Latest Piece of Work

This one is Renulek's (I love her work) 2014 Spring Napkin. I am starting in on round 8. There are 13 rounds. At round 7, the doily is about 12" across. The colors I am using are Lizbeth 656, Wedgewood Dark, and 655, Wedgewood Light. 

    By the way, Wedgwood does not have the second "E" if you are talking about the ceramics. I do own one small piece of the ceramic. A small round tray. 

 I already have a home for this. One of the ladies at my doctor's office saw me working on it while waiting and mentioned it. I told her I would put her name on it, so it is going home with her when I get it done. I usually take a few photos and then give away the things I make. I tat for the process more than for the finished product. I already have a ton of doilies around the house so now I give them away. I mostly like to do doilies. They are useful, decorative and usually somewhat easy to make. I just enjoy the process.

Tatting Fantasia 10

 

    I got this book a month or so ago. I collect books and this one is the latest to complete my collection of Iris Niebach's work. I decided to start in on it with the first medallion. These are my thoughts on that and comments on working it.

Finished

    The first thing I would say is that this is not a book for beginners. Don't let that scare you, but you will need to know some techniques beyond chain and ring. You will also need to know when to use them. There are places in the pattern that do not specifically say how to hold your thread, when to reverse work, or not reverse work. There are times when there are optional methods. You will need to pay close attention to what element you are working and how it must be done. You should be familiar with using picot gauges.

    In this pattern  you will need to know how to make an SCMR (self closing mock ring). You will need to know when to use a thrown ring (ring on a chain)You will need to keep an eye on which way your tatting is turned. For instance, there are places that you are chaining, but it is easy to get the chain turned the wrong direction. One of these is at the basketweave area. You must pay attention! 

Basketweave

    All in all, this is a fun, interesting pattern. Iris always has fun things to try in her work. If you want something with a bit more challenge, I would say get this one.

 

Coming Along Slowly

 

    Yes, it has been a while. I am slowing down. Getting old.  Some days I can get to it to tat, some days I cannot.Still lots to do around the house, especially since it is fall. And do my leaves fall. But I like my trees, so I tolerate it. Even if I do have to wash the cars more just to keep the tree droppings off.

    This is round 6 done on the Stawacz doily. I have added 3 rounds since last post. For each round I have been able to do fast and easy, the split chain, to advance to the next round. Round 7 is like round 6, but has two more stitches on the chains. I will be glad to get to round 8. It will, at least, be different. 

    I just found out our county fair is on and open tonight. I think I will go. And carry some tatting (this piece) with me. Just in case. I doubt there is any there, but you never know. Perhaps next year I will enter something.

Split Chain - The "Fast and Easy" Way

     Slowly working on the Jan Stawacz Doily VI. Round 3 finished. I am moving to round 4 with a split chain, thanks to Marie Smith's "Fast and Easy" method. Then a split ring and do round 4. It will keep me busy for a while. I think I can do several more transitions to the next rounds using the split chain. I really prefer it to cut and tie. If you have not tried Marie's method, get it from Jane Eborall's techniques pages and try it. Oh, and once I found this method and saw how easy it is, I thanked Marie in person!

Doily VI

    Now that I have completed the Renulek doily and I have given it to my friend for a wedding present, I need something to work on. I do a lot of doilies. I give away doilies. I have plenty, but I just enjoy making them. People seem to like them. They are practical and they are amazed at how intricate tatting can be.

    I started something else, but I found the pattern was not working for me so I stopped. I started going through books and once again find myself returning to Jan Stawacz's patterns. This is from Tatting Theory and Patterns. Doily VI, page 83. Let's see if this one works for me.

    I plan to make two of these. One for the lady at the hardware store, maybe both. The one in the photo, well, I think it is obvious what I am using. I love King Tut thread. The one I make for her, if all goes well, will be size 20 Lizbeth. The shuttles are rosewood (darker) and cherry (lighter). Love my pop-a-bobbins!

Renulek's 2020 Spring Napkin - Done!

 

    It took a while. I finally got this one complete yesterday. The last round has 32 repeats. I was able to get to a couple per day, so it went pretty quick. At least for me. This measures 24" (61 cm.) across. There are 18 rounds. Two shuttles required.

    The friend I am making this for came by a couple weeks ago but never mentioned it, even though it was in plain sight. I wonder if he even remembers it. He is getting married end of August, though, so that may be his wedding gift. He originally wanted it for his mother but as it got larger he started saying he may keep it. I did make his fiancee a pair of wave earrings (Corina Meyfeldt's pattern) and she loved them so she will probably like this. Perhaps this would look good on their dining table. 

    Because it took so long, the center had started to get dingy. I took care of that by soaking in Orvus and a half teaspoon of bleach in a half gallon of water for an hour, then I laid it out and sprayed it with Oxyclean. No more dingy. Then I laid it out in the sun for a couple of hours. Finally, I lightly steam ironed it. No starch and it lays pretty well. Now the question is how do I "package" it to be given to someone?

One To Go

 

    One round to go. It has been a long round but I got round 17 done finally. This is the 2020 spring napkin by Renulek I have been making for a friend. I think he may have left town. (Got married and moved to Savannah.) I will hang onto it and if he comes looking, I will let him have it, but first I have one more round to go. If he doesn't come get it, it does look great on my kitchen table, doesnt it?