Renulek's 2017 Spring Napkin - Finished

    This feels good. I am finished with another doily. It feels good to complete something after working on it for months.

    This one has almost 29,000 stitches in 13 rounds. It is about 18 1/2" across. Renulek designs some of the most beautiful doilies around and I like making them. It took about 6 months. Of course, that is not working on it every day or all day. We all have other things that need done too.

    In other news, I put together a computer system for another tatter and delivered it this past weekend. She was trying to read patterns on the phone and I just cannot believe she was able to. Anyway, now she has her computer and was amazed that she could read the patterns so much easier. I had a scanner and a printer that I was not using so I gave her those too. Now she just has to learn to use the computer. I help all I can. She can call me or text me any time with questions and I will help. Yes, I installed TattingCAD on it. She was excited to see that. Hopefully she will play with it and learn it. We shall see.

TattingCAD

    I was on Craftree several weeks back and noticed I had a private message. That is not particularly odd, but it has been a while since I got one, so I checked it out. That message led me down a road I had been wanting to travel for quite a while.

    I have, for a long time, been entertaining the notion of creating a software program for tatting. It would have text, graphics, and understand tatting terminology. I wanted to write it in python so I could make it multiplatform. I don't use Windows any more, haven't for years. I prefer Linux. I know python would work. Then I get this message from a user on Craftree.

    It would seem I had mentioned using AutoCAD to work out some problems with a tatting pattern and this person saw that. On Craftree, that is Savarosa. Her name is Melinda Kiss. She was developing the program and wanted "an engineer's" view of the program. I became one of the testers for TattingCAD.

The program was already at a fairly advanced stage, meaning I don't have to write from scratch in python. I was given a copy to try out. I did what testers do, play with it, try to make it mess up, try things that are difficult, that sort of stuff. I made suggestions and corrections and now we have a pretty nice program with which to design tatting.  It runs on Windows, Linux, Mac and Android. 

 

AND IT IS FREE!!!

To get it, there is a link on the right side of the page. Click it and go to her site. There is a link to the downloads on Github on that page. Get it. Try it. Use it. The help file is printable and she has a lot of documentation on her website. And you cannot beat the price. 

 

Renulek 2017 Spring Napkin Round 10

     Round 10 of the Renulek's 2017 Spring Napkin is now history, sort of. The transition from round to round usually is either cut and tie, then start new round with a ring somewhere, or, when I can, use a split chain and/or split ring to finish and move to the next round. This one was easy. I started with the ring that has a join to a previous ring. When I come back around, I join to that ring and immediately chain into the next ring. What could be easier? The next round is similar to the previous round so it is almost a spiral. Almost. Anyway, 3 rounds to go. I am now on round 11 of 13. 

Out Of My System - For A Bit.

     This is a set of Wave earrings in the colors of the University of South Carolina. Some days ago, I made a set of purple and orange for Clemson University. The in-state rivalry is between these two schools. There is even a store here called Rivals. It sells fan items for both schools. I really wondered how this pair would turn out. The black thread and the garnet beads are both dark. I hope they will be visible in the light. Now, back to round 10 on the Renulek 2017 Spring Napkin. I've had my break.

Quick Tip!

     While working on a pair of Wave Earrings,  I kept fighting the pearl that is used in the center. I had my beads strung and wound on the bobbin, but the pearl and one bead I need for the second ring will not fit through my shuttle. I had to find another way to handle this because they kept sliding down to where I was working on the first ring and getting in the way. 

    I ordered a pack of bead clamps from Amazon. A small one is shown in the picture. The problem with that is the handles get tangled up too easily.

    Then I had the idea of a split ring from my findings box. A small one can be slid onto the thread, keeping the pearl in place and out of the way. It does not have handles and slips easily through the thread loops as I tat. That solved the problem.

Clemson Fans?

 

I am stuck in wave earring mode, I think. After making a doily and a half, I really do like the chance to finish something quickly. I decided to make a set in purple and orange for a Clemson fan. Those are Clemson colors, of course. It took me a bit of searching to find the bead for the middle, but I like the ones I found. I think they came out pretty nice. Now I am starting another set by request. I will post that in a day or two. They only take about an hour to tat one. A set in 2 hours.

Another Pair of Waves

 

    I went to get a haircut this morning. I got talking to the lady that was cutting my hair. She had never heard of tatting, so I showed her some of my pictures of things I have made. When she saw the earrings, she got excited. I asked her what color she liked. Dark purple and gold. I went home and made them for her. It only takes a couple hours. When I delivered them, she was busy cutting someone's hair so I just handed them to her and left. I never said a word. She was ecstatic. I bet she didn't think I would make them. Hehe.

    It doesn't hurt to be nice to people. And I needed a break from the doily. 

Round 9 Done

 

 

    It took a while, but I finally got round 9 done on Renulek's 2017 Spring Napkin. There are 3888 double stitches in this round. I don't work on it as diligently as things in the past anymore.

    I am still getting over that surgery and trying to get the house in order, the yard cleaned up and so on. If I go at working for very long, I start to hurt. I am told it will take a year or so for it to stop. I hope not. I need to get the leaves raked up and bagged. I can finally walk around the block, but it hurts my chest. I am also ADD. I do something 30 minutes and lose interest.

    So, there are 4 more rounds to go. This is for Ann, at my doctor's office. I have an appointment coming up this week, but I won't be done. I should be able to give it to her in July. Actually, if I get done sooner, I will just take it up to her office and give it to her.

    I have also decided that my next one will be Renulek's 2026 Spring Napkin. I already bought the pattern and I really like it. 20 rounds, about 24" (60 cm.) diameter. But I have to finish this one first. And, yes, I have bought all her Spring Napkin patterns. I like to support designers.

Round 8 Finished.

     Round 8 of 13 for Renulek's 2017 Spring Napkin is done. Slower than I expected, but I got it done last night. I thought it would be faster. It is only make 2 rings, then a chain, then 2 rings, then a chain, over and over. 48 of them is really quite a bit. There were only 1536 stitches. But now I am going to round 9. There are only 3888 stitches in that round. I have to pick up the pace. I keep letting things like housework and cooking get in the way.

    To be quite honest, I have started another doily. I like the one on the cover of a book by Hy-oon Lee. It is made in medallions. I have started on that, but I need 61 medallions for the center, then there are edge rounds to bring it all together. I will post photos of that later, after I get a few more of the medallions made. 

Renulek 2017 Round 7 Done

     Now I have round 7 done on the Renulek's 2017 Spring Napkin. It was not a bad round at all and it felt like I was finishing quickly. 

    Once again I used the gauge, even though there are only 2 picots on the rings on the round. This is the first time, however, that I ever used a gauge on the "back" side of a split ring. I little fiddly, but I got it. And once again the round lends itself quite well to using a split chain and split ring to transition to the next round. Easy peasy. Now for round 8.

    On another note, Iris Niebach has a couple more books out. Yeah, I ordered them. So far I have everything from her. I like her work so I collect them. Actually I collect tatting books. These will make my collection count 360 books. What am I going to do with them if I drop dead? I hope someone will get them that can use them, And WILL use them, not just sitting on a dusty old shelf in some library.