To Freak Obsessions

As part of my societal stick-outedness (I'll think of a better word for that later, I'm sure), I pick up some unusal hobbies. Unusual for my generation, I mean. My generation doesn't seem to be very artistic, but hey, that's part of what makes me such a freak (hoorah). My newest fascination/obsession/hobby is tatting, an old-fashioned way of making lace. It can be used to make some awesome things. Like black lace accessories.

tat-ting
–noun
1. the act or process of making a kind of knotted lace of cotton or linen thread with a shuttle.
2. such lace.

I became interested in tatting when I went onto instructables.com and saw a featured article for how to make a tatted mask. I love masks, and this mask was quite lovely. It was made of a kind of heavy lace with wide spaces and was intricately designed. It swirled around the face and even reminded me a bit of a spiderweb, if a spiderweb could be built with swirls and glittering beads around the edges. I was enticed. I looked at the article. It was complicated, and the listed skill level was "advanced". 
 
I was very interested. If such a beautiful mask could be made out of thread, what other possibilities could this combination of thread and secret skill have? The artist had several other intructables listed - one was Learn Needle Tatting With My Flower Pendant! I checked it out, it didn't look too hard, and the best part was I already owned a big needle. So I gave it a shot. The flower didn't come out too well, but it didn't come out too badly either, so I tried the next instructable - Needle Tatting A Necklace. This one came out much better; in fact, it actually looked like it was supposed to look, with everything in the right place and the right length.
 
I then became ambitious and acquired some black thread for myself. I had previously been using purple and white thread that I didn't think was very appealing. Anyway, I love black. I'm now attempting the mask, with black thread and red beads, and I must say it's coming along very nicely. I'll post a picture of it when it's done.

The completely amazing woman who posted the original instructable has her own blog, and she's awesome. Go check it out: Needle Tatting and other Nonsense: The Musings of a Tattooed Needle Tatter