Number 10. Gecko!!!

My very favorite animal the gecko,(you didn't know that did you!!!).
After gentle hints, lots of inspiring photos Jane finally got bitten by the gecko bug and designed the most fabulous pattern for me. If you haven't seen all her geckos on her blog then you have missed a treat, and her gecko trimmed jacket is a real wow.
Tatting and geckos rule!!
I couldn't wait to give the pattern a test run and here is my first attempt.



He's OK apart from his eyes which ended up on the wrong shuttle!

Jane's geckos come in the most outrageous colour mixes that are beyond the wildest dreams of even the most fashion conscious gecko!! I guess my conservative choices will blossom into similar geckos.

BUT the remit of this challenge is to try to make realistic animals and so this was the aim in my second gecko.

My very own gecko expert said that Jane's gecko reminded him in it's shape of one of his New Caledonian geckos Rhacodactylus auriculatus commonly known as the Gargoyle gecko. Look particularly the shape of the tail,in the first photo, the base of the tail is bulbous and they continues as a short narrow tail. Also the relatively large head.

This was one of my favorite geckos, he had her for 16 years and she was not a youngster when he got her. Sadly she died about six months ago. You can't really see her true shape from these pictures, she did put on a bit of weight in her old age!





A nocturnal tree living gecko you can see how she would blend in with the bark.
She was always a favorite with visitors as she was slow to run away. Her skin was soft as velvet and so were her little paw pads. See how she can bend her toes upwards, the only vertebrate to be able to do that. This protects the 'sticky' micro hairs from getting dust and dirt in them.

So this is my tribute to her. Restrained by the colours of my threads she is a new variety R.auriculatus var.'Jane's Gargoyle'!



The thread is Coats Anchor perle 8 (from Coats India)and it really shines, the beads orange and silver lined brown, sparkle. She measures five and a half inches and if there is anybody out there like me who likes to know how much thread to use, she took 6.25m on sh1 and 4.5m on sh2 (I tat very tightly so you may need more). They have white eyes with a vertical slit like pupil which they can close as they have no eyelids. I used brown wooden ones about 5mm. may try some pale ones next.

I did tweak Jane's pattern just a little to give her a longer stride and a front left elbow. She is a very young and agile gecko!
She has a very tatty tail (looks like she may have been attacked by a bird!!) due to my inability to master Tonya's method of adding beads to a split ring, got it in the end tho but slightly differently. Lots more mistakes in there too.
The pattern is very easy to follow, done in one pass and when finished doesn't need blocking just a little flattening. When you do the feet (long picots) make sure the thread isn't twisted and they will lie perfectly round. I used 20mm picots.

Lots more geckos to come! Did you see my gecko memorabilia on my other blog.

Number 9. Scorpions!

I HATE SCORPIONS!!!!!!!!!

So why would I want to include one in the progression of my tatted challenge zoo!

Well, after I'd tatted the Meerkats I watched a programme on Meerkats (fleas and all!) in the Kalahari Desert. What wonderful social groups they live in, taking it in turns to be the 'look out', always ready for the unexpected.
Saw them grooming each other like the primates do, guess this is their way of dealing with those darn fleas!
There is not a lot to eat in the desert and one of their favourite snacks is a nice crunchy scorpion. Makes me shudder! Apparently they are more or less immune to the stings.

Still not a good enough reason to tat a scorpion?

So on to my story.
In 1967 when we were just married (yup celebrating 40 years next week) we took our belated honeymoon on an expedition to a Greek island with our University. Mmmm not much of a honeymoon sleeping in a tent for a month in a sun scorched field in the August heat. But we did have such great adventures travelling there and back thanks to the sponsors, riding on The Orient Express route from Paris to Venice, time in Venice, cruising thro' the Corinth Canal and down the Aegean sea on a small cruise liner to Pyraeus, time to spend in Athens, oooh what memories.

OK I'll cut to the point ...the scorpion!

My job on the expedition was to collect and identify the insects on the island so I'm not unduly squimish about anything with 6 legs. But when it comes to creepy crawlies with 8 legs that's a whole new ball game. One morning as I crawled out of my sleeping bag I felt that something had landed on my hair I instinctively brushed it away, bad move... it was you guessed, it a scorpion and it stung me on the side of my head...OUCH!
Now the only thing I knew about scorpions was that their sting was fatal! So it was lucky that I was on a zoological expedition and had people around (especially new hubby who knows these things!) to assure me that they were in fact not all lethal. I work on the basis that if someone tells me NOW YOU CAN PANIC then that's the time to panic! that's the theory anyway.
Well it wasn't fatal and it paid for that sting and was preserved for posterity!! I blurred it's details on our expedition label to save it's face but I was so amused to read the little addendum on the end of it 'after stinging the latter of us' !!!!!

Here he is with a little mate who didn't get the chance to sting me!




Being stung by one scorpion is an unfortunate accident but be stung by two scorpions is darn right bad luck!

A little more than a year later we went to live in Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania, and work at the University. The first apartment we were given was on the ground floor and it didn't take long to realise that such freedom of access to all things that creep, crawl and slither! was not good. In less than a week I had trodden on a scorpion hiding in the dark in my shoe, can't blame the poor little beggar for lashing out. Fortunately he wasn't lethal either but boy it hurt like hell, ever had dozens of red hot needles stuck into the sole of your foot so that every time your foot touched the floor they shot up your leg. Don't remember much about the pain from the Greek scorpion, it must have hurt but I well remember hopping about on a make shift crutch for days after this one.
Needless to say we applied for a new apartment on got one on the first floor where we lived happily and safely for two years.

So lets say that tatting a scorpion is like laying a ghost for me and for once I can look at a friendly very cute scorpion courtesy of Jane's pattern.

Just a little tweaking honest to make him look more like my scorpion.

This is Jane's original pattern, very cute and instantly recognisable as a scorpion to me, but just not quite right.




Perhaps I better explain a bit about Scorpion anatomy,(those who are bored cut to the end!!).
You all know that insects have 6 legs and spiders have 8, this little fellows legs have been missed out as not necessary for the scorpion effect. But they would have been seen coming from the segments of the cephalothorax. Too big a word, nah...insect body is divided into 3 parts,head,thorax and abdomen but in arachinds the head and thorax are fused into one (hence cephalothorax) so they only have that and the abdomen. So far so good but I can hear you saying if the 8 legs are not on this specimen what on earth are those leg like things with the big claws.
Well unlike us insects and arachnids don't have teeth or hands to manipulate food instead they have mouthparts..extra little 'arms' to help them pick up, hold and stuff food into their mouths!! and serrated 'teeth like bits' to help them 'chew'.
So those long 'arms' are modifield mouth parts. While used to pick up food their are also very useful in attack and defense and are called pedipalps.

Now you know that my aim was to tat realistic animals so with `Jane's permission I tweaked.

The pedipalps on Jane's scorpion are too curved and have too many segments. Scorpions hold their claws out to the side of their body ready for action, so Jane's curve had to be reversed and an elbow made.
I loved the eyes and the way she had shown the segments of the cephalothorax with the loops of chains but I couldn't get them to lie flat so had to tweak a bit.
the abdomen I felt was too short for my scorpion and is immediately narrow as it emerges from the cepho' so that was tweaked too.
here are some shots of my trials and errors.



Finally I found that if I tatted the rings of the abdomen as for wrong side..2nd half, 1st half then it would curl up holding the sting in the tail above the body, and this I am happy with. Thanks Jane I could never have made this on my own.








He wouldn't hurt a fly, honest!
He's made in Oren Bayen thread in gorgeous varig oranges, looks so desserty, and measures about and inch and a half.

What happened to the African scorpion did someone ask.....well he paid the ultimate price too, I just can't find him at the moment, just remember him as being very black and sinister!

Taking a doily break!

I have been taking a break from tatting animals and have been tatting doilies. I haven't tatted a doily since the 80's when they were always done in white and had become boring!! and big!! I rarely do big!

But I had challenged my friends to make something bigger than they had ever made before, and I was going to be working all day for a month invigilating University exams so needed something to auto tat between exams.

I was so pleased to make a new young tatter during that time and to finish not one but three doilies.

The pattern is Emily from Janet Carroll's book 'Elegant Tatting Patterns'.
Tatted in Size 20 Coates Anchor and Flora threads the doilies measure about 8 inches.
First one was the trial one in white, I still love white doilies they have a crispness hard to get any other way.



I was not very happy with the outer round with josephine knots, need to pull the chain much tighter for it to lie well.

Second doily came out really well and was the favorite of many people I showed them to.



The third one is I think my favorite as it so different from anything I have done before, and I am happy with the tension.

Number 8. A buzz of Bumble Bees

Well all that hopping up and down by the Meerkats with the fleas attracted a buzz of Bumble Bees and pretty angry they looked.



But the Meerkats calmed down as soon as they spotted the bees, obviously had come across bees before!! and no harm came to them.

The pattern is Martha Ess's Itty Bitty Bumble Bee from her New Critters On The Block book.

The Bumble bees were tatted in Flora 10 and in 20 for the little one and the wings are made with Coates Ophir in light gold. the big one measures about 1.5 inches from the sting in his tail to tip of his antennae and the smaller one is 1 inch long.

Number 7. Fleas!!

Well it had to happen!!
Just come back from a holiday in England and what do I find on my return but the Meerkat family hopping up and down and scratching themselves silly!!!

On close examination they have got fleas!
It was a devil of a job to catch them but I managed to pin down a couple for closer inspection.



Well it turns out that they are a new species of flea Pulex eboralli going by the common name of Freddie the Fantastic Flea. hmmm I'll give her fantastic!!

I do remember Jane and Sue went to Palmettos one year loaded with the little beggars and soon had spread them to all the tatters who were highly amused.

That's all very well, but when you are tatting a wildlife park the last thing you want is an internet infestation of fleas. Be warned all you animal tatters if you click on the above link these tiny little critters are worse than internet viruses.

Has anybody tatted anything that eats fleas??????? I have a few ideas but any help would be welcome.

Number 6. A Gaggle of Geese

First up once again was one of Martha Ess's block tatted critters. Her goose is just fabulous and I soon had a gaggle running around as fast as their little legs could carry them.
After much deliberation I coloured the beaks with a felt pen and liked the effect a lot.
The goose and gander...do they look different I wonder are made in Flora 10 and measure 2.75 inches and have metallic green eyes about size 9. The goslings who probably shoud have been fluffy lemon with black beaks are in Flora 20 and measure 1.75 inches and have blue iris eyes size 10. I did try them in Coates Anchor sizes 30 and 40 but they have yet to get their legs.



One interesting thing in this photo is can you see the difference between the bodies of the leading gander and all the others. For that goose I tried Jane's (and others) method of block tatting. Very easy to do using one shuttle and ball in this case gives a more rounded effect to the body. This is a particularly nice effect in these animals. Click on the photo for an enlarged version.

Next in line was Jane Eborall's goose, yet another brilliant pattern. Made in four sections wing,rest of body and neck, legs and beak, it is easy to tat providing you can do split rings, SCMR and make rings off SR's. I tried to make them a little different from each other by making the gander with a larger green metallic eye and a thicker beak. I liked the way she made the wing section in ecru to give it definition. The shape of the head and the beak are my favorite bits.
They are both made in Flora 20 and measure about 5 inches.



I had a fancy to make an angry goose with its mouth open and it's neck stretched out but that is for another day, the neck and head suggest lots of different postures to me.

BUT I did try out another goose, wanted to make a Greylag goose and experimented with different colours. Gave him a shorter thicker beak. He doesn't look much like I intended but I rather like him and I love the way his neck curved, so here he is a new species of goose, wonder what I should name him.


He was made on Flora 20 too in light and dark grey.

Trying another one adding a DMC 80 in variegated shades of grey to both the light and dark threads, not sure I like the effect so far in this the wing section.
Lots of potential here.

Number 5. A Tatted Medley of Meerkats

If you haven't already seen the latest critter to come from the ever increasing design collection of Jane Eborall, then here he is 'The Meerkat'.
I am not sure that I have ever seen a Meerkat in the flesh, certainly not in the wild, but recognised him instantly such is the cleverness of Jane's design.

I didn't have a great detail of choice for the right kind of colour for him so here are a few I tried.



First attempt was the variegated one using Twilley's 20. A difficult thread to use, rather coarse and hairy, had to keep using thread heaven in the end to control it.
Was not too happy with him, colour not great and beads too big.
Second attempt was in Oren Bayen 50 a soft 3ply thread that I am not too keen on but it tatted up really well, bit too dark though.
Third attempt was in DMC Perle 8, an even softer thread that I hadn't used before and it tatted up really well.

The Meerkat is fairly easy to tat, with a bit of concentration, especially with Jane's instructions for easy block tatting. In these threads he stands a little under 5 inches tall.

Now I know I am getting very pernickety about my animals but when I put them on a display board (you may have seen my display on my other blog, if not it will appear here soon) I think that it would be really nice to have two versions of the animal so that they don't all look identical.
The two flamingos look so well together that I thought that a Meerkat looking the other way could be good. Jane said 'Go for it!' so here he is. She will put him up on her web site I think.



The other 3 Meerkats were a bit suspicious of him at first but he will soon settle in!!




And then there were four.
Now dare I ask has anybody else designed a Meerkat for me to try!!!!

Number 4. Penguins

Martha Ess has the cutest, irresitible Penguins in her book 'New Critters on the Block' and I couldn't resist tatting up a colony of them.



The little guys are made in size 20 Flora thread and the big ones in Size 10. Can't tell you the height of them right now as they have gone off to an exhibition. Little ones prob about an inch high.

Visited our local wildlife park Fota last week and made a beeline for the penguins (amongst other things) and this little guy sitting on a rock really took my fancy.
He really is a little fella probably not much more than 20 inches high. I think maybe he is a Humboldt Penguin from South America.



Had anybody designed a side view of a penguin.

Well the answer is yes, Pam Palmer has one in a publication from 'The Lace Guild','The Penguin Pattern Book', the book contains penguins and related items made in a variety of crafts but this tatted penguin is the star of the book to me, he is a winner. Made in 4 sections he is fairly easy to tat.

Here is a little group of them made in size 20 Flora



And a singleton in size 10, sorry again that I can't give the measurements at the moment. He is probably about 4 inches tall.




Have one other pattern to try, does anyone know of any more penguin patterns??

Number 3. Tatting Giraffes

Oh don't you all love a giraffe, they have such stately elegance.
Always start simple thats my motto and work your way up.
So simple it is. Jane Eborall's doodle giraffe is instantly recognisable and just great for practicing sets.




Tatted in a variegated Flora 10 he is a little over 3 inches tall
Next up is a lovely pattern by Inga Madsen from her book 'Tatted Animals'.
An interesting pattern to tat with it's patches of block tatting. All Inga's animals in her book were designed to be sewn onto a quilted blanket for a child and are therefore quite stylised.




He was tatted in Coates Floretta 20 and is 6 inches tall.

BUT this is what I am looking for, sorry to inflict another of our photos on you! This is a Masai Giraffe taken in 1969 during our sojurne in Tanzania. He is on the edge of Serengeti National Park, isn't he just a beauty. How lucky we were to get the chance to see so many animals in the their natural surroundings.



If I am looking for realism the first stop has to be Jane Eboralls site and she did not disappoint me. here is her giraffe pattern
and here are a couple of Jane's giraffes heading off into the sunset!





Tatted in Flora 20 variegated they stand 5 inches tall. I really like the effect of the reverse side of the rings in this case. It's quite a complex pattern to follow, needing concentration as to which ring joins to which. Jane has even got the little lumpy bit at the base of the neck, what a talented lady she is.

I have just been out to our wildlife park Fota
Unfortunately the giraffes were all out side their house instead of being out on the plains. Here is my favorite group of mum with the three Fota babies. These are Reticulate giraffes (compare with the Masai), their markings are larger and have a much more geometric outline.

Number 2: Tatting Flamingos

First Flamingos in the tatting firing line were from Martha Ess's book 'New Critters on the Block'. This is a super little book of block tattered little cuties and this one is a real cutie.
This one was made with Flora 10 thread and is about two and a half inches tall.



This inspired a whole line up of tiny flamingos that are certainly destined to make a picture whenever I have time.
These were made in variegated Flora 20 and Altin Basak 50. and are about one and a half inches high. The variegated threads work really well.
The long neck lends itself to posing in different positions and I made some without feet as they were wading in the water.



Next I was looking for something a bit more realistic and where else would I look first but on Jane Eborall's site. In my opinion Jane just has to be one of the best tatted animal designers out there. She studies the animal in question carefully to make sure she has gets most of the characteristics right within the confines of tattings limitations, and is constantly developing new methods to overcome problems.

Janes flamingo is a smasher. I was so proud of my first attempt, showed it to hubby who always truthful,(well he is a zoologist) told me that it didn't look like a flamingo because one of the the characteristics of flamingos is that they have very, very long, very, very skinny legs!

On closer examination Jane's legs were indeed not very, very long, neither were they very,very skinny!

But with a little, well a lot of leg pulling and blocking, the legs became skinny enough to satisfy. The neck also needs stretching and blocking to shape. the body is really good and the best thing I like is the head. She has miraculously captured the essence of a flamingo head with the large black beak.
This one was made in Altin Basak 50 and is 4 inches high.



Flamingos feed on brine shrimps which they strain out of the water with the beak. They walk along head bent with the beak held upside down in the water. It's the pink colour of the shrimps that give the flamingos their colour. We have a wild life park near where we live and the flamingos have to be given additives to the diet to maintain their colouration.

Thinking about flamingos brought back memories. While living in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania 1968-70, during college breaks we would go on safari. One of the most memorable was to Ngorongoro Crater. Down at the bottom of the extinct volcano is a soda lake just seething with flamingos, as well as hippos and loads of terrestrial stuff. Access was only by 4 wheel drive, open top landrover and boy was it exciting.
Just had to go dig out the slides and take another look.






One of the poses I really love in flamingos is when the stand 'at ease' for hours on end with one leg tucked up behind the other, so I thought it would be nice to change Jane's pattern a little and this is the finished result.




This was made in Flora 20 and is five and a half inches high.


Jane didn't mind having her 'leg pulled'! In fact she likes my version so much that she has put the pattern up on her website alongside her original. Thanks a million Jane.


The two versions made in Altin Basak make a lovely pair.