Have been always fascinated by beadwork and lace of all kinds:
the richness of lace textile; jeweled filigree work;
iron lattice of St. Petersburg numerous bridges, embankments, palaces' gates;
intricate lacey ornaments cut in stone and wood; the shadow patterns
which foliage cust on the ground
on a sunny summer day (in Russian this phenomenon is called 'lace shadow').
Being an accomplished craftswoman (crochet, hand weaving, hand
knitting, machine knitting, sewing)
by the age of 43, I have come to tatting and beads simultaneously
in 1981-82.
Russian bobbin lace was the first step in my lace education,
all the students in that workshop were experienced
crafts people and very enthusiastic.
One of them mentioned frivolité,
a mysterious name for the totally unknown needlework,
which she
learned from her grandmother or an elderly friend.
Than and there we (about 10 enthusiastic women) decided to
revive it!
For resources we had a very bad photocopy of a few pages on tatting
from a 1902 book
(it appeared to be a Russian version of Thérése
de Dillmont's Encyclopedia of Needlework),
a variety of cotton and linen thread and no shuttles, - my first one
I had to make myself out of a plastic ruler.
In almost two decades since that
time I have acquired a collection of shuttles, and even designed one of them;
it became my favorite and was naturally called
Beanile Shuttle custom made for
me in St. Petersburg, Russia).
Reviving frivolité was a challenge and a great fun.
Participants of that group became first tatting instructors in
Leningrad and Moscow.
The process of reviving tatting included learning it hands on,
digging out all sorts of related information, adapting old and
designing new patterns,
teaching the needlework and writing articles, instructions,
and books on the subject
Primarily a shuttle tatter, I do a lot of finger tatting, have
taught myself to tat with a needle,
and plan to master crochet hook tatting as soon as I have a tool.
I teach tatting and Beanile Lace in New York City and across the country since 1993.
Tatting with beads has become my way to express myself.
