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.

Lately ... Doily Update

    I have been working on it. The Doily. Serweta 1. I am almost half way around round 10. Round 10 is not hard but it is a little floppy. It only connects at two points on each repetition so I a working "in the air" a lot. It is not bad, though. I have put a tape across so you can get an idea of how big it is. There will be one more round after this one. It should end up under 11".

  

    Spring is starting to rear its head around here. The trees are starting to bud and of course, the grass is growing. Tuesday I decided to cut the grass. I did the neighbor's yard too. Remember, I was in the hospital last month. He helped me out with things during those days, so I returned the favor. Funny thing was, though, that when I ran the mower (I have a rider mower) by his mailbox it bumped it slightly. Really. Very slight bump. And his mailbox fell apart. Off the post. So I built him a new post and put a new box on it. He really, really needed it. Even the mailman said so. I put it in the hole and concreted it. Should last him until he retires.It doesn't look level, but the level I used says it is. The photo looks off. The red post is actually tilted to the left.

    I did go back later that day and put the new mailbox on it. Now you know why I don't tat 24/7.

Serweta 1 Round 9 Done

    Finally. At last. I thought I had to make 24 of the motifs for this round. No, it was 25! I finally have them done. It took a little while because of things going on. I was in the hospital for 4 days. I demonstrated tatting to all the nurses! Yes, this doily. I did several of the motifs while I was there. I have been home a couple weeks now and finally got them done this morning.

 

    The doily measures 9" across at this point. I have 2 more rounds to go. I don't think those will take nearly as long. Making the motifs meant I had to join each separately. That also meant 50 tails to sew in. It wasn't really that bad. You make one, sew the 2 ends. Make another, sew the 2 ends. I will recommend one thing, though. Most of the motifs I started with the first 2 clover sections, then joined the 3rd, 4th and 5th to the doily.  For the last one, I started with what was the 2nd, or outermost, clover, then joined the next 4. Why? Because it was easier to to the last join. The last join on all of them is a folded join. This one was easy because that clover was not attached to the rest of the doily, so to speak. It made it simple.

    Why was I in the hospital? Something I never heard of called cellulitis. They said it is a staph infection. I know it spread up my leg fast. I was on antibiotic IV for 4 days then home with antibiotic. I have another week to take them, but the staph is gone. It just left a big place on my leg that was a blister, so to keep it from getting infected while it heals, more pills. Oh, well. Orders are keep the leg elevated. Guess what I am doing in the recliner!