This lovely book by Nancy Tracy arrived very recently and I liked it so much that I felt I must review it so that you too can enjoy it! It is her first book and demonstrates clear mastery of the craft of tatting with imaginative projects which have been carefully produced and photographed for the book.

It contains patterns for twelve tatted bookmarks, each of which is designed with a particular month in mind. I particularly like the Mittens pattern for January, with a pattern for two tatted mittens which are joined to one another with a cord just as you would a child's mittens, to prevent them being lost. The theme continues with similar imaginative patterns and another one I like is the Sunflower bookmark, with its use of very simple techniques to create a most realistic pattern. The other patterns including the Key to my Heart, Jack O’Lanterns, Lucky Rainbow and Flowered Gardening Hat are great fun and most people will have trouble deciding which bookmark to make first!

Nancy has included a number of patterns which would usually be written for working with two shuttles, but she has written them for one shuttle and second thread, demonstrating how to use the shoe lace trick to switch the position of the shuttle to above and below the chain. There is also a good deal of ring only tatting and the ring and chain work is not complex. This will bring the book within the reach of the confident beginner who has not yet mastered working with two shuttles.

The book is attractively produced by a private publisher with clear full colour photographs, diagrammatical and textual patterns and a page describing the abbreviations and the way in which the shoe lace trick should be used for the book. It's in letterhead format with a comb binding so that it will lay flat when opened, and the outside of the volume is protected with clear plastic covers.

These very attractive bookmarks would make lovely presents and keepsakes and will certainly be a valuable addition to any tatter's bookshelf.

You can buy Tat's Where I Stopped - A Year of Tatted Bookmarks direct from Nancy Tracy at www.be-stitched.com. I hope there will be more from this exciting new author in the years to come!