Sunday, July 25, 2010

Inspiration

Where do you get your inspiration? I know I've asked this before and I'm not looking for an answer so much as prompting you to think.

I followed a link on Craftzine the other day and found this handmade doily.

Not your ordinary doily! I can't see what she is using as a hook but this is super-sized crochet! The rug will be featured in a book, Crafting a Meaningful Home, and you can learn more about it at ladiesandgentlemenstudio.com

So why wouldn't you do this in tatting? Shuttle issues, for one thing. How would you make a ring? How wide can you spread your fingers for something this gigantic? I think a doily made entirely of chains might work. A needle tatter might be able to use the largest size knitting needle to craft it too.

Just a thought......


Souvenirs ~ a stone I picked up at Winona Lake


Stones collected by my parents and myself over time


More stones that sit on my ledge outside


I've mentioned from time to time that I liked rocks. I actually have a box of rocks somewhere but with all the moving around since my son moved in, I couldn't remember where they were. So I used the stone from Winona Lake, and inspired by crochet work of Margaret Ooman from Resurrection Fern, and prompted by a tutorial created by her and featured on Purl Bee.com, I set out to make my own ~ but with a tatted center. Once I get the hang of this, I'll try tatting the remainder where I've now crocheted, but crocheting is a whole lot faster and easier to rip out than tatting! This one isn't actually quite done, but you can see how it will look. I need to make a few more rounds to secure it underneath.

I had to take this pic of Diogi guarding the rock outside my bathroom. It's pretty big to tackle now but just wait til I get better at this and she is not looking.......bwah-ha-ha...

Oh, and check out the Flickr Group of Lace Covered Stones. There are some very creative folks there!

9 comments:

  1. Wow! That super big doily is VERY cool! Does make you look at things in a new light.

    You have a very nice rock collection of which my son would be quite envious. Rocks, bugs, plants, robots - those are his things. We think he should go into horticulture.

    And I thought you were making an ordinary motif! That is a fun idea! Maybe if you just EXPLAIN to the cat, she will be on board. Don't all cats like yarn?

    :) Ann

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  2. That rug is awesome...and I bet if I sawed a hole in the top of my biggest knitting needles...like I have time to tat a rug, but I sorta want to now. The rock is lovely idea too.

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  3. Seeing that Mega-Doily and your tatted rock are prime examples of what inspires me! Anything unique that everyone else doesn't have or do inspires me, though I am a much better copier than creator. The rock is a great idea - we have a few rocks around here from Lake Superior that I've always intended to paint. Might have to rethink that plan . . .

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  4. Love your rock, Gina. I'm a rock lover, too, but I never thought of tatting and crocheting a cover for them. (I have waaay too many rocks!)
    That rug is impressive,though, but even needle tatting would take forever, unless you had a huge needle made just for jute or one's choice of heavy thread/yarn. Makes me want to try it, but, then, I want to try everything.......

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  5. I think Diogi has a twin brother who lives at my house - I thought I was looking at a picture of my own cat!

    That rug is amazing. Thanks for sharing!

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  6. Gosh would love to make a rug like that. Also what a great idea covering a stone. TOOOOOOOOO much inspiration in this post!

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  7. That is so cool! I've always brought stones and pebbles back from vacations. My oldest daughter used to ask people to bring her stones from where ever they went. She crochets and tats, so I'm going to show her this - she will love it!

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  8. Thanks for reminding me of that lace book site Gina! I had actually saved the Teneriffe book, but forgot both about the book and the site. It is now bookmarked so I can look through it and see what other lace books there are!

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  9. Hi Gina,
    You asked us where do we het our inspiration from? Well my main inspiration is from flowers. I take a flower, look at it very closely, and then try to replicate it as closely as I can in my tatting designs.

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Emails and comments both are welcome and always read.