Saturday 16 January 2010

Don't Like The Stawasz, Loving Konior

Pattern: Masquerade, from the book Tatting With Visual Patterns by Mary Konior.
Thread: Lizbeth size 20, col 613.
Technique: Shuttle tatted.

This was a pleasure to make and I like the colour. The background is one of the many squares of felt that I purchased online from Lupin Handmade.
16 of 25 by michl_007
16 of 25 Originally uploaded by michl_007 on 16th January, 2010

I previously tried tatting an item from the book Tatting Theory & Patterns by Jan Stawasz and it left me feeling less than positive. I didn't give up entirely and over the last few days I've been trying to complete a snowflake from the same book but to no avail. I hate this book. It's just bad. The photos of the items are okay but the diagrams are unhelpful and the text is long winded in the introduction with not enough information where you need it (in the pattern).

To make me feel better I've completed Masquerade from the very lovely book Tatting With Visual Patterns by Mary Konior. I enjoyed it so much I've started on another pattern from the same book. Her diagrams are easy to follow and clearly printed with just the right amount of info to get you started. I love this book.

9 comments:

Jane Eborall said...

You just can't beat Mary Konior. I bought the books as they were published and at the time they were (and still are!) like a breath of fresh air.

Michelle said...

I checked with the online shop I've been using for tatting supplies for other Konior books but since I didn't see any I just assumed that was it. Thanks for that, I'll go and check Amazon right away.

tatting-marie said...

I have Jan Stawasz's book and have made all of the snowflakes. I even used parts of the other patterns for snowflakes for my tree. True, it is a book that you do need to concentrate while tatting, but the patterns are very interesting. If you don't like his method of tatting, you can always make the patterns using the traditional way of tatting. (Rings and RW for chains.)

Michelle said...

I guess a lot of it is down to personal preference. I've only tried the traditional way of working as I didn't want to read the pages about her different method.

Unknown said...

I love 'em both! Mary Konior is a fave of lots of tatters. I've never tatted any of Jan Stawasz patterns, but I have 4 of his shuttles and one of his books. I have tatted lots of Mary Konior! I searched high and low and finally found all 4 of her books in hardback! YAY!
Bless her family right now, with her passing just yesterday (the day of your post) I'm sure this is a difficult time for them.

Michelle said...

Jan is a he! I didn't even realise.

Sorry to hear of Mary's passing. She has certainly left a legacy.

Liyarra said...

If you discard his method and just tat the way you normally do (using the numbers without the dots) the patterns seem to make more sense. The ones I have done from it are really nice - they sit well and look really neat.

Michelle said...

I will give him another go at some point in the future but I think I'll save it for thread that I don't like very much. Just in case.

Lace and Books said...

You're lucky to have Jan's book. I've been trying to find a copy for some time. I love the way they look and have tried (without success) to figure out some of the patterns from others pictures.

I've honestly never heard of Mary Konior, but with all the positives said here I'll check her out.

Thanks for the review on both.