Book ReviewsI am not one for designing, and I don't mind admitting it. I find it more fun to find a great pattern and tat it. It is too frustrating to design something! So finding a good pattern book is important. Unfortunately, The book stores don't seem to carry a lot of tatting books. Why must this be? Well, I use Amazon quite a bit. I have never had a complaint with them. Barnes And Noble is a good site too. The good thing about Barnes and Noble is that I have a real store in my area, so I can call and order books through them with no obligation to buy, and they will be delivered to the store, where I can go and look at them first, and decide if I want them. What to look for in a book? First of all appealing patterns. But the directions are important too. My favorite book uses Scandinavian notation, and not many seem to, but I always look for that. There's a whole Diagram Revolution going on, and everyone is excited about this type of "notation". I like diagrams because I can trace them onto a piece of paper, and then jot the pattern down in my preferred notation. Yes, you got me, I don't like reading a pattern from a diagram! But it is much easier to translate it than are the old longhand patterns. If there is anyway to look at a book first before buying, do so! It is so disappointing when you get a much awaited title, and it is not at all what you wanted. Everyone has different tastes, so check out all the various reviews that are out there (on bookseller websites, and some of the links below). Another tip is to simply look for websites that display work from various tatting books. Hopefully they will quote the source, so you can know what book to buy! Another tip is to be aware of when a publication is dated in the 1980's or 1990's, but it may be a re-compilation of the older patterns. Not that older patterns are bad, but rather that they are written in longhand notation - it can take 2 pages to describe a 5 ring doily. This is hard for many new tatters to get used to, and most will go through and translate the instructions into their own preferred notation. I have been surprised many times by a fancy new-style cover, only to open it and see that old printing press typeset that is so hard for me to focus on. If I like the pattern very much, I will read it carefully and jot it down in shorthand. I have noted where a title is a compilation of older longhand patterns. |
INDEX of TITLESAll Christmas Angels and Other Tatting Patterns - by Monica Hahn, Dover Publications, 1989 Cluny Tatting Designs - by Joy Botchlet The Complete Book of Tatting - by Rebecca Jones, Lacis, 1992 Easy Tatting - by Rozella Linden, Dover Publications, 1998 Elegant Tatting Designs - by Janet Carroll, Dover Publications, 1996 Festive Tatting - DMC A New Twist on Tatting - by Catherine Austin, Sterling Publications, 1994 Practical Tatting - by Phyllis Sparks Tatted Snowflakes - Vida Sunderman, Dover Publications, 1995 The Tatter's Treasure Chest - by Mary Carolyn Waldrep, Dover Publications, 1992 Tatting - DMC Tatting Butterflies - by Teri Dusenbury, Dover Publications, 1997 Tatting Collage - by Lindsay Rogers, Guild of Master Craftsman Pubns Ltd, 1999 Tatting Doilies and Edgings - by Rita Weiss, Dover Publications, 1980 Tatting Hearts - by Teri Dusenbury, Dover Publications, 1994 Tatting Patterns - by Mary Konior Tatting Patterns - by Julia E. Sanders, Dover Publications, 1980 Tatting Patterns and Designs - by Gun Blomqvist and Elwy Persson, Dover Publications, 1998 Tatting with Visual Patterns - by Mary Konior, Lacis, 1992 Traditional Tatting Patterns - by Rita Weiss, Dover Publications, 1986 |
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