Collecting Wisdom

Working on Renulek’s Wiosna Doily 2015

One can learn so much when one comes across the right people, the right places, the right attitudes ! One stores little snippets somewhere in the grey niches, and at times they pop up like AHA moments .

(click on coloured, bold links for source)

I started Renulek’s Wiosna (Spring) Doily 2015 a few days back. And am finding myself applying tweaks & techniques that I read of / learned along the way. A lot of it was garnered from the tatting angels at InTatters (now Craftree), some from actually tatting patterns shared by experienced designers, some from blogs (posts & comments), and of course the numerous tutorials that have been shared.  I am truly grateful for all the combined & cumulative wisdom.

·        Flat Rings :

Adding a 2^nd half stitch before closing rings helps them lay flat. (InTatters).

I now do this almost on a regular basis.

·        2 shuttles :

I am getting into the habit of using 2 shuttles, whether the pattern calls for it or not. It is much neater, convenient, & it opens up numerous options. One can switch shuttles when required (instead of making SLTs) . And one does not need to buy 2 balls of same thread !

Used this is even in round 3 & was happy ! Learned my lesson during last year’s Chrysanthemum Doily, where my natural tendency was to go with shuttle & ball wherever possible.

·        Hiding ends, customized :

As detailed in the post on Hiding ends sans sewing, I learned a few techniques. However, there was overwhelming opinion in favour of sewing down the ends. One cannot ignore combined wisdom ! Hence, although I still used MTT, Frivole’s hiding ends in the last chain, SSSR, etc., (because they eliminated that eye-sore Knot!), I also sewed in the end(s) to be safe, using Jon’s instructions on sewing.

I am happy with the combo & now have many options to choose from; and I Did use different methods in different rounds – Customized treatment, shall we say ?!

hiding ends - SSSR, sewing,  & adding tiny stabilizing picots

·        Tiny Picot to stabilize elements :

The 5-ring flowers in Round 5 were fiddly. My tatting experience with Jane Eborall’s TIAS 2015 & her Chicken Wing Coaster came to mind. I had been impressed by her use of a teeny tiny picot to anchor adjoining elements. Thought to give it a try here.

It Worked ! See how flat the flower lies, and it will be much easier to join the next round, even if I don’t iron it.

Working 2 rounds simultaneously

 ·        Hiding ends with SSSR :

Working the flowers separately, gave me the added advantage of being able to easily use SSSR to finish off the flowers. 

(I remember seeing a tut long time back, but don’t remember exactly who wrote that post …. She had used SSSRs to hide ends in jewelery tatting. Will add link when I find it)

'Lengthening' Thread functionality

·        ‘Lengthening’ the functionality of thread :

Joining a length of extension thread to tail end. Many a times you Know that there is enough thread to complete the next element, before reloading shuttle. But it is so difficult to handle & manoeuvre that short length that I always ended up cutting it off. Recently I recalled another tip from InTatters. Attach a piece of scrap thread to the end so that one has ample length to wrap around & work ! I joined this extension (tan thread in pic) using a weaver’s knot , thus giving me plenty of working & wrapping length !

In photo below, one can see the very very short tail left !

SCMR instead of normal ring to use up last length of thread

·        SCMR instead of normal ring !

I could see that there was enough thread to complete that single ring. But not possible to work a Normal ring. So, SCMR to the rescue ! Used the last length (with extension) as a chain thread, making a mock ring with Sh1 thread.

Abbreviations Used (in order of appearance) :

SLT : shoe lace trick

MTT : magic thread trick / magic loop

SSSR : single shuttle split ring

SCMR: self closing mock ring

Sh1 : shuttle #1

   

Isn’t it nice that we don’t have to reinvent the wheel ?!

All solutions are already floating around

– simply collect, collate, combine, cumulate –

and wait for them to waft into our conscious from the mental storage pool! 

Related Posts : Wiosna Rounds 6-7

Wiosna Rounds 8-9