Tricks Of The Trade

Day 97: My grandmother was an expert needlewoman and taught me almost everything I know, "almost" being a qualifier. Gma did not tat, nor did anyone else in my immediate family, so when I took a job as an art-needlework consultant at the ripe old age of 18, I was determined to remedy this lack of knowledge. One of my co-workers was a practitioner of the art and agreed to teach me to tat with a shuttle, and for years, that was how I did my tatting. Now I needle-tat, a quicker process by far, but that's not the subject of this discussion.

My husband's maternal grandmother, like many of the women of her generation, was also skilled in a number of needleart techniques. She and I hit it off from Day One because of our common interests. She taught me a valuable and simple way to keep my picots even (picots..."pee-koes"...are the little loops made by a single thread along the edges of a ring or chain). Today, you can buy "picot gauges" in a variety of types, but Grandma Agnes' method costs nothing (or next to nothing). Simply make a mark on your finger with indelible ink showing the length of thread (use a ruler) to be left between double stitches where a picot occurs. It will wash off or wear off in time, so make a note of the measurement so you can reapply it at need.