Oval Doily revisited

Back in March, I started this Oval Doily from A New Twist on Tatting by Catherine Austin. I lost interest in the pattern for two reasons: the directions are not clearly written, at least for me, and the stitch count caused extreme rippling.

Well, the discussion of this doily has come up again over at InTatters, so I decided to give it another try. Rachael noted that the pattern can also be found in Tatting Doilies & Edgings by Rita Weiss, with a different stitch count. Guess what? My version has an even different stitch count!

Here's what I came up with...

Oops! For those of you who want to know the stitch count for the rings...


Small ring: 3-3-3-3; Large ring: 3-2-2-2-2-3


Wind two shuttles CTM. I started with a small ring; do not reverse work; chain 5; reverse work; large ring; reverse work; chain 5; do not reverse work; small ring. Repeat the pattern until you have 13 small rings and 13 large rings. Ch 5, join to side picot of small ring. Tat 3 large rings to form clover end. Ch 5, join to same side picot as last ch 5. On the second side, large ring; reverse work; ch 5, join to free picot of small ring, ch 5; reverse work; large ring. Continue in this manner to finish the second side.


Have you tried this doily? What's your experience? Inquiring minds want to know!