Grand Slam!

I just got the fourth Mary Konior tatting book - A Pattern Book of Tatting.  I can't believe I wanted her books for such a long time, and within a year, I've got them!  I'm glad that Tatting With Visual Patterns is readily available (in softcover) at a decent price; why can't they re-issue the rest of her books as well?

This is Mary's,
photographed
from the book

Of course, I had to browse through it to see what treasures I could find - and I found "Mark-My-Words," which is another of her cross bookmarks.  I tatted it yesterday while watching "Elizabeth - The Golden Age" with David.  Two things about the film:  first, that is one heckuva long movie!  Second, the box art shows Cate Blanchett as Elizabeth, in the scene where she is rallying the troops at Tilbury.  It's a closeup picture, where she is wearing armor plate, and her lace collar is peeking up around the top of the chest/shoulder armor.  I looked very closely at it and the lace in the picture is definitely tatted!

Now, the film takes place in 1585; tatting has been documented back to the 1840s; is this anachronistic? Artistic license because the costumer just wanted some lace and didn't know the difference? Or could it be that tatting was actually being done in the 16th century, but nothing was documented?  Despite this being the height of the English Renaissance, 90% of the English people lived in poverty, and schooling was limited.  Could it be that tatting was passed from person to person through an oral tradition?

I tatted this one - just wanted
to clear up any confusion

Back to the book.  I tatted this one straight by the pattern, but as you can see, I managed to make some mistakes.  I like it, though, and I've already loaded some shuttles so I can tat some more of them.  It amazes me, the sheer number of patterns Mary wrote!  The lovely doily on the cover of this book is named "Primrose Path."  Does it remind you of another doily?  Perhaps "Flowerpiece," from Tatting With Visual Patterns?  At first glance, I thought it was the same pattern with a different name - but they're not.  I think Mary did this with some of her other patterns - changed some elements here and there, and made a new pattern with similarities to the original, yet different in the finished form.

Change of subject: there is still time to submit your idea for the logo for the Palmetto Tatters Guild's Tat Days - Tatting In A Winter Wonderland!  Entries are due by March 16.