Lessons Learned from Jane’s TIAS 2014

I wrote about starting my Jane's TIAS 2014 journey in a previous post where I also gave reasons on how & why it was Fun learning from a Tat It And See project ! I included Days 1-8 there. Here are the rest of the photos - images from Days 9-16, along with some jottings about the techniques I learned along the way. At the end, I've listed a few links to tutorials that came in handy.

CTM - Continuous Thread Method

Flowers in an open box !

I got the lengths right Only once ;-/ . I had a tendency to use slightly longer thread than that called for, in fear that the exact measurement Might prove short for me.

Anyways, longer is better than shorter ….

How to make SRs - Split Rings

Oh, Jane gave us huge practice with SRs ! And all fear of SRs vanished.

The main & probably Only point to remember is : Keep the core thread Taut when working the second half of SR. If thread remains taut, the stitches will Automatically remain Unflipped !

More than just learning this technique, I gradually came to see
how they’ve been applied, how & where they can be used,
how to avoid tie & cuts after each round/row, & so on.
The possibilities are endless !
And now I go about de-constructing all patterns much more easily
than I could previously.

How to join the 2nd half of SR

This wasn’t very difficult once I got to managing how to handle the SR. After all, the concept is essentially the same. It is fun to kind of 'hear/feel' the stitch go "pop", thus confirming that it is now free to slide over the core thread.

Initially, I had to check each time to confirm that the core thread moved freely, but soon this check was not required.

SCMR – Self Closing Mock Ring

Another first for me. I had huge fun doing this. Pretty simple actually. I noticed that I didn’t really need to attach a pin/clip or hold the loop with my little finger – once I’d made the first ds carefully, I could leave the loop ‘hanging’and continue with the mock ring without fear of the loop closing !
Piece of cake this one !

Could make a broad border !

CWJ – Catherine Wheel Join

Now this was tricky at first. Had to unravel many times. Even when I got it right, it was like a stroke of luck, without any clue as to how it really turned out fine. That was when I decided to start a 2^nd piece alongside so that I could practice more.

After a few trials, I understood the concept & then it was easier &
I got along without constant referencing to diagrams.

Unfortunately, after a few weeks, I now have to refer
back to the diagrams again.

LJ – Lock Join

This is nothing to write home about. Very easy. I’d been doing this for ages without knowing that it had a ‘name’.

How to avoid Color Blips

Okay, I’d never been bothered about color blips before.
But as I completed the last part (mast), the blips
glared out accusingly ! However, there were also some blip-free joins. That got me thinking & experimenting … and I discovered (too late to save my TIAS pieces) that it was very much possible to avoid all blips !!! I will share my simple technique in a subsequent post, along with pictures.