Testing Done For Beatrix

    You know, sometimes my own level of stupidity just amazes me. I have been working on testing this pattern for Ms. E. for a while. There are 6 rounds total. For some reason, I feel like I have to finish every round to prove the testing. The other day I realized I don't. I don't even have to do entire rounds at all. Of course I will, though, because I want to finish the doily, but for testing it is not actually necessary.

    I am almost done with round 4. I took a couple of other shuttles, tatted a bit of round 5 onto round 4 in a color that is easily distinguished from round 4. OK, that round pattern is good. Cut and tie off so it won't unravel and try round 6 on top of that. Round 6 pattern reads correctly and works as intended. Testing done. Now I can remove the testing and continue making the doily without the pressure of having to get it done for the test.

    Why did I not think of this before? I suppose it is part of the perfectionist in me, wanting to complete things. All I can say for sure is I am glad it was not the monster doily that I was testing. That one took me about 18 months to complete, but I only worked about an hour a day on it.

    I have not been blogging for over a month. Sorry, but I got busy with other things. Life happens. I think the biggest reason was I wasn't tatting a lot. Arthritis in my thumbs got to where I almost could not hold a pen to sign my name. It is better now. A friend suggested a cream call Blue Emu. I am not endorsing it, but it seems to have helped a bit. The pain is still there, but not as bad. Hopefully I won't be as far between posts now.

Almost Too Busy

    I know we all need something to do, but this is getting ridiculous. I have a lot going on almost too much! I am working on the Serweta 2 doily. I have round 5 completed. There are 11 rounds. Some of them go pretty slowly. That is because they are composed of individual motifs, therefore I have a lot of ends to sew in. One round does not use the same motif. It uses 2 different ones, alternating. I may do all of one, then do all of the other, just to get some rhythm. They do join, though, so I will have to try that and see what might be easier.

    I also have another doily going. This one is a test tat for Jane Eborall. It is another one of the dutch doilies. She has already blogged it so now she has given me permission to do so also. I am using King Tut thread, of course, #988, Oasis. I haven't done anything in green for a long time, possibly since the Monster Doily, so I am glad to be back to my favorite color.

    Okay, ask me why I like green. Go ahead. Want the answer? "What's in YOUR wallet?". And no, I don't mean credit cards. Hehe. Well, at least in the USA we call money "long green" or "greenbacks". And to tell the truth, it seems to me to be a more calming color than blue or red.

    I am also working on the house, the yard, some wood projects, a computer project and a few more things. Yes, I will be returning to the other projects I have. I switch between the during the day to avoid boredom, but so far I really like this doily pattern so I will probably finish it pretty quickly.

A Class In Size

    This past week I have been in class. Picotsnkeys was holding an online class through the The Lace Museum of Sunnyvale, California. It was mostly beginners but I was able to contribute a little to the conversations. The pattern she was teaching was the Sonata Doily she taught at Tat Days last year. I was not able to make the class at Tat Days so I enrolled in this one to sort of make up for it. One thing I was able to do was show size difference between 2 threads.

    Now you probably know I like to tat with King Tut threads. I had already done the doily in King Tut so this time I decided to use size 20 and demonstrate the difference in using a larger thread.

    This photo shows the difference quite well, I think. The top one is in King Tut thread and the bottom one is in Lizbeth size 20 thread. They both look great on my tables.

    I did enjoy the class. Thanks to all involved for allowing me to join in the fun!

Serweta 2 Round 3

    I finally have round 3 done on Serweta 2. This is really letting me learn this thrown ring method. It's like trial by fire. Actually, this is not something difficult to do. The rings are thrown from the "back side" of a split ring. Looking through the book in the instructions, though, I do not see where he designated the symbology for a split ring. I do like his designs but if you do them, be prepared to figure out how to tat some of it. He is not explicit on methods.

    The big reason I was so slow getting this round done is mostly that my shoulder started acting up again so I stopped tatting for several days. It is repetitive stress syndrome and arthritis and bursitis all at once. Now it has subsided for a while. I will see how long it takes to act up again. Oh, well, the advantages of getting old, hehe.
    Did you notice the title again? I'm learning Polish. One word a year. Now, I have to learn the whole language before I die. Is that an insurance policy, or what? And after Polish, Japanese. I should be around forever! How do you say "round" in Polish? As in round 4, coming up.

Another Serweta (2)

     I hope everyone is OK. I am fine, just trying to stay busy. I get to tat a lot more now. I have been working on a few things that I cannot post because they are part of the TAT program. I did decide to do a couple other things lately though.
    The last one I posted was Serweta 1, that tan doily I finished last month. I have started another one of the Stawasz doilies. It is Serweta 2 from the same book, Tatted Treasures. (The red covered one.) This is a photo scanned with round 2 just done. On to round 3 later today. In King Tut thread, of course.

    This one will take a while also. It should be about the same size, though I am not sure. It says 41cm in the book. That's 16". It says size 20. I think the first one was about the same in size 10. I will just have to see what happens.
    Do you see the "technique" needed to do this one? How do you throw a ring from a ring? It comes off the second side of a split ring. That is round 2. Round 3 is the same but the thrown rings will interlock with the tiny picots on round 2. Like I said, it will take a little while to do this one. If I have to stay home, though, I can't think of a better way to spend time.
    Oh, by the way, I was challenged to do Jane Eborall's Medina in King Tut. Here is the bow. I dont have a picture of it with the "angels gown" yet because it needs pressed and I just have not done that yet. I did ask what size this was in #40 Lizbeth. It was 4". Mine is 2 3/4" in King Tut.

Serweta 1 Done!

    It has taken a while, but now it is done. The Serweta 1 is finished. I think it came out pretty well. I know where there are a few minor mistakes, but you would have a hard time chasing them down unless you were just obsessed with it. I think the longest round was round 9. That is the one with the 25 little stars that have to be done one at a time and attached as you go. Then there are 50 ends to sew in. It really wasn't that bad. You sew the ends as you go and it seems like there are not so many. This is now on my china hutch under a silver bowl.

    Keep in mind that the patterns in the book, "Tatted Treasures" by Jan Stawasz, are diagrammed. I do not recommend this for beginners. Intermediate will probably be OK. You need to be able to look at the diagram and understand how to get the tatting done. For instance, how did you get that ring? It is a thrown ring. Did you recognize that? Have you done those? Perhaps you need to use an SCMR somewhere. He does not always tell you this. Jan also has his method with picots that confuse people. This is why diagrammed patterns are not always for the beginner. If you do want to try this, on round 10 there are rings that have no stitch counts. I used 6+2-6 then 6+2+6. They are beside each other and joined.I got the counts from the photo as best as I could make it out. Seems to have worked.
    So now what to do? I have to try to "design" an edging. I am not a designer. I can follow instructions, but it takes an artist to design. I guess I will see what happens with that.

Serweta 1 Round 10 Done

    I have been calling this one Serweta. Why? Well, that way I am familiar with at least one word in Polish. I think languages are interesting and I like to find words that I can remember.
    Yesterday evening I finished round 10. I have one more to go. I think it is looking pretty nice. I did iron it a bit to get it to pose for it's photo. Last post I said this round was floppy. Look between the florets at the chain with the one thrown ring. Several are trying to rise up, even though I ironed them. They try to twist a bit, so I call that floppy.

    I think it is looking good. I have one last round that finishes the outside. It should not take too long. Mostly it is just rings and chains around. Easy peasy.
    The photo is not the best. The background should be a dark blue, not gray. I was not in good light. Sorry. Still, you get the idea.