if I wrote it out, but I do understand what you and Linda mean. Of course you can help. I will need test tatters of my own soon! I have the pattern for the body almost written out and need to make adjustments to the diagram.

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  8. You are right - not every pattern is beginner friendly. For a long time I thought there were no patterns that were Laura friendly! LOL We will look forward to the pattern and I'll be glad to help.

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  9. Big Red is the coolest little fishie dude ever!!!! I do hope his pattern will be made avialable!

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  10. Thanks Aileen. I do plan on making the pattern available. Eventually.

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  11. Very nice job on the design of Red! He is very realistic!

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  12. Thanks Carol. Realism was an important factor for this design. I'm glad you liked it.

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