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!