Friday, May 31, 2013

Just a quick note to tell you that even though I just started this blog, I am taking a bit of a vacation this weekend. 

I'm driving 800 miles (one-way) from Omaha, Nebraska where I live to Grand Junction, Colorado where my son just finished his freshman year of college at Colorado Mesa University.  Now it is time for him to (reluctantly) come home for the summer and (according to me) make some money to go back to college next year.

But while I'm there I'm taking a few days off of work to meander back through the Colorado Rocky Mountains. 

I have camping gear packed and a map.  My plan is to spend as much time as I can in the mountains between Grand Junction (to the west) and Denver (towards the east).  Once we get back to Denver, I plan to 'book' across the high plains back to Omaha. 

It should be nice to spend a few days traveling with my son.

When I get back I shall work on getting some pictures onto this blog site.....a new thing to figure out.

Thursday, May 30, 2013

Free Split Ring Tatting Pattern

From time to time, I will be putting up a new Split Ring Tatting pattern for your tatting enjoyment (I hope!).

Right now, I have two small heart pattens on my website:
www.theshuttlesmith.com

I tried to create a direct link to the actual patterns but it doesn't seem to be working the way I wanted it to.

So----go to the website and click on FREE SPLIT RING PATTERN  on the index on the left-hand side of the page. 

Once again, my computer illiteracy is a detriment to what I want to do!

My love affair with SRT (cont'd)

I started designing SRT designs about 10-15 years ago.  I was working (as an Electron Microscopy Technologist) one day and looked down at my pants pattern (houndstooth) and thought, "I can tat that!"
So then and there I designed my first SRT pattern. 

A few years later, I wanted to create a pattern for the 2008 Palmetto Lacemaker's Workshop with the theme of 'My Heart Belongs to Tatting' and created a group of SRTatted  hearts.  When I got home from the workshop, I realized that I actually had several other Split Ring Technique patterns created--why not put them together into a book.   Well----that started a wonderful era of designing and tatting for me.  When I was at work and unable to pick up a tatting shuttle/thread easily, I was playing around with graph paper, creating designs on paper.  I started amassing a large collection of designs and knew that I had to get them into a book of designs. 

Thus I started into the more frustrating portion of the project---figuring out a cost-effective way to get my patterns and ideas into print & in a book form.  

First though I had to buy and learn to use a graphic art software (Adobe Illustrator) to create my graphic pattern.  This was no small matter!  This software is expensive and has alot of capabilities.  With the increased capabilities comes an increasingly difficult learning curve.  I had to hire a college student to help me utilize the software and make it do what I wanted to do.  I spent hours creating each pattern in the book!

Another challenge was to figure out how to get a book printed.  For a long time, I wasn't sure that I could afford to achieve my dream of getting my ideas/patterns into a printed book form.  I researched extensively print-on-demand (POD) publishing options and how to self-publish.  I finally found the right POD company and started working towards that end. 

All this time though, I was still happily designing (on paper) and tatting my patterns into thread.  That was the fun part of the project that kept me going to figure out all the other publising/computer stuff.

The book project was 'supposed' to be done by August 2011.  I was to teach at the IOLI Convention in Bethesda, MD.  It would have been the perfect place to unveil my new book!   But that didn't happen.  The book was completely laid out--all designs, patterns, & photo done & edited.  But I was having problems converting the original document to PDF form so that it would print out correctly.  I even had a 3-hour class scheduled titled 'Fun with Split Ring Tatting' to teach there.  But my book was not there.   I was so disgusted that the perfect opportunity to introduce my book had come and gone that I tabled the project for several months.  Finally in the beginning of 2012, I retackled the issue and asked the right question of the right person (believe me, I asked alot of ?'s to alot of people all along!) and found the clue that would solve my digital problem.  And then suddenly I had a copy of my book in my hand!!!!  What an incredible elation that was.

As soon as I had a copy in my hand, my second thought was that I needed to share the research and information that I had accrued in my attempt to get my book published.  So I started writing a thesis that I titled:  "Cost-Effective Self-Publishing of a Niche-Market Book".  The premise is that tatting is a true niche-market in that not a large percentage of the world's population do it.  Thus the market for a book in this genre is quite limited.  What I needed was a way to print/publish my book and not loose money in the process (the 'cost-effective' part).  Thus the only way to get a book such as this cost-effectively is to write/lay it out myself and self-publish it.    (This publication/information will be coming out sometime in the future.  I haven't figured out how/where to do it yet.)

Now that Book One is done, I am working on future books.  I love the excuse of publishing future books to continue to create new designs.  I have two SRT books laid out now and have at least enought pattens/designs done for a fourth book.  As long as I have graph paper and all those lovely colors of thread in my possession, I will probably never be done designing SRT pattens.

Wednesday, May 29, 2013

First Blog Post Continued

So let me introduce myself & my interest in Split Ring Tatting to you


I have a biography about myself and my interest/history with tatting at:
www.TheShuttleSmith.com/karen-bovard-is-the-shu

In 2012, I published the first tatting book devoted entirely to Split Ring Tatting:

Fun with Split Ring Tatting

For more information about my book go to:
www.theshuttlesmith.com/fun-with-split-ring-tatting

I devoted ___  pages to introducing the basics of Split Ring Tatting (SRT) including how SRT is different from regular tatting, various ways to physically work SRT, how to create Take/Thrown Off Rings (TOR's).  The patterns are completely illustrated to show in as simplistic a way how to work the pattern--not only the path of work, but also which shuttle/thread source is used and in what order to tat the pattern with the least deviation from traditional tatting technique.

The patterns in my book are truly unique!   There is not a tatted chain in the book. 

As of this writing, I am working on a second and third book of Split Ring Tatting Technique patterns.  I just can't stop designing!!!!   When I cannot have a tatting shuttle and thread in my hands (darn work!!!), I play around with graph paper, designing on paper.  All my designs are very mathematical, and I can work up the double stitch counts and joins on paper and then all I have to do is tat up the design into thread.   My approach to designing is easy to execute into the finished product.

Book Number Two will be titled    More Fun with Split Ring Tatting

Book Number Three with be    Split Ring Tatted Crosses


I have no idea when either of these two books will be available.....I estimate that I have Book 2 about 90% done,  Book 3 is 75% done.  At this point, your quess might be as good as mine!

First Blog Post

Hello Split Ring Tatting Fans and hopefully those tatters we Split Ring Tatting Fans can encourage to try/like the technique,

Although I've started blogging on my website, I realized that there is a difference between 'blogging' on a website versus a true blog site.   The major difference is that there is no communication/comments enabled on the website.  Several people emailed me to say they couldn't leave a comment.  When I checked, even I the site owner could not leave a comment!  I did check into how comments could be left and communication installed, but that would take a whole lot more computer skills than I have!  And even though I am engaged to a major computer whiz, I have learned that I have to use discretion as to which computer issues I ask for his help with.  Or, I would seriously bog him down with my trivia.  I swear I could keep him busy with my computer 'issues' as least on a half-time basis.  But, I pick and choose my 'projects' for him quite carefully.  Oh, dear, how did I get off on that tangent....yes, it was about my website shortfalls.

So after some thought, I decided to move my blog posts to a true blog site...where we can talk back and forth.

What I intend to do with my website:  www.TheShuttleSmith.com   is to continue to use it for the more serious technique stuff.  I haven't quite gotten it all figured out yet, but I will migrate some stuff over to this blog site and then hopefully 'clean-up' my website so that it looks a bit more easy to navigate around and find information on.

www.t