This eigth post will not share the same fate as Henry’s eight wives. Rather, it was more of a King Arthur day, complete with a dragon.
At the apprenticeship fair (way back at the beginning of the semester; gosh that seems like a long time ago) I showed off Anne B’s Minor Norwegian Dragon, as a sample of one of the many things you can do with tatting. Well, ever since then, one of the girls has been obsessed with making a dragon. That dragon has some teeth, though, and her skills aren’t quite up to dragon slaying yet. However I think I found a way around that.
Anne B’s tiny tiny dragon! It has split rings, but that’s not a big deal for needle tatting. I offered the pattern to the class, and several students seemed interested, though as soon as I mentioned that they would need one more technique, that is only a tiny, tiny bit more than what you already know, and not even difficult, I promise, they all backed off. Except the dragon lady. She and I worked on it together and she got about half way through by the end of class, and pronounced that it was “HARD!” I perssonally think the only hard part was, that it wasn’t a butterfly.
Here is the tail of her tiny dragon.
Oh, and there were fish. Oh, my goodness there were so many fish. I brought in a tiny tatted fish doodle pattern, and I guess it looked easy enough because they all gave it a try.
Here is one of the fish.
The boys showing off their fish.
I am finding it interesting to teach needle tatting for the first time, and remembering how to do it for the first time in a decade. I find myself often saying, “take the shut…I mean needle.”
One more fish, except the tail. At least there was a break from butterflies.
Nevertheless,
Celebrate the butterfly!
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I love what you are accomplishing with the kids! Just look at the pride on the faces of those boys! Great work, Heather! You are doing a wonderful job! You are a fine emissary for Tat-land.
Fox : )
Thank you for your kind words. It is turning out to be harder than I expected, but very worthwhile.
Poor old Henry gets such a bad press as it is, without exaggeration.
He had just the six wives and only(?) beheaded two of them. So not quite as bad a chap as you’re painting him. 🙂
Adrian
I agree His Majesty gets a bad rap. So he ruled the most powerful empire on earth for decades, cemented the power of the throne, formed one of the most powerful churches in the world, and what he is most remembered for is his personal relationships. That’s a raw deal.
What you are doing with those kids is awesome! Showing the younger generation how to do these things, keeps the ancient crafts alive!