Tuesday, November 20, 2012

Tatting with Angeline

Bev's recent post reminded me that I never told you about my time with Angeline. Thanks to Fox's generosity, I had the loan of a rare copy of "Let's Tat" by Angeline Critchlow. Though the book may look unpolished by today's standards, I am so full of respect for Angeline’s labor of love creating this book. In the late 1970's there was not a good beginners instruction book, and she produced and hand bound this book with over 300 pages of instructions, vintage and original patterns. In the context of her era, without the advantages of computers, text editors, and scanners, this was an amazing accomplishment.

In 1976, the year of the Bicentennial, she saw many examples of crafting on display, but no tatting.  She decided then to devote herself to spreading the word about tatting.  She taught classes locally and produced this book plus a handful of thinner leaflets.

Here are a few of the things I made:





Thank you, Fox, for Angeline's Traveling Book!

7 comments:

  1. Thanks, really interesting to hear some background about the book. Love the crinoline lady and the other things too.

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  2. Thanks for showing some lovely designs, I am looking forward to seeing the book when it arrives sometime in the future.
    Margaret

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  3. Hi Martha!
    I don’t even recognize these patterns except for the first butterfly. Haven’t seen the book in a couple of years! Love the one that looks like a kite.

    Thank you for showing us some of the patterns.
    Fox : )

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  4. Everything is beautiful!! :)

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  5. You had me running to my book to find these patterns, and I admit I never really 'saw' them before. However, it's like the movies, where color brings everything to life! You did such a great job with them! I also hope to do some of her patterns to honor her, as the book was a monumental achievement! I received a copy in 1994 and I even have a note from Angeline with a tiny butterfly and flowers tatted on it! She was 84 at the time, and swas still hand binding the books! Her husband did the photography! It's just such an amazing accomplishment!

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  6. I tatted a few medallions of hers when the book was with me. Thanks to Fox. I found that with the threads that we have now, the tatted pieces looked so good. It laid flat and it was neat and it worked.

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  7. Anonymous6:56 AM

    You have made some lovely little patterns, thank you for sharing.

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