My new scarf

Mom sent some photos of a scarf she was working on, and I decided I needed to make one too. I think I should have used the sock yarn that Mom recommended instead of this worsted weight, but since I have plenty of yarn to play with, I'm not too concerned. It sure will be warm!

Three days of no tatting... time to get back on track!

Round 4

I've finished four rounds of Doily 4 from Tatted Fashion by Teiko Fujito. It's now 5 1/2" across. I did pin and steam after round 4 because of all the rippling, but I'd rather have rippling than see the piece cup like the last doily did. I'm very pleased with this one so far, and hopefully I'll have time to work on it this weekend.

15 yds

That's how much size 20 Lizbeth I was able to wind on my new Sunlit shuttle. As you can see, there's plenty left on the shuttle for another Flower Fragment or two.

Here are the three fragments together... size 3, size 10, and size 20. Can you guess which thread size I'll try next? ;-)

7 yds

That's about how much size 10 Lizbeth I was able to wind on my new Sunlit shuttle. Not bad... I can tat a lot with 7 yds!

As you can see, I even have some thread left on the shuttle. There's quite a difference in the size of the finished motif (Flower Fragment from  A Pattern Book of Tatting by Mary Konior). Size 3 thread is on the left, size 10 on the right.

I think I might have to try size 20 next!

Starting over

Well, I chose to quit the pattern that wasn't working for me. I will get back to it some day, just not when I have a deadline!

I chose doily #4 from Tatted Fashion by Teiko Fujito. I haven't tatted this particular doily before, but I have finished a similar one in the book.

Round 1

Round 2

Round 3

This pattern is working out so much better for me!

My new Sunlit shuttles arrived a couple of weeks ago, and I'm very happy with them! Since I have so much going on right now, I decided to check out how much thread the shuttle would hold.

I happened to have a ball of size 3 Lizbeth on the table next to my chair, so that's where I started. Silly me... I forgot to measure how much thread I used! I think it was about 4 yards. Anyway, this is how much I was able to tat with one shuttle full. The pattern is "Flower Fragment" from A Pattern Book of Tatting by Mary Konior.

Since the thread is so large, and every little thing shows up, I decided to use front side/back side tatting. I'm very proud of the fact that I was able to keep track of what I was doing! ;-)

However, I don't think I'll be using the Sunlit shuttles for size 3 thread. I would spend all my time winding shuttles!

The Starlit shuttles, on the other hand, hold plenty of thread to complete this pattern! There's even a little thread left on the shuttle. 

Now that I've finished with this pattern, I'll have to decide what to do with the rest of the size 3 thread. I really prefer finer threads. Although the thread is nice and smooth, the size felt a bit like tatting with rope!

Restart, snip, or quit?

I'm becoming very frustrated with this doily, "Trefles" from La frivolite fine et precieuse. I have spent so much time snipping and re-tatting this week, that I haven't taken time to blog. Round one is the only one that turned out the way I liked.

At the end of round 2, I noticed that some of the chains overlapped, probably not a big deal... right?

However, after round 3, some of my clovers seem lop-sided, and the chains don't look neat and smooth.  This picture is after a little stretching and steaming. Nope, it's not the look I'm going for. Maybe round 4 will help pull everything into shape.

I think not! Look at the way my rings are stretched. This is my third attempt at this round. I've tried a different stitch count, which seemed way too big, and I've tried using larger picots. None of the changes I've tried look right to me.

Since I have a Christmas deadline, I'm really thinking I should set this piece aside and work on something else. I chose it because my sister-in-law asked for an open pattern so that the beauty of the wood would show through on her newly refinished table.

Has anyone else tatted this doily? Did you make any changes in the pattern? Or, do you have recommendations for a 14" doily? I'm open to suggestions!

2 hours 15 minutes

Yup... that's how far I was in to the doily when I noticed my mistake.

Do you see it there by the point of the shuttle? I made the first ring incorrectly. There's an extra picot and a chain 3 in the wrong place.

Rather than cutting it off, I decided to finish the round. The extra picot sticks out like a sore thumb, but I figure I can save this piece for a crazy quilt block and do something fancy to hide my mistake.

Luckily, I have plenty of time to catch up! 

Keeping track of time

Two weeks ago, Dave and I went to his sister's to celebrate their birthdays, Sept. 17 and Sept. 22. While we were there, Karen showed us a table that has made by her husband Larry's grandfather back in the 1920s. It had been damaged by cigarette burns and water rings from glasses, so Karen and Larry had it refinished. It is gorgeous! I wish I had taken a picture.

Anyway, Karen and Larry asked that I either tat or crochet a doily for it for their Christmas present. Of course I decided on tatting. :-)

There's great danger in owning many tatting books... it's almost impossible to choose one pattern! This morning I looked through this book and found just what I was looking for!

They'd like a 14" doily, and after much consideration I decided on this one...

So where does keeping track of time come in? I don't really pay much attention to how much time I need to tat something, because I'm usually tatting for my own pleasure, not a deadline. Christmas will be here before we know it, and I know that a 14" doily will take some time. So, after winding my shuttle, I started a stop watch to see how long it would take me to tat the first round.

20 minutes... yikes! It looks like this is going to be a little more time consuming than I expected!

Excitement!

I just received an email stating that the new Sunlit shuttles are in at Handy Hands! I'm very excited, because I really need more shuttles! ;-)

While I'm waiting for my new shuttles to arrive, I need to stay focused on my newest project. Yes, I've started another Spinning Wheel in Perfect Quilter. This color is #088, Leaf Me Alone... funny name for a very pretty thread.

I've found that when I'm working with this really fine thread, I really don't mind using the shoelace trick at the end of each spoke. That little half stitch isn't noticeable the way it is in size 20. That's nice for me... I only have to wind thread on to one shuttle!