In the dark of night , quo vadis ?!

(this post has two parts - scroll down for a preface to a soon-to-be-posted series)

Well, no, I wasn't tatting in the dark, but the light in my brain/mind was surely switched off! How else can this be explained, how else can it be rationalised ?! This is the third snowflake in a row that has a fraternal twin !!!

Reflected Nights

Pattern : Eighteenth Day of December Snowflake

Designer : Lene Björn

Book : 24 Snowflakes in Tatting

For : 2016 Snowflake Challenge on Craftree

So happy was I to have finished one WIP, and so eager was I to strike it off this list. Sat down to write the post and while referring to the book, a glaring mistake dawned on me!

True, I was tatting this in very short, interrupted spells – a ring here, another there.

True, I was getting a bit uncomfortable following the sequence.

True, I had been having trouble with the inner trefoil cluster - kept wondering why there was so much overlap.  Cross-checked not once, not twice, but almost every time ! Yet no light shone through :-( and I put it down to the joining picots being too small.

Sigh, nothing to it but tat again. There's a saying in Hindi idiom that fits in perfectly. It basically bemoans the fact that at a time when one is totally broke (financially), the dough (flour/food) too gets ruined. In my case, I was ‘broke’ for Time.  

Might as well make the most of it & bring in a bit of change. But first things first ….

Materials used : 2 shuttles; size 40 Anchor cotton (blue-4054-00131, lavender-4054-078); picot gauge (⅛^th inch vertically or ¼^th inch horizontally).

Techniques I used : directional tatting (RODS – reverse order double stitch), rings, split rings (SR), double core single shuttle split ring (SSSR), turn work (TW), switch shuttle (SS)

The Mistaken One !

As others have noticed, it is simpler to start with Ring 2, then Ring 1 (both normal rings), & continue thereof, all tatted in one pass, from the front side.

The inner round is worked clockwise while the outer counterclockwise.

To tell you the truth, I had started this snowflake in green & cream ! And I took a printout of the pattern in order to play with colour placement. The different rings (normal, SR, double core SSSR) were also marked on the sheet. Since I kept making mistakes, & unknotting, retro-tatting, this was boxed & I picked out 2 different colours more in keeping with my darkening mood.

I was working with 2 colours, hence all 6 innermost rings are SRs.

To climb out to outer round, 2 rings were worked as double core SSSRs, enabling me to hide (encapsulate) the lavender & get all-blue rings.

To work the rings at the tips, TW, SS, RODS ring, TW, SS & continue.

Shuttle 1 with blue thread  consumed 1 full bobbin load ; Shuttle 2 with lavender used up only half a bobbin.
Measures : 3½” 

The Un-Mistaken One !

Measures : 3¼” 
Switched colours to see effect.

Tatted outer round in clockwise direction.  Yay, worked really well !!!! The tatting went much faster & smoother. Mental grasp was easier, too.

Used the picot gauge horizontally (parallel to the core thread). Again, worked much better than vertical, especially since the thread was not easily visible.  When I first did it for the Elizabeth medallion, it didn't appeal much! Goes to show that one can always reset one’s comfort zone. Perhaps when working with finer thread, it is advisable to use the gauge horizontally ? What is your experience ?

TIP : One interesting observation : In first snowflake, when tatting went counterclockwise, the outer ring at tip had to be worked in RODS ; in this piece, where tatting was in clockwise direction, the ring at inner end had to be worked in RODS.

Both snowflakes together …. love the effect ! In above pic they are placed on a chikankari saree with mukesh work. Below, the correct version is placed above the 'adapted' one.

Related Post : double core SSSR

Quo vadis ?!

This Way or Tat - Preface

For the above two snowflake repeats, I deliberately chose to tat in a different direction. (And it threw up interesting ‘changes’ when combined with directional tatting, as pointed out in the TIP). I had experienced the same discomfort when tatting the Melt into Spring Snowflake in counterclockwise direction as the diagram called for.After snipping and re-starting in clockwise direction, the tatting went very smoothly.

But have you ever faced this dilemma where you Think you are going to be tatting a row/round in one direction, but turns out it wants to go in the opposite direction ?!

I have had this encounter many a time, in projects that have multiple rounds, irrespective of whether I was tatting with regular double stitches throughout or with directional tatting; whether I was cutting off the thread after a round or climbing out. All four of my Renulek’s doilies are witness to this dilemma and I have detailed my direction enigma for most of them.

Always wondered why, but it was my Scarlet O’Hara moment ‘hmm, I’ll think about it tomorrow’! Well, many tomorrows came but no thinking ensued. After all, an experienced tatter can easily make the shift - much easier to do for a simple symmetric pattern, but can be done nevertheless. 

That tomorrow finally arrived when a question was forwarded and I had to sit down and really think about it. 

Started with a few illustrative diagrams, it soon stretched to a series of diagram sets detailing situations and options. It even led to the discovery of some common rules/observations and the factors that affect the outcome.

But before I start with the 'This Way or Tat' series, the following scenarios might strike a chord somewhere?

1. Whatever you are tatting right now, which direction is your tatting going ? Seems like a simple question, but there are 2 answers/parts to it. I’ll let you figure it out for now.
2. Are you working directional tatting (frontside/backside with reverse order of double stitch) or simple double stitches all through? Do you think the former would make a difference to the direction of progression?
3. Do you sometimes use direct tatting (reverse or unflipped or wrapped stitches as when working the split ring)? Have you noticed any difference in direction?
4. Has it happened that the pattern/diagram calls for you to take a certain direction, but you find yourself tatting in the opposite – either deliberately or accidentally ?
5. Have you faced the same dilemma when you climb out of one row/round to the next using a split ring or split chain? You thought you’d be going this way, but the shuttles are wrongly positioned?
6. In multiple row/round patterns, how would two colours be positioned for next round after we climb out with a split ring or split chain?
7. Similarly when working with colours in regular tatting. Have you wondered how to get the right colour in the right position/element ? There are some that flow naturally in a certain direction but in others we use a SLT. Are there other techniques or tweaks that could accomplish the same? How to decide what to employ and when?
8. Would you much rather work from the front? How will the traditional pattern behave and how would we apply our choice?
9. Do you sometimes wish the pattern diagram had given some indication of the direction in which to go?

If you think these questions deserve answers, and the answers interest you, look no further. I will start posting soon, along with practice patterns for all who are interested. The first post will be an introduction to the document with a quick practice pattern where the tatter can choose her/his own path since I will provide only the stitch count with no other instructions.

Are you up for the challenge ? Do I hear a resounding YES ?

happy tatting always :-)

UPDATE (Oct 8) : INTRODUCTION pdf with exercise posted here
Set I - RINGS ONLY post with pdf
Left-handed tatting by Eliz Davis