First Brown Chain

    I bought a new scanner today. Then it occurred to me that it might be better to scan this than to photograph it with my phone. I like the way it makes it lay flat and eliminates the shadows.
    This is the first brown chain round. It separates the rounds of the rings. I have to calculate the locations of the picots in relation to the lock joins by figuring the count between rings and the number of rings I need. I am using AutoCAD to chart it out.
    I actually did this round twice. I had, for some stupid reason, cut the thread from the ball after winding the shuttle. Habit maybe? Then as soon as I did, I realized I needed the ball thread so I worked them back together. No, I did not make a knot. I try to do everything (almost) knot-less. Anyway, when I got around the first time, the number of tails just made a mess of it and I got a couple of really bad places in the thread. I thought about it and just cut the whole round back off. Then I wound the shuttles CTM and went to it again. Much better. At least this is a quick round, just a few hours to redo it.

    Next another round of the rings, just more of them. At this point the floor is at 7" (177mm) across. Yes, I can do the conversion in my head. I have been using both measurement systems for the last year and almost have the conversions memorized.

More Done on Carousel Floor

    I would not think that it would take so long to make 120 rings, but it does. It took a week or so of tatting when i could. Remember I work about 11 hours a day, including lunch, so I have to get time when I can. I don't think it looks too bad. The bare threads were not nearly as bad as I thought they might be. I started out measuring, but soon got to where I could get pretty close eyeballing them.
    Now the first round of rings is done. Next is a round of nothing but chains around the tops of the rings. Catch is there are picots irregularly regularly spaced. It is irregular between the tops of the rings, but the picot to picot count is always the same. I bet I mess that up more than once.

 

Of course, I also want to do a couple other little projects along the way, but when I do those, I feel like I am slacking off of this project. I will just have to do them anyway!

A New Tatting Bag

    Saturday, when I got home from the Palmetto Tatters Guild meeting, there was a small package waiting for me on the kitchen table. I took a quick glance and saw a foreign stamp. I went on inside and put my things down, looked for glue to fix the umbrella handle that had decided to come loose in the rain, grabbed a cup of coffee, then remembered the package.
    Oh! That was the new tatting bag I had ordered from Jane Eborall. I opened it and found a really  well made product. This little bag is just the right size to carry a few balls of thread, scissors, crochet hook, etc. It is even lined. I looked at the seams and everything is so precise. There is a seam on the ends that meets another panel exactly in the center. Such precision. Is this the mark of a perfectionist?

    I think she still has some of these for sale on her Etsy shop. Not very expensive at all and she must live at the post office to ship so fast. You really should have a look.

Ice Drops

I went to the meeting of the Palmetto Tatters in Lexington (Columbia) yesterday. We had a bit smaller crowd but still had fun. We did leave a little early because of bad weather, but that was fine. Before the meeting I finally got around to making an ice drop. I had not done them before. Not particularly difficult, but they do turn out nicely. I had a couple people ask me for the pattern. That actually belongs to Diane Cademartori. I did have it written out so I gave it to them. I have not found a written pattern anywhere, just the instructions she gives on her blog. Speaking of which, I thought I had added her blog to my list, but I missed it. It's there now!

I guess y'all know I like green. Someone asked me why. My answer? What's in your wallet.
(For those of you in a different country, money in the USA is referred to as greenback or long green. There is a commercial on TV that uses the wallet line for their punch line.)

The Carousel

It has been figured out! Jmjtat figured it out on Craftree. I am going to try to make the carousel from the book by Ineke Kuiperij. I need to finish the "doily" so I know how big to make the substructure for the floor. The doily will be the floor. I plan to 3d print the parts I need to hold it together. Ineke used wood and a metal dart board frame. This will take a while though. I was trying not to say so if i got discouraged or it didn't work out, then I could duck and cover. Ha ha. Told you if anyone guessed, I would admit it. So now you know.

Does anyone know if anyone else has attempted this? I have not seen it anywhere.

Better Round

    I think I got it figured out. This is what I think it should be from description, photo, translation adjustment and so on. The next few rounds will take a while. There are 60 and 60 rings on this one and there are about 5 rounds like this one with chain between them. The last round is 130 rings so it increases, of course. I will post when I finish this one to see how it looks. I am guessing at the length of the bare thread because no numbers are given for it. It is not really mentioned in the plans, just a dashed line in a drawing. So far it looks about right.

    I left the little loop  made by tatting over tails at the start, to join the last thread to. I weave the tail into the black to keep it out of the way. When I finish this round, I can pass the shuttle through the loop and pull the tail to close it.

Bad Round

    The next round is pretty, isn't it? Too bad it's not there any more. I totally read the pattern wrong for that one. I thought it said 6-6. Nope. Four sixes. Three picots. 6-6-6-6. I have to learn to read it!
      Like I said, this is not going to be an easy pattern to figure out. I have already cut it back off. That is the color for most of the rest, though.The black part is about 5"1/2. (140mm). This should end up as a "doily" about 12-13" across. I keep calling it a doily. That is sort of what it is. Kind of...

    Another clue for you. I have to translate it, and that is coming out kind of weird. Bing and Google translators take the best guess, but they are not literate in tatting, so sometimes you get words that make no sense.

Black is Done

    Now the black rounds are done. I don't really mind working black, but it can be difficult to see what you are doing, especially in smaller threads. Even in a size 20 it can be hard to see. In this size 80, well, I mostly just have to work by feel. At least, for now, the black size 80 is done. I had to pin it out. It won't look too bad.
    Next up is supposed to be a beige but I am going to substitute another color for it. I am going to have to try the round and see what works. A Lizbeth 699, Harvest Gold. Now that I have it in hand, it looks to have a greenish tint but we shall see.
    The pattern is not really clear here and I hope what I think it says works OK. To tell the truth, it should. What is happening is I cannot tell if part of it is chain or bare thread. I think it is bare thread. I like doing a bit of that type tatting and I really like mignonette so I will try that first. If it works, that is what it will be.

My First TIAS!

I have decided to try the TIAS this time around. This is my 2nd day entry. One thing I think I will enjoy is the bite size pieces. I can just do a few stitches, then put it aside to work on the other projects that will take more time and effort. I am still working on the black "doily". I am on the last round of the black. I should have that ready by tomorrow.

Round 4 Done

    Why is it so cold this morning? I live in the south! It is 23 degrees here at 5 a.m. Glad I don't have to go outside, like the dogs do.
     This is a good day to stay in and tat. I got round 4 done. It "closes off" the rings from round 3. Now the thread won't catch on them constantly. I have been starting the rounds with a ring, finishing with the last chain, then split ring to the next round. At least those are in a line like spokes.
    The next few rounds are just ring and chain around. Those should not take too long, if I can stay on task. I have been doing some of this at work during lunch break. This pattern is a challenge to decipher. After these next few round I may have to make "adjustments" to make things work the way I want them to and still keep the integrity of the project.

I blocked the center a bit. Probably won't do that again for a few rounds. Now it's about 3"1/4.

The Next Round Done.

    Just an update. Finished round 3 and wanted to block it a bit so it would be easier to handle with all the little rings. This is 3 rounds done, the next five are simple ring and chain, as I have it started. It looks a bit irregular at first, but I think it will level out as the next few rings are added.

    I'm not really sure of protocol, but then, I don't often follow protocol. I do what I want. At 63, I've earned the privilege. Anyway, I will probably post progress photos, if for no other reason than to keep me on task.

I did accomplish something else yesterday. My S-I-L needed a new car, so I bought her one. Well, not BRAND new, but a really nice used one a dealer had. The old one was totally worn out. I can't trust it. She is happier today.

The New Project

    Remember the balls of thread I bought? Well, I can't resist any more. I have to start playing with them. I have the first 2 rounds done, not that much really, and I have the third started. I will be working on it today. (Instead of working on the TAT program, hehe.)
    What is it? Well, I don't want to give it away just yet. Perhaps you already know. I will say that there is a diagram and a photo and that they do not match. I will follow the photo. The diagram has enough information to let me get the stitch count anyway.
    See the experiment for double rings? I suppose that is as good a name as any, unless someone knows the "proper" term. This is what the experiment was for. It's working pretty well so far.
    I will work more on this today and post more on it as I go. It will not be fast. I am using 2 shuttles and the thread is size 80 Lizbeth. Black is hard to see. I am glad that there is not really a lot of black, though this part has about 9 rounds. The original pattern calls for DMC and Anchor but I could not find the colors in DMC that were listed, so I did a compare as best as I could and substituted. I hope that size 80 DMC and size 80 Lizbeth are pretty close to the same, though, as long as I stay with one or the other, I should be ok.

This project is definitely going to take a while.