Tatted Fan

I made this tatted fan in 1996 from a pattern by a Dublin-based tatter called Anne Keller. She also provided the fan sticks, which were painted to order by her with white wisteria blossoms. She also put me on to the gentleman who made the shaped frame for the fan though I haven't put a note of his name in my album.

It was tatted in DMC 100 thread, which was not difficult once I had got used to it. The part that drove me to distraction was hiding all the ends of thread as the pattern involves lots of tiny motifs which really are not big enough to hide the ends easily.

When I look at it now I feel it is far from perfect but people are always struck by it so I have to remember that I'm the only person who sees its imperfections! But that is always the way with people.

 I remember once trying to comfort a lady who was living in an expensive rented flat. A accidental flood on the floor above her had left a mark on the ceiling of her dining-room and the agents were dragging their feet over fixing it. Her husband's job meant she hosted quite a lot of dinner parties and she was mortified by the stain on her ceiling. I couldn't get her to see that probably none of her guests would ever realize it was there. People do not look at ceilings in other people's homes in the normal way of things. She had frequently been in my flat and I asked her, without looking, to tell me what colour my ceiling was. She couldn't! But she still was sure everyone would notice her ceiling.