dilly dally doily

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Well, not dilly dally in the literal sense, more in the lack of frequency and smoothness sense. Perhaps some fogginess crept in besides general fatigue....

I can't remember when exactly I started tatting it - perhaps 2 months back? Remember Erika's doily I made for my hair bun net? https://tipsaroundthehome.blogspot.com/2022/06/vanity-takes-fall.html

It didn't work out for the purpose. My hair thinned down (thank you meds); the doily was not only large, but I somehow no longer liked the thread thickness. It felt bulky against my smaller bun. Hence it continues to sit prettily on my dining table.

Yet, I still needed one in red/maroon and chose Daniela Mendola's Tatting sharing MIX - http://danielamendola.blogspot.com/2020/06/tatting-sharing-mix-round-9.html

And you wouldn't believe the amount of trouble it gave me especially in the initial rounds, through no fault of the designer.

Started with Lizbeth size 80, but kept making mistakes. Thread is too tiny to keep un-tatting. 

Switched to Anchor size 40.

I behaved like a novice in Round 1!!! Kept forgetting to work the ring as a SCMR, and kept having to undo the initial stitches. I could've worked it as ring-on-ring, but ....

Then the thread started to break and have now labeled the ball as unsuitable for tatting. It will be interesting to see whether keeping the ball in the freezer will help (I came across this tip somewhere)  

But I was so adamant to see it through that I persevered. 

It spoiled my future colour composition; at one stage I couldn't find the ball I wanted and had to choose another shade; but I'm happy with the way it finally turned out.. 

There were more heartaches along the way which I don't even remember now. Sometimes I could only manage a single ring; some rounds needed close attention to the count; the going was slow and unsteady. Didn't even feel like taking pics after each round, despite the beautiful design.

I took this pic because it needed to be blocked after round 3.

It measures a tad over 7 inches at the ring-to-ring tips.

These are only 6 of the 9 rounds. If only the size 80 had worked out, all 9 rounds could've been accommodated and it would've looked so much better.

All's well that ends well and it is the beauty and utility that will remain in front (and back ;-P) of me. The journey is already a dim memory. 

Many thanks to Daniela for sharing such beautiful patterns!

joy of succumbing

Pin It now! The joy of succumbing to temptation - a temptation resisted for years! Well, a little guilt colours the joy, but the thread colours brush it aside!

This is what arrived on Sunday. Opening the carton and this is only the top of 2 layers, with a total of 52 balls of thread!!!

A gift from Madhur Dadlani of the Unending Doily fame - a master tatter and admin of an Indian whatsapp tatting group (of which Usha Shah is also an admin).

Madhur has been gifting threads to tatters for years and offered to send me several times. My refusals finally wore out and this time I succumbed because several of the shades/variegates are not for sale.

These are 16 balls of size 40 and 2 metallic in size 20 on the right. 

Love the variegates! And there's a grey too!

And these are the remaining in size 20.

Brands range from Red Rose to Gopal.

I still haven't tatted from this stash, but my first impressions -

1. There is no sheen to the threads - similar to Anchor threads which have lost their Egyptian cotton sheen.
2. The size 20 is thinner than the current size 20 from Anchor. This is a huge plus because the Anchor 20 now is more like Lizbeth size 10.
3. I like the feel of the threads - they appear soft.

More observations after my trials ....

My Unending or Scrappy Doily adorns my dining table and is visible in several recent pics.

Sorting and storing took up half a day but I managed to fit everything in clear boxes. But the size 20s,  got separated and are now lodged in 2 boxes - reds and yellows in one box and the rest in the original large box.

Thank you so very much, dearest Madhur! 💖 Hope I can do justice to the shades.

Hat's off to India Post, too.

palm or plant - help

Pin It now! I'm in a quandary ... can't see the wood for the trees kind of..... and would appreciate your input.

If you remember (https://tipsaroundthehome.blogspot.com/2022/09/idea-in-progress.html ), I had extracted and adapted the pea pod motif from Endrucks' pattern #25 to make fronds for a palm tree. I also had most of the layout in my head, barring the minute details.

I have 6 fronds and the question is whether I should continue with the Palm Tree idea or switch to a Snake Plant?

PALM  TREE?

or

SNAKE  PLANT ?

Please help me decide. At this stage hubby thinks it looks like a snake plant, and I agree with him. However going ahead I see the palm tree take shape, too.

Over 10 days back I had shared this collage in our FB group -

The 4th frond (below) looks like a banana, doesn't it? Or an orange slice. Or when arranged together, it could well shape into a pumpkin! 

Inspired by this, one of our members has tatted a pair of sweet peas and carrots which will be shared here once the event is over.

Stephanie W really got the creative juices flowing with her harvest theme idea! Thank you 💕

Check out the game, if you wish to play - https://tipsaroundthehome.blogspot.com/2022/09/game-of-extraction.html