Planning Color in Tatting

Another project in progress and its colors:

I chose to add to my projects in progress yesterday by starting a Concentric Rectangle Doily. I've been tempted since I started following Diane's progress with a couple of these. I have a couple of variegated threads that I have had the hardest time deciding how to use. They've been featured in a few small bookmarks, but nothing else. It had occurred to me that it might be interesting to use a variegated thread in one of those concentric rectangles. This variegated is the thread I used in the mock ring experiment a couple of posts back, Lizbeth size 20 color 105. Diane's use of color provided the color repeats: Row 1 and 5; row 2 and 4, row 3. I just chose a couple of threads from my stash that match colors featured within the variegated thread and began. I haven't a clue what I'll do with it when finished! (NOTE: I took it to a fellowship event this event so I had something to do while others ate. One of the young women told me she loves the colors. They are the colors of her bedroom. I told her it will be hers if she wants it. She seemed pleased, and I'm glad it has a future home.)

Colors in Round Robins and Tat-Alongs - Such a difference!

I've participated in several round robins over the years which were made in color. Each of us selected a few colors we would like to see in our finished doily and we tatted the center. Then the project, its threads, and the instructions for that center moved to the next person in our group. Each of us added a round and the instructions to the project as it moved through the entire group. 

muskaan shared some wonderful tips in her blog about selecting colors for the different rounds in a doily. She told me about this in the comments of yesterday's post. She has some great insights there. With the help of those who shared comments with her, she puts terms to some of the concepts I just instinctively applied in planning. 

When a project arrived at my house, I spent time thinking about what the project needed next in order to move forward. It was important to keep in mind the number of people to come along behind you as you planned your round. (You can't be the one to add that spectacular attention-getting round to every project.) In reality, sometimes it took a couple of rounds to do what you felt needed to be done at your point in the project. Selecting the color from the package to be used in your own round(s) was a matter of determining what is needed next from this group to keep the project flowing. You know that each tatter behind you will carefully consider the way color has been used in the design thus far, as well as the design itself, in the planning his or her own additions. The last person to get the doily before returning it to the originator had the task of pulling it all together with that final addition to give it a finished appearance. 

Believe me when I tell you that this was much easier than selecting colors for a Tat-Along that is being designed in one color! Let me say that I LOVE tat-alongs! The latest Renulek WIOSNA is the first time I've tried to do a tat-along in colors. I started by choosing colors I'd like to see used together, just as I did for planning my own round-robin doily. I found the first tatting to be the easiest as the first three rounds were revealed all at once. At least one other round I waited until the reveal of the following round before tatting the next round. That has seemed to make color selection easier.

Perhaps I'm making it all more difficult than it need be. Maybe I should look at the round to be tatted and just ask which color will help this doily continue to flow (my term that encompasses a lot of what muskaan describes in her post linked above), knowing that there is at least one more round to go. I shall have to think about that some more.

Round Robin Doilies in Color (that I participated in)

Just in case you would like to see a few of the round robins I've worked on, I'm sharing a collage below. It was the job of the final tatter, or the originator, to share the pictures and pattern with all of the tatters at the end, and that often didn't happen. I'm sorry to say I have images of only three of them (and they are not the best image quality). I know three is not a very large sampling. Some of the others contained a wider range of colors.

I added the last round in white to the one done in pink, blue, and white in 1997. The purple one and the brown one were made in the same round robin in 2000. I added the final two rounds to  Sue Hanson's purple one. She added the final rounds to my brown and ecru one (I wasn't very adventurous, I know). Notice that Sue used crochet to add the final finish to the last round of mine. 

Happy Tatting!

Round 7 Experiments (Renulek Spring 2016 WIOSNA)

Even the Prismacolor pencils failed me in planning the colors for round 7. Maybe part of the problem was that I didn't particularly favor or dislike any of the options I tried. I started out using purple and yellow, but I really didn't like it. It's a simple round that will be quick to tat, so I decided to experiment with the actual threads.

Having just downloaded CollageITfree to my Mac, I put the images side by side to help me make up my mind.

Viewed this way, the last two appeal to me the most. I'm going with the yellow and green, though. I like the brightness it brings to the doily at this point. So now it's time to cut all of these experiments off, reload the shuttle, and start again.

UPDATE: So after all of that, I've decided to wait until I see the next round before doing anything at all about this one. Now that you've had a glimpse into how my mind works, you probably wonder how I manage to get anything done.

Mock Ring by Joining Chain Back to Itself

Motif #21 for the 25 Motif Challenge

Lizbeth size 20, color #29410

Finished diameter of 4 cm.

Jane McClellan has been working through the motifs in The Tatted Artistry of Teiko Fujito. When she posted Motif #11 and Motif #13, I wondered how it would look to use a chain that looped back to join to itself. I'm sure this have been done plenty of times by others, but it's the first time I've tried it. Here are my experiments with the idea:

A few notes that will help you try this: 1) Always keep your shuttle and ball threads to the back of your work as you are joining. 2) I gently pack my chain stitches together before every join to help ensure that the chain's tension is even throughout.

If you'd like to try this motif, the small rings are 3-4-3 and the chains are 20-15-5-15-20. 

Start with a small ring. 

You'll always join to the last ring tatted with the third picot of the chain. The last picot of the chain is a join back to the first picot of the chain. (20-15-5+15+20) Form that last join by pulling the ball thread up through the picot and posting your shuttle from front to back.

The final chain will be 20-15+(join to first ring) 5+(join to last ring tatted) 15+(join back to first picot of this chain) 20 and join back to base of the first ring and finish off your motif as preferred.

If my pictures and instructions aren't clear enough, please put your suggestions in the comments. All help is appreciated. 

Thank you, Jane, for inspiring me to try something new to me.

Have fun!

Update added 5/15/2016: If you would like to see a comparison of some of the different ways to handle a mock ring in a position like this one, check out muskaan's post on the topic.

Tenth of December

Motif #20 for 25 Motif Challenge

Craftree Challenge

The Tenth Day of December

from 24 Snowflakes in Tatting by Lene Bjorn

DMC Size 80, Color #67 (Variegated Baby Blue)

Finished size 6.5 cm

This one tatted up quickly. To keep on target for the Craftree challenge, my goal has been to complete two from this book each month. Having met my personal goal for May, I'll devote my tatting time to trying a few new things. I've printed Ninetta's butterfly pattern that uses the Ikuta picots so I can practice them a bit before I forget how to do them. I also saw that Renulek posted the next round of the Spring 2016 WIOSNA doily. I think I've settled on my colors for this round, but it was tough. I'm eager to get some more yellow into the doily, but the rounds haven't seemed right for it yet. If my first choice for colors doesn't seem to be working like I wish, I'll cut it off and go with my second choice which picks the yellow up again. I would still like to do another Morfo butterfly, too. 

Happy tatting!

WIP Wednesday

I've been struggling with allergies or a virus this week. Since I didn't feel like doing much, I've spent more time tatting and watching episodes of A Nero Wolfe Mystery. I somehow missed that series when it was playing originally. The results has been more progress than usual on my Spring 2014 Renulek doily, my designated Work-In-Progress Wednesday project. I think I've completed about 10 of the scallops on the final round. It measured 54 cm (21 inches) before I started this round. The thread is Cecelia size 20 in ecru.

Ninth Day of December instead of Morfo #2

With two mangled tattings of the Morfo back in my trashcan, I decided that it's time to tat something else for a change. Was it the thread I chose? Was I too tense and it was transferring to my tatting tension? Who knows! Solution: Tat something else for a while. 

So I've returned to the snowflakes I want to tat this month to keep up with the Craftree Challenge to tat all of the snowflakes in Lene Bjorn's 24 Snowflakes in Tatting by the end of the year. The Ninth Day of December contains lots of block tatting. I tatted the Eighth Day of December using Lene's instructions for block tatting with ball and shuttle. Being determined to give her instructions for block tatting with two shuttles a fair chance, I decided to use two colors for the Ninth. That way I couldn't change techniques mid-flake. Charity921 tatted an impressive Ninth Day of December in navy and white which really inspired me. Having started a collection of my own red and white snowflakes that I call candycane snowflakes, I opted for red and white.

Motif #19 for the 25 Motif Challenge

Manuela #052 (red) size 20 

Cecelia (white) size 20

Finished size: 10.5 cm

I love Lene's instructions for block tatting, but I have a definite preference for her ball and shuttle method. I don't think I'll use the two-shuttle method again unless I need it for color changes as in this one. The two-shuttle method is just so much slower. You never move the ball thread from your left hand in the ball and shuttle method. As you can imagine, that let me move along rather quickly. I will concede that the edges of the two-shuttle method are a little more 'finished' looking, but while this might be a consideration with a large thread, I don't think it would be noticeable in a small thread such as size 80.

Ikuta Picots

I finally found some time earlier today to play with the Online Tatting Class lesson materials for this one. I concentrated on Method 3 as it provides a look that is different from any other techniques of which I'm aware. You'll find the links here under the May 9, 2016 class materials. This turned out to be one of those rare days when I could attend class as well. However, I received an important phone call just after class started, so I had to read the discussion afterward. Georgia Seitz provides a link to the class discussion at that website, so you, too, can read what you missed.

I got off to a few false starts trying to watch a video (not tatting related). I should have known better when I was trying to learn something new. This is the only one worthy of showing. As you can see, I was making the double stitches in the correct places with nice picots, but they are not alternating. All red ones are to the front; all yellow ones are to the back.

 

So, I tried again. I had loaded my thread onto two shuttles. The hardest part of this for me was making sure that the threads were in the right position to overlap. I ran out of thread on my shuttles (remember all of those false starts I mentioned earlier), so I reloaded shuttle one and just used the loose thread from shuttle two as a ball thread in tatting the second ring. Oh, that was so much easier. If I forgot to concentrate and keep those threads in the right position, I just grabbed my crochet hook and pulled that loose thread through where it belonged. Muskaan has provided lots of detailed pictures to help us all out. They are linked from the class website or you can go there directly.

This is another design element than can replace a ring in our tatting. The main appeal to me is the effect produced by using two colors. While I have no immediate plans for its use, it's fun to learn something new. I also have another technique I can use when I just want a slightly different look in a familiar pattern. I'll definitely add this into the next update of Element-al Approach to Tatting Design.

Round 6 of Renulek Spring 2016 doily

I pulled out my Prismacolor pencils and tried out a few combinations before starting to tat. Here is the result.

My 1st Morfo in Natural Light

Artificial light seems to rarely do justice to color, so I wanted to get at least one nice picture of Morfo in daylight. The colors are much truer in this picture.

The beads in the center of each wing, beneath the tatting, are clear iridescent beads. I love the way they pick up the color of nearby objects.

Someone asked me about bead sizes. I keep a collection of interesting beads, many of them were once part of necklaces. In fact, I used four different necklaces for seven different sizes of beads for this butterfly. I also used seed beads from a bag of inexpensive glass seed beads of mixed colors that I once picked up at Hobby Lobby. I've used the blue, purple, and pink ones from that assortment. The largest bead is the one in the body of the butterfly. It is 1.5 cm in length. I sewed it in vertically rather than horizontally as it is oblong. If you make the butterfly following Angela's instructions exactly, you will not use as many different sizes and colors of beads.

My 1st Morfo Butterfly is Complete

It's done and I love it! I admit it was a challenge. I was determined to use some lovely beads I had on hand, and I had to go digging several times for the 'right' beads to go with them, but it was worth the effort. Angela Gambka has designed a wonderful pattern that is so versatile. I used her videos without sound to see how she handled bead placement in the original. There were a few times that I cut the sewn in beads out and started over because I wanted to try something a little different. I'm very happy with the result.

Note: The lighting is still artificial, but I just couldn't wait till daylight to show you how it turned out.

Motif #18 for the 25 Motif Challenge

Flora size 20 in color #227 with assorted beads

4 cm across widest part of wing span; 4.5 cm from tips of antennae to lower wing tips

Marie, I understand your fascination with these butterflies now. I'm looking forward to starting another one. In fact, I plan to clean away everything and then go digging for the beads for the next one. I'm thinking red, black, and gold this time.

Kathy, you asked me earlier about the bead placement that looks like two rows of beads in 4 of those rings on the front of the butterfly. You load all of those beads onto your shuttle with those for the outer row coming off the shuttle before those on the inner row. When you wrap to start the ring, you need all of those for the outer row within the circle. When you slide one of those beads into place at a picot, you slide one from the shuttle into place beneath it on the core thread. It's the same method that forms the 4 beaded tips to the wings. The dark bead is on the core thread and the lighter ones are enclosed in the picot.

Side 1 of Morfo is Beaded

I'm sharing my progress as I go in hopes that it will encourage some of you as you begin. It's challenging to do this the first time, and I've probably made it more so because I already had some beads I really wanted to use that aren't the suggested sizes. I haven't taken the time to manipulate all of the rings back into shape before posting, but here it is from the top and the side, but still with artificial light.

Front of Morfo Butterfly

The front side of the butterfly is tatted. As you can see, some of the beads are tatted in. I've used pink and dark purple beads so far with this size 20 Flora color #227 (a soft shade of blue). Next will be the addition of more beads with needle and thread.

Progress

It's been a busy week so far with very little time to tat. I managed a couple of repeats in the final round of the doily tonight. I also spent some time selecting the beads for the butterfly. Those that will be tatted in are loaded on the shuttle.

Angela Gambka's Morfo Butterfly

Marie has shared several lovely butterflies that she has made with Angela Gambka's Morfo Butterfly pattern through her blog, West Pine Creations. I've found them inspiring. I've had it on my tatting list for quite a while. Today was the day. Marie has been a tremendous help. I've practiced by just tatting the back piece several times. Here are a few of my efforts. I feel the blue one is good enough to use, so I'm going to load some beads for the top one, which I hope to tat tomorrow evening.

Have a wonderful week, everyone. I hope to have a finished butterfly to share with you before the week is over.

Doily Progress and a New Tatting Buddy

Deciding upon the color of the next round of the Renulek Spring 2016 WIOSNA doily really wasn't as difficult for me as the first few decisions. I went with all white for this one. The tatting progressed rapidly, too.

While I'm pleased to have made such progress on this doily today, the real highlight of my weekend was meeting and tatting with Scott. Scott found me through the Craftree forum and reached out wondering if I would like to meet. Would I ever! So we met at Barnes & Noble in North Little Rock today, and I was amazed to discover as we left that we had spent three hours sharing our tatting. The time had just flown by! Scott taught himself to tat with the help of YouTube videos. While he has only been tatting a year or less, he is already challenging himself to tat one of Renulek's napkins with size 80 thread. He has accomplished more in that one year than I accomplished in my first several. Scott and I plan to do this again, and we would love to find other tatters in our area who would like to join us. So if you are interested or know someone else in our area who might be, please reach out to me through this blog. Tatting together is such fun!

WIP Wednesday

I haven't made a lot of progress on my tatting projects this week. In fact, this evening provided the first opportunity to sit down and indulge for more than a few knots at a time. I felt some pressure to get round 4 of the Renulek 2016 Spring doily done so I made that my first priority.

WIP Wednesday tatting just wouldn't feel fully satisfying without some progress on my Spring 2014 Renulek doily, too. So one more repeat is done in the next to last round. It's not much, but I feel good about moving forward in even this small way. 

Now I'm off to bed. Time to rest to prepare for another beautiful day.

Happy tatting!

Playing with Ninetta's Curled Rings

Oh no, the Online Tatting Class is about to cover Ninetta's alternate methods of curling rings, and I hadn't learned to make the original ones yet! So I struggled to find some empty shuttles. Where are the dozens of shuttles I've bought over the years? I certainly don't have enough tied up in UFOs to account for all of them. I think there may be something to Madtatter80's talk of tatting pixies. They snatch shuttles, too. (See the comments under Fox's post here.)

I found some empty Aero bobbins, so I 'borrowed' the shuttle from my 2014 Renulek Doily (the WIP Wednesday project). I had recently emptied a shuttle after the last snowflake, so I was ready to begin. I read the class material for the upcoming lesson and started Ninetta's Little Pendant with Curled Rings. Only one of my three efforts was consigned to the trash. However, I'm not sure I can boast much since it was my third effort. Aren't we supposed to get better with practice? The one on the right was my first effort. The one of the left was second. Sensing it must be time for a tatting break, I decided to blog about my efforts and play again some other time.

Little Pendant with Curled Rings

Motifs #16 and #17 for 25 Motif Challenge

Both: Variegated Manuela Size 20 (shades of blue and green with a little white and pink--# unknown)

Left: Lizbeth Size 20 Color #628 Medium Salmon

Right: Cecelia Size 20 Color #818 Baby Pink

Beads - soft pink

I had fun. In fact, it occurred to me that it would be cute to attach three of these side by side for a larger necklace pendant. I'd like to give that a try when I play with it again.

Renulek Spring 2016 WIOSNA Update and Practicing Techniques

It is coming together nicely so far, I think. When I joined to the wrong picot of with the variegated purple, I decided it was time to take a break. I cut out part of work and untatted until I was at a good spot to start fresh next time.

Renulek Spring 2016 WIOSNA Doily (in progress)

All threads are size 80

DMC #743 (Yellow - MED)

 DMC #3052 (Green Gray - MED), Lizbeth #601 (White)

DMC #52 (Variegated Violet)

My goal as I tat these days is to take the time to try new techniques or to practice techniques I have not yet mastered. I practiced Jane Eborall's Joining with no blips! on the first three joins in the green round. Then I lost my concentration and joined normally. The blipless join does not produce quite as smooth a join as my traditional method and the blip was so hard to see in these colors and this size thread that I decided to give it up for this project as long as I'm joining the purples to the green.

Another opportunity for practice came with the latest round. I've chosen to work with ball and shuttle. When I reached the first place for a second shuttle chain, I tried Lene Bjorn's technique for changing shuttle positions as described in 24 Snowflakes in Tatting for her block tatting. I did an unflipped first half followed by a normal second half and counted it as the first double stitch. The next chain was done by tatting unflipped double stitches in the same half stitch order that I usually use for the second half of a split ring. The third chain was tatted with unflipped double stitches with the half stitches reversed. It was my favorite of the three, but, unfortunately, you can't see it at the moment. I was so busy concentrating on my experiments that I joined to the wrong picot of the previous round. So that's where I shall start with my next session on this project. By the way, I found Lene's method of changing the shuttle location very convenient and, at least in size 80 thread, it looked fine. I definitely prefer her method over the Shoelace Trick.

A third practice area for me with this doily has been the job of hiding ends. After having some ends pull out when using the Magic Thread Trick in some previous projects, I had decided to go back to sewing in the ends. However, I find that this really effects the look of the rings and chains in size 80 thread. Perhaps that is because it is so hard to carefully place the thread as I work it into the double stitches, but I'm not happy with it. I sewed the ends in on the yellow center and on the white and purple round. So with the green round I decided to use the magic thread trick, but sewed a couple of stitches back the way the ends had come to lock them into place. It still isn't a perfect solution, but I like it the best of what I've tried so far for these small threads.

Dorothy Edging Diagrams Corrected!

Many thanks to Becky for catching the mistakes in my diagrams. I had omitted a picot from the corner of each round. The link in my patterns pages will take you to the revised pattern.

Bjorn 8th of December is Finished

This was a fun snowflake to tat. I really like Lene's ball and shuttle method for block tatting. The ball thread never has to change position in your hand. She recommends an unflipped 1st half stitch followed by a normal 2nd half stitch. It was very quick. This method could be used in place of the shoelace trick for changing shuttle position in any pattern.

Motif #15 for 25 Motif Challenge

Eighth of December from 24 Snowflakes in Tatting 

DMC Size 80, Color #67 (Variegated Baby Blue)

Craftree Forum Challenge

I was very conscientious in pulling the first double stitch of the chain up snugly against each clover in this final round. That turned out to be a mistake. It made the clovers want to angle so that the snowflake looked more like a pinwheel than a snowflake. It took some careful blocking of the wet flake to convince those clovers to sit at a more appropriate angle.

I'm definitely behind on the latest Renulek doily, but I hope to do some catching up today. It's been an extremely busy week, so I'm resting today with plans to do very little that isn't related to tatting. It took me a couple of hours this morning just to catch up with the reading of your blogs and the forum, but it has been a wonderfully lazy two hours.

WIP Wednesdays

Kersti challenged some of us to join her in committing to work on our Works In Progress on Wednesdays (Craftree forum link). I usually call them Unfinished Objects (UFOs), and I have several that I really wish to complete. This seemed like a great way to ensure I'm making some progress, even if it's small. I started Renulek's Spring 2014 doily in November for my own dining room table. The links to each of the parts of this beautiful doily are nicely collected for us in Craftree. I stopped about 2/3 of the way through the next to last round  to finish up the Christmas projects and just never made it back to it. I've tatted the abbreviated version of this doily many times. (Sorry, I can't find Renulek's picture of the smaller version in different colors at the moment.)

It was a difficult day to find any time to tat. I kept it where I could get to it and managed a few double stitches at a time--sometimes a whole ring! I'm sure you've had days like that, too. I managed to complete 3 more scallops in this round! 

I'll try to post some of my other tatting progress tomorrow. I did get a bit done one some other projects between this post and the previous one.

Happy tatting!

Coloring the Renulek WIOSNA 2016 Doily

I'm somewhat of a coward when it comes to planning for color, but we've got some tatters in our midst who have a fantastic gift for it. They inspire me to want to be bolder in my use of color, but my bold is still rather tame by comparison. All of this leads me to share my approach to selecting colors for Renulek's latest tat-along doily. I printed several copies of the image through round 3, grabbed my colored pencils in the colors I was most interested in trying, and tested some of the different combos. My selections were also limited by the fact that I'm determined to work from my stash. I am going to need more white size 80, but that's a justifiable purchase, as you have to have plenty of white in any thread collection. Right?

I have more colors available in the size 80. That's a lavender color rather than a pink, by the way. I'm going to start with the size 80. If the final product is too small for the location I have in mind for it, I can always start again with the size 30 also featured in the picture. The only green I have in the larger size is a size 50 Altin Basak, but it tats up very similar in size to the size 30 I have.

I'm starting with a golden yellow center. It just so happens that I still have some thread of that color loaded on my shuttle. If I don't get anything else done tonight, I want to get that center tatted.

Weekend Tatting Report

Two snowflakes and most of a third are completed for the Craftree Tat-along of 24 Snowflakes in Tatting by Lene Bjorn before the year ends. I invite you to get a copy of the book and join in the fun.

I'm using Lene's snowflakes to practice some techniques I rarely use or haven't mastered yet. My split chains are still failures. I really wish I could find David's email instructions as it worked for me every time way back when. I shall persevere.

The Sixth Day of December

Motif #13 for the 25 Motif Challenge

Tatted in DMC size 80, it is just over 6 cm in diameter.

The Seventh Day of December 

Motif #14 for the 25 Motif Challenge

Also tatted in DMC size 80, it is 7.5 cm in diameter.

I started with a center ring so I could climb out with a split ring of 8/8 to tat the outer round. I practiced onion rings to form those layered circles.

Round 1 with the beginning of Round 2

The Eighth Day of December

Also in DMC size 80.

Lene provides instructions for block tatting with ball and shuttle as well as with two shuttles. Since the Eighth recommends ball and shuttle and the Ninth recommends two shuttles, I thought I'd enjoy trying both methods of block tatting to see if I prefer one method over the other. 

Thanks for dropping by my blog!

Benporath Cake Doyley Complete and Delivered

Many thanks to all of you who answered my call for feedback about adding the center medallion to Norma's Cake Doyley.  With a fair amount of trepidation, I decided to add the center medallion. It's done and delivered, and Mom was thrilled with it.

Norma suggested using the buttonhole stitch to sew around the motif, catching the outer picots as you sew. The first thing I had to do was an internet search for instructions on the buttonhole stitch. For a first effort, it came out pretty well. I was really nervous about cutting the fabric away behind the lace, but so glad I did once I saw the difference it makes. Laying the lace atop the fabric circle really didn't give me a clear idea of what it would look like once the fabric behind it was removed.

Insert or No Insert

I'm excited to report that the tatting of the Norma Benporath Mystery Cake Doyley is complete. I'm seriously torn about whether to add the motif to the center. Norma provides enough instruction in the pattern that I think I could create the cutout behind the center medallion. Two things make me reluctant to finish it as Norma intended. Firstly, Mom will not use it as a cake doily and may be reluctant to sit anything on it that might hide the center medallion. Secondly, I'm concerned that I chose such a small fabric circle that the motif is a bit too large by comparison. So I'm asking you for your input. I confess, though, that there is a part of me that wants to see it through so that it is a good reproduction of what Norma tatted for her original pattern.

Motif #12 for the 25 Motif Challenge

Very Little Progress

In the last five days, I've managed to complete only two more scallops on the Benporath Mystery Cake Doyley. Three more to go.

Bits and Pieces

I had fun playing with my shuttles today. It began when I decided to empty a few shuttles making little bits to share at demonstrations (mostly for the children).

I decided to try Wanda Salman's button motif idea first. I didn't realize how close my motif was to hers until I visited it again so I could add the link for you. I guess I remembered it more precisely than I thought as I was not trying to copy your pattern, Wanda. The larger heart is an attempt at Kiss Curl Heart by Nicola Bowersox, but I didn't follow the stitch count very closely. Of course, the butterfly is a very common idea. 

Then I decided to practice some techniques. I had the larger clovers already tatted and practiced the single shuttle split ring to hide the ends securely. 

The small clovers are a pattern by Gina Brummett, Lucky Seven Shamrock. I just hate to tat the dimpled ring that uses a picot. Gina's pattern uses Josephine sets. I like this method so much better. So I made two of them and used SSSRs to hide the ends. Then I made a couple of hearts by making only one 'leaf' of the clover. You see only one of them because I immediately lost one of them., two of them, but somehow I lost one of them immediately after tatting it. 

The last little item was an attempt at Abbytatsalot's caterpillar, but I ran out of thread at the 3rd ring. I  was especially interested in it because of its frayed picots. Even as a little 3-ring creature, it's pretty cute, I think.

Happy tatting!

Tatting at the Library

I had a wonderful time today demonstrating tatting at the Laman Library in North Little Rock, Arkansas. I spent 2 hours there at a table in front of the main desk. The picture below is part of my display. I wasn't very well prepared since I had not planned to do a public demonstration today. However, the opportunity was there, so I did it.

My display included some works in progress and some designs in progress, as well as completed pieces I had with me. I arranged everything in groups according to size thread. 

I think the children who came over to watch were more fascinated than the adults. Some people had no idea what I was doing. Others told me stories about friends or family members who tatted. One woman thought it was crochet at first. While she had no desire to learn, I enjoyed visiting with her and her husband. I enjoyed visiting with them all!

As I was packing up to leave, the librarian asked me if I would be willing to teach some classes at the library. Of course I said yes. I left my contact information at the front desk for her. I don't know what we will be able to work out in the way of a schedule since I don't live or work in North Little Rock, but I'm excited about sharing our hobby with others and possibly adding to our tatting community.

I'm also determined I shall never again be caught unprepared to do a public demonstration. I'm going to put a few things together to leave in my car.  My list includes: small tatted items to give away; a few shuttles loaded with thread for the eager to try (I think I'll make some more business card shuttles); a Tatting Demonstration sign so people won't hesitate to approach; and some business cards with my blog address. Can you think of anything else I need to include?

A Bluebird for fun

Wanting to tat, but feeling too tired to attempt further progress on the doily, I decided to empty one of the business card shuttles working the Tatted Bluebird by Nancy Tracy. I accidentally omitted 2 ds and a picot in one of the rings and I adapted the pattern to practice an inward-facing picot for the beaded eye, but it is a darling pattern--lots of fun to tat! I used the Reverse Join to change the place of the shuttles for the chains that form the head. It's a handy technique. Considering the number of mistakes I made in this little motif with size 10 Manuela thread, I'm glad I didn't try to work with the size 80 tonight.

Motif #11 for the 25 Motif Challenge

Just 5.5 repeats left!

I found myself with more time to tat today than usual, so I made good progress on the doily. I have just 5.5 repeats left. It's finished diameter is about 9.5 inches. I'm very close to the end of this ball of thread. I have another, but I didn't expect to need it. I really like this bright, sunshiny yellow. It is so cheerful.

I had actually planned to do this outer round in white, but I reloaded my shuttle and started the round without thinking. Now I'm glad I forgot the plan.

I don't expect to have much time, if any, to tat tomorrow, so it will be the weekend before I finally finish this round. I still have a center motif to tat. Once it's tatted, I'll decide whether or not to attach it. It looks rather lovely without it. I will post a picture of it with and without the center and you can tell me what you think.

If you remember, I originally started this project by tatting the center motif first using Finca size 16 perle cotton. I've got an idea for finishing it into a larger motif that keeps with the theme of the doily. If I don't use the DMC center on the doily (and I like the enlarged perle cotton motif), I may complete the DMC center the same way. Thinking and planning is half the fun.

Started the Final Round

I finished round 2 and began the final round on the Benporath Mystery Cake Doyley. I encourage you to visit Craftree to see this project. When you are working from a pattern without a good picture, it is sometimes hard to know what is a mistake in the pattern and what is intentional.

Norma didn't write reverse works into her instructions. If you make the unattached rings on round 2 as second shuttle rings, the chains will arch rather than form the sharper point of my chains. I made the round with one shuttle and a ball thread so that the unattached rings want to face the same way as the other rings. I then folded the rings outward to form that sharp angle to the chains.

Both the first Benporath Mystery project we did and this one contain instructions to join into one picot immediately followed by instructions to join into another picot. If you assume it to be a mistake, you must add what you believe to be the missing stitches between the joins. If you assume it is intentional, you must decide how to make the joins. This was what first motivated my explorations into joins to 2 picots. I chose to believe it to be intentional, and I'm using the down picot joins (the last in my practice sample). It is in this last round where the single ring joins to the two middle picots of the 4-picot chain segment (between the scallops).

This pattern also has a motif for the center of the fabric. The fabric would normally be cutout behind the motif. I will tat it again in this thread, but I haven't decided whether I will sew it to the doily. I know I won't cut the fabric out behind it.

The thread I'm using is DMC size 80, color 743. I'm really enjoying tatting this edging.

Weekend Tatting

I made some progress on the Norma Benporath Mystery Cake Doyley. I attached the first round to the fabric before starting round 2. The fabric gets quite wrinkled as I work, but it will all be pressed nicely later.

I also had the opportunity today to test a tutorial by Tamara for creating tatting shuttles from business cards or cardboard of similar weight. She has posted the tutorial, but please note that she is still editing it. Tamara has limited access to tatting supplies in the Dominican Republic, so she developed this idea to meet the need for some shuttles for a workshop she plans to teach. These use supplies she had readily available at home. I used the same materials and I am very impressed with her shuttles. I   made one of each of the two designs and tatted a centipede with each shuttle using size 10 Manuela threads. which is the thread size I usually use when teaching. The pattern is by Lisbeth Johansson and I found it in 2003 at http://www.frivolitesknuten.com but that link is no longer working.

These little centipedes are #9 and #10 for the 25 Motif Challenge, too.

Happy International Tatting Day!

I hope all of you tatters have a wonderful day today that includes time to tat! If you don't know how to tat yet, many of us will be tatting in public today to share our art.  We love adding new tatters to our community. If you want to learn to tat, just ask us.

My International Tat Day gift to you this year is the pattern for the Dorothy Edging that I designed for a handkerchief for my mother this past Christmas. Some of you asked for the pattern, so I've been busy trying to refresh my limited diagramming skills to get it ready for you. I still have a bit to learn about using my graphics program, but this was the best I could do. I hope you enjoy using it. Just click on the image and you'll be taken to the pdf of the pattern. It will be added to my patterns page soon.

Joining to 2 picots at one location

The Dorothy Edging that I designed for my mother for Christmas requires you to join to a picot from two chains at one location. As a result of some confusion about how Norma Benporath intended for us to make a similar join in a round that was part of the Norma Benporath Mystery Border,  I started to explore different ways this might be done. I settled on making those joins by joining to each picot separately without completing a half stitch between rather than joining by pulling the thread up through both picots at the same time. It produced a different look. Since then I've tried up joins and down joins in various combinations as well. Click HERE to see the results of my explorations. This was not an attempt to explore all of the ways this could be done, but to explore the effects of some of the different ways of which I am currently aware.

I plan to celebrate International Tatting Day (April 1) by sharing another free pattern with you. I hope you'll drop by to see it.

Motif 8 for 25 Motif Challenge

It always feels good to finish a project, and especially so this time as it was such a challenge. I attempted to use some tips from Nina Libin's Beanile tatting to create the jewels for the top center of the crown. It isn't perfect, but I'm very happy with my first effort at this type of use of beads in tatting. I used Gale Marshall's pattern for the Queen Mom Memorial Crown and substituted lots of different beads and made the changes necessary to make them work. So that's motif #8 for the 25 Motif Challenge.

Lastly, I had to revisit the eyes of my brown-eyed sock doll. I brought her eyes closer together, and I think she looks better. 

Tatting on Sock Dolls

Butter Bean is about to turn one so I've been busy creating something special for her birthday. Her mother was about the same age when I made her some sock dolls. I didn't tat then, so they didn't look as fancy as these two. I like the eye placement on the blue-eyed one better than the brown-eyed one now that I look at them together. I didn't compare the two as I worked, instead creating one and then the other. It has been an all-day project.

I needed an edging for the neck that would curve in a very tight circle. I was inspired by the current round I'm working for the Norma Benporath Mystery Cake Doyley. Rings have the same count and picot placement as that round, but the arrangement of the rings is different. I shall count these as Motif 7 for the 25 Motif Challenge.

The thread on the blue-eyed doll is Lizbeth Juicy Watermelon in size 20. The thread on the brown-eyed doll is an HDT by Jess Foster aka Tat-ilicious. I love all of the threads I received from Jess.

Almost done!

With the crown, that is. It is really coming together nicely. Just one more section to go.

And I managed to get a few more inches done on round 1 of the Benporath Mystery Cake Doyley.

More Time Than Usual to Tat

A drive to Memphis with my daughter for a day at the Memphis Zoo yesterday meant that I had more tatting time than usual. I worked on the Norma Benporath Mystery Cake Doyley during the drive, then loaded beads and tatted another section on the modified Gale Marshall Queen Mom Memorial Crown when I got home. The zoo was wonderful in spite of the wind. It was a fantastic day.