Tatting A Doily - II

Renulek’s 2014 Spring Napkin/Doily Tat-along : 

My Experiences & Learnings 

Renulek started posting the her pattern for the 2014 Spring Napkin/doily from February 10 onward. I got to know of it a few days later. After my very first fun tat-along experience with Jane's 2014 TIAS ( Learning Is Fun &  Learning Was Fun), I was very eager to join along in this beautiful pattern.  
( For pictures of Each round, check out my previous post )

My 'Chrysanthemum' version of Renulek 2014 Spring Doily Rounds 1-8

Threads Used :

Anchor Mercerized Crochet Cotton Size 20 in the following shades ---

Brown (Br) : 0355 

Yellow (Ylw) : 0293

Peach (Pch) : 0302

Green (Gr) : 0241

Dark Green (Dk Gr) :  0245

My experience, tabulated : 

I've tabulated each round (linked to respective pattern on Renulek's site) with details & remarks. This will be a concise, ready-reference for the future.

Rnd	Sh1	Ball	Sh2	Width	Remarks / Tips / Lessons learned
Rnd 1	Br	Ylw	---	2.5’	I like the brown blips showing as radiating spokes (pistil parts?) Wish picots were longer still.
Rnd 2	Br	Pch	---	5’	In retrospect, could’ve used Brown Only for the single larger ring & peach around. But possible only if 2 shuttles were used. Wish I could’ve made the picots longer.
Rnd 3	Pch	---	Br	7.5’	Partially through the round, I finally figured out how to hide the blips. Totally blip-free from then on, using the SLT !
Rnd 4	Ylw	Gr	---	8.5’	Most unsatisfactory Rnd. Since I wanted all rings yellow (leaves) & chain green (vine/stem), I encountered a floppy central ring & lots of SLTs !
Rnd 5	Ylw	Gr	---	9.5’	If planned ahead, I could’ve done Rnds 4 & 5 in One Pass. Lesson learned.
Rnd 6	Dk Gr	---	Dk Gr	11’	Started with Brown but it looked out of place; hence cut it off & ‘graded’ the transition with Dark Green. Easiest round with no SLTs, etc.
Rnd 7	Br	---	Br	13’	Another easy round using 2 shuttles.
Rnd 8	Pch	---	Br	16.5’	A bit cumbersome round. Needed careful attention but still missed a couple of picot-joins & twisted chain in one place. Wanted more petalled -effect hence peach used in more elements. Also required ironing after finish.
Pattern continues : Rnd 9 , Rnd 10 , Rnd 11 , Rnd 12 , Rnd 13 (last round)

This was a thoroughly enjoyable & exciting project. I enjoyed tatting along with so many other InTatters members. Each used their own imagination & color combinations to create beautifully unique pieces from the Same Pattern !!!

It was a learning experience too. I figured out how to avoid color blips , became accustomed to the SLTs , frontside/backside tatting.

I thought it was just me, but many tatters faced problems with Round 4 if they wanted to make all the rings in one color, as discussed in this InTatters thread (pages 21-23) ! This is one round that works best & most easily when either using only one color, or having the rings in 2 colors.

Wish I could’ve made picots in the peach ‘petals’ even longer. I hit some kind of mental block  or finger / tatting plateau when it came to picot lengths. I managed to overcome this only slightly in Round 8.

In Round 8 , I started in the wrong direction. This came as an opportunity to try out frontside/backside tatting for the chains. It worked fine, but I could’ve avoided the added cumbersomeness & complexity that required increased monitoring.

TIP : For relative beginners, it is best to go the traditional way by using Only one color throughout or atleast one color per round. It will be much easier. 
And if one wonders how many colors one can use, & what better example than Frivole's gorgeous & bold statement !!!

Related Posts : Staring the Spring Doily