Craftree Forum Tree > InTatters Forums for Shuttle and Needle Tatting > Pattern Notes and Help > Lost in Translation - Julia E. Sanders errata
Thread created on 1339510110 by wodentoad.
Status: Open thread, open to all.
Sorry, Somehow I keep missing messages. This is a version of the tea cloth tatted to the written pattern of the book, as mine is a hybrid so that it more resembles the photograph. If you look at the outer triangles, the oval sections use the written pattern and the inset photo, which is not the same pattern as used in the 1915 photograph.
WOW what a find though! Someone has no idea what they have. Though mine has taken a long time because I take breaks, and am a generally slow tatter. I'm sure a dedicated tatter would probably only take a few months, maybe a year or two.
I wish I could buy it, I would do a photo comparison.
It's been two months? yikes! You guys are due for an update!
I just turned the inner corner on the 7th triangle, but I've been stalled with difficult classes this semester. I have gotten a bit more done this week, however, as I've been out recovering from minor surgery (removal of a lipoma on my neck). I am still working as I can, but these classes are harder than expected.
Sorry for the slow update, I'm hoping to have more done by the end of the week. Thanks for sticking through!
Thank YOU for sticking through (the pattern AND the classes AND life, in general!) We have the easy part!!!
Yeah. Classes have a way of surprising you like that. Prioritize is the name of the game. Sorry to hear of the lipoma. You be careful of secondary infection while you recover. I think you’re amazing. I waited till my kids were mostly grown before finishing my degree. Can’t imagine doing it with little ones needing attention.
Happy new year! I know it's been a while, but I had some actual tatting time after Christmas, and I have now turned the inside point of the last triangle to attach. I have one loop left: up the remaining side of the current triangle, across the top and down the final side of the first triangle that I attached. (I would have posted this yesterday, but I skipped a ring about halfway down and had to cut back, as per usual.)
So close. Of course, that leads to the existential quandary of what to do next. Though that pattern on the front of the Dover book looks interesting....
Yay, congrats - you're almost there! 
Where will Lacey go?
After this gargantuan project, the doily on the front of the Dover book should be a piece of cake...
Currently, I don't know. I do have a round table in my kitchen, so it can be brought out for holidays, once all the pieces are finished, but I have one last stop for this world-traveling lace before she is done: Davenport, Iowa, to the graveside of Julia Sanders herself. I will thank her for her contributions to the tatting world, and leave a CORRECT oval motif, because I am unable to offer a swift kick in the pants. (I have a love/hate relationship with that oval motif.)
in reply to wodentoad's post:
Document your trip to Davenport, Iowa with plenty of photos. You're so close now. Congratulations.
What a lovely (ahem) way to pay homage to the designer. I do like the idea of a pilgrimage and a small offering. Like Lynn says, please document the journey with photos- it would be lovely to share!
(I really did Laugh Out Loud when I read this! 
)
in reply to wodentoad's post:
Bear in mind that Julia Sanders was the editor of the book. It's quite probable that someone else was the designer. 
An editor's job is to catch mistakes that slipped past the author/designer. So Erin's frustration is accurately directed. As massive as this project is, it may be unreasonable to expect that Julia Sanders would have test tatted it, along with everything else in the book. She probably just relied on the designer to have given her accurate information and so edited for clarity. Therefore, responsibility also rests with the designer. But reading the pattern and comparing it to photos surely should have made her ask a question or two. And since I like to offer the benefit of a doubt, perhaps she did a better job of editing, and things got missed out or relocated between editing and printing. Because editors seldom work alone, and someone else might have removed what they considered to be unnecessary verbiage for the sake of space - although this is more likely to have happened in news papers and magazines than in books. And sometimes, when dealing with hard copy, pages can go missing. Whatever happened, we can still be grateful that this beautiful tea cloth made it into the book, and that Erin has now made all the necessary corrections for the next intrepid tatter who tackles it.
in reply to Lynn's post:
The publisher's information on page 2 states that the Dover edition of 1977 is an unabridged republication of the work first published by The Priscilla Publishing Company in 1915. So no editing or reformatting of the text was done. This was a common practice in the late C20th when it appeared that copyrights had expired.
in reply to JudithConnors's post:
So, does this mean Julia Sanders simply collated the patterns? Then she's not an editor at all.
in reply to Lynn's post:
Not even that was done, @Lynn. The early Priscilla book was taken in the original form and republished. In the late C20th, particularly in the US, needlewomen (including tatters) were on the lookout for craft books that were out of copyright. They would then renew the copyrights in their own names, and often used new titles.
Wow. That sounds a bit sketchy. But if that's what Julia Sanders did, then the problems with this pattern are not hers. Maybe instead of being frustrated with her, @wodentoad, you should be thanking her for preserving something that may have otherwise passed into oblivion. Whichever way you choose to take it, the trip still sounds like a good idea.
Oh - but didn't Julia Sanders bring together the pieces in the early 20th century for the original Priscilla 2 tatting book? Her name is on the title page of my PDFs of the original books (both first & second editions), Someone else reproduced the first edition for Dover Publications much later.
There is a wonderful, but little known movie with Billy Zane called "Invincible," where he plays this guru who tells his team, "your enemies will challenge you. Resist the urge to hate them for this, instead, love them for strengthening you." She is not my enemy, but I enjoy the challenge. Knowing that I have done this DOES strengthen me, and I am better for it. I respect her for her work, and any "hate" is only joking.
in reply to wodentoad's post:
I don't think any of us thought you hate her, Erin. Frustrated with her, yes. Who hasn't been frustrated by a badly written pattern? But that's a very far cry from hating anyone.
Of course. Nothing but love for those who preserve the past. Librarians, preservationists, art historians, regular historians... Truly, I think she did good work. But as with all great works, mistakes happen.
Today while I have a few minutes to drink my coffee, I'm working up the side of the last triangle, If I'm lucky this summer, I'll be able to send up one more of the outer circles to the edge of space, so that it will be exposed to cosmic rays. Hubby warned that it could fade it, but I think it would be really interesting. For now, though, I keep working, and this summer, I am going to try to churn out more of the pattern book.
