This is one of my first ‘crackle’ shuttles and is actually quite a complex design. 

The base is probably a clear, transparent enamel which allows the copper metal to shine through. The coloration is a mix of a transparent blue, opaque red and yellow.

I have been trying for quite some time to create ‘crackle’ effect in my enameled shuttles. Just recently I have been able to achieve some success.

The technique of ‘enamel crackle’ is fickle. It’ more of an art than a science, but in actuality it’s relies on a lot of physics that really are not completely understood. Each color of enamel has different properties that may vary from batch to batch.

Getting crackles in your enamel depends on the use of at least two layers of different enamels which have different coefficients of expansion (COE)–told you physics was involved. The crackle effect is produced using a base coat of enamel with a very low coefficient of expansion (which means it flows/ moves readily sooner than other enamels would at the same temperature). After firing this ‘lower COE’ enamel, a top coat of usually two different colors of enamels with a slightly higher COE is applied and fired to a high temperature for a longer period of time. If the enameling-gods are with you, you will get a ‘crackle glaze’ look!

Watch for future posts of the crackle enamel tatting shuttles I have been producing. I will also be posting on my FB page: ShuttleSmithTatting

I USED to get and see comments to my posts. Now I don’t. I want this website to be interactive…not just what I post!!!!

So……how do I enable ‘comments’ on this my WordPress-generated website?

I swear that trying to figure out how to use social media is at least a part time job…time that I just don’t have right now.

If someone can help me (you can’t leave your suggestion in comments–hah!), please email me at: k.bovard@yahoo.om

This is the red thread color-bleed that I encountered while trying to block my solid apple design.  Since this was one of 5 different designs in my ‘Spokane Beauty Apple‘ series, I was concerned about what would happen when I blocked other designs in which an area of white tatting was incorporated into a design with areas of red thread (as seen in the second photo).

Color-bleeding happens when fibers get wet and dye leaches out into the water.

In general, there are several reasons why color-bleed can happen:

1. Incorrect dyeing techniques (ie. wrong dye type used for the type of fiber) or poor quality dyes were used.
2. The dye was not properly rinsed out leaving an excess of unattached dye in the thread.
3. The manufacturer did use a fixative or mordant to bind the dye to the thread/fiber.
   

Red dyes in general are not more prone to bleeding than similar dyes of other colors. The problem is that red-dyed fibers are often dyed with a kind of dye called ‘direct dye’.  Direct dye, whatever its color, tends to bleed in every wash, unless the fibers have been treated with a special cationic dye fixative. Using only cool water for washing will help, because higher temperatures decrease the ability of direct dye to remain associated with fabric.  Avoid direct dye, as well as all-purpose dye, which contains direct dye. Instead, use a fiber reactive dye.

• Direct Dyes are a class of hot water dyes for use on cellulose fibers such as cotton.  It is one of two types of dyes that are mixed into ‘All-Purpose Dyes’.  (The other type of dye in All-Purpose Dyes is an ‘Acid Dye’–which will not stay in cellulose fibers for very long.)   Direct dyes are usually the cheapest forms of dyes.  The colors of most direct dyes tend to be duller that those colors obtained by fiber reactive dyes.  Expect anything dyed with direct dyes to ‘bleed’ forever. The color-bleed problem can be reduced by following direct dyeing with use of a cationic fixative/mordant after-treatment.
• Fiber Reactive Dyes are the most permanent of all dye type.  Unlike other dye types, it forms a covalent bond with the cellulose (ie cotton, rayon, linen) or protein (ie. wool, silk) molecule.  Once the bond is formed you have one molecule.  The dye molecule has become an actual part of the cellulose fiber molecule.
• All-Purpose Dyes are a mixture of Acid Dye (for dyeing animal/protein fibers such as wool as well as nylon) and Direct Dye (for dyeing cellulose fibers such as cotton, rayon, linen).  All-purpose dye cannot be used to dye polyester or acrylic.  It also cannot be used in cold water.
• Acid Dyes are used to dye protein fibers such as wook, angora, cashmere, silk, the milk protein fiber called Silk Latte, the soy protein fiber called Soy Silk, & the synthetic polyamide fiber nylon.  Acid dyes are non-caustic and in some cases non-toxic (ie. food coloring dyes).  They are named for the mild acid (such as vinegar) used in the dyeing process and for the types of bonds they form to the fiber.
• Vat Dyes are an ancient class of dye based upon the original natural dyes, Indigo and Tyrian Purple. Both cotton and wool as well as other fibers can be dyed with vat dyes. Vat dyes are difficult to work with.  They require a reducing agent to solubilize them. The dye is only soluble in tis reduced (oxygen-free) form.  The fiber is immersed repeatedly in an oxygen-free dyebath, then exposed to air (oxygen), whereupon the water-soluble reduced form of the dye changes color as oxygen turns it to the water-soluble form.  Indigo will change from yellow in the dyebath to green, then blue as the air hits it.
• Cationic Dye Fixatives (aka ‘mordants‘) have a positive charge. The positive charge allows the fixative to cling to the negatively-charged dyes (such as those found in direct dyes, acid dyes, all-purpose dyes and even fiber reactive dyes).  They ‘swell’ dye molecules in the fibers so that they stick better.  They cannot stick to basic dyes which already have a positive charge.  Cationic dye fixatives help, if not fix, the problem of color bleed on improperly dyed fibers. There is some evidence though that cationic dye fixative may reduce the lightfastness of some dyes. This means that the color may fade faster by light than by laundering.  Do not wash fibers that have been treated in cationic dye fixatives in hot water.
  • Commonly used fixative/mordant agents are tannic acid, alum,  and salts of aluminum, chromium, copper, iron, iodine, potassium, sodium, tungsten & tin.
  • Vinegar and Salt are NOT dye fixatives.  Soaking in either will not set your dye.  At best it will just be another ‘wash’ which will help to remove some of your excess dye.
  • Look for a product called Retayne,  possibly found in quilt stores as a common cationic dye fixative.

For us as tatters, the why of color-bleed is really of no concern–the damage to the thread is done.  The issue is how can we control the color-bleeding?  How do we avoid color bleed from one area of a tatted piece into a different color region? (eg. My apple examples above.)

1. Avoid use of hot water that can wash out the dye fixative/mordant.  If the fixative is washed out, it will no longer hold the dye to the fibers which will allow the release of dye from the fibers = color bleed.  Always use cool/cold water to block your tatting.
2. If you suspect a color to potentially color bleed, then test it by soaking it in cool/cold water for a few minutes and see what happens.  If you end up with ‘colored’ water, you have a color-bleed problem.
3. If you have a color-bleed problem you have two choices:
   1. Keep soaking the thread, various washes, until the color-bleed is not as intense/diminished.  (This is what I did with the red thread before tatting the multi-colored apple designs.  I had favorable results when I did block my apples, in cool/cold water.)
   2. Find a cationic dye fixative such as Retayne and use as directed. (I am just learning about this product as I write this article.)
      

One of the ‘OTHER’ lace types that I study/teach/make is Teneriffe Lace. Another name for this lace type is Sol Lace. Sol is the Spanish word for ‘sun’. This is a good descriptive name because many of the traditional motifs are round & have radiating threads (warp threads) upon which a design is stitched with a needle. Thus it is a form of ‘needlelace’. To create the lace the warp threads are laid down in a overlapping, radiating fashion on some form of a ‘loom’. There are many forms of looms. In my Teneriffe Lace classes, we use a plastic canvas shape which is cheap and (usually) readily available (Hobby Lobby, Walmart). There are many different antique looms from the past. Some looms are more cumbersome to use because they entail having to use a needle to manipulate many (think several) yards of thread in dozens of maneuvers to lay down the warp threads, all the while hoping that you have enough thread cut from the ball to work continuously.

The loom that The ShuttleSmith is recreating is a unique loom in that the warp thread can be laid down continuously from the ball of thread source. This makes the warping step fast. Another benefit of this loom is that it is reusable. It is used by Brazilian lacemakers today. I found reference to this style of loom in an antique German publication/book.

So I tried to recreate this style of loom in plastic for myself by using a 3-D printer. I called upon my newly-graduated son (in mechanical engineering) to create ‘CAD’ programs for several sizes of Teneriffe Lace looms to my specifications. The following photos show my teneriffe loom design being 3-D printed for the first time at my local library. Most libraries today have a ‘maker space’ of some form, many with 3-D printers. I paid a nominal fee to have my prototype loom printed. It did take about an hour to print but was fascinating to watch.

I just thought I would share some thread antique thread cabinets that I found in an antique store in my hometown of Wisner, Nebraska (population ca. 1200 people). The local antique dealer has a great gig going on because many of the locals (mostly farmers) let him go into their homes and barns to ‘pick’ (think ‘cherry-pick’) their antiques. My own family is one of them that ‘invited’ him into our lives to rid of us of our ‘junk’ that he turns into ‘antiques’.

I was passing through town recently to or from visiting my family/parents and stopped in to find these beauties. I haven’t bought one yet. I’m still waiting for the perfect one from a thread company that I know and love.

I have been taking inventory of my thread stash & have a bunch of patterns ready, HOPING that I will get quarantined! However, it is just wishful thinking that I would get two weeks to tat. I work full-time in healthcare and in healthcare it’s like “…we ride at dawn, bitches!”. There is no ‘working from home’, at least not for those of us actively providing technical services. I am the lead of two clinical (think diagnostic) specialized laboratories at the Nebraska Medical Center. My main, active job is as an Electron Microscopy Technologist working with human kidney & muscle specimens with the end goal to get to the proper disease diagnosis which then leads to the proper treatment for the patient.

Check out this website in which the author has several articles under the title of ‘Adventures in Time & Lace‘ that highlight various artists and artworks that are formed by lace. LACE as ART! Yes!

https://www.mrxstitch.com/category/3d-textiles/lace/

Yes, this is the type of content that I had wanted to write about. But Mr. X has done such a great job that I am merely going to point everyone to ‘his’ site. Do check it out.