Wednesday, 1 May 2019

teach me to count

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With shuttle in one hand and thread in the other (and toes curled in under me) how can I count on my fingers? Can you? No wonder I made mistakes... I need tutoring!

A while back I stumbled on to Liisa Maarit’s blog - Handmade by Liisa showcasing some beautiful lace along with pictorials and a few patterns.
I really liked her ‘rescued’ circular motif. So how many repeats can you count here? 9, right? Hmmm, that's 1 extra repeat extra! Irrespective, it turned out fine and lay flat.
Just over 5½ cms diameter in pearl cotton size 8 (white, & green  00225).
TIP : One can use Catherine Wheel Join in the 3rd round for a more perfect circle. 
Here, I went with lock join followed by half stitch for a bit of floral arching.

In order to give it company I hunted through my books for a motif to go along and Lindsay Rogers' Repetition mat (with 9 repeats) in 'Mastering Tatting' appealed.
Worked in size 40 (shade 00368).
And guess what?? Yup, counting error Again. There are supposed to be 2 chains between clovers and I made one! So how many repeats did I need to complete the circle – 30!!!
The mistake led to some design-learning ...
DESIGN TIP :  Do you see how the little rings rise above?
If the rings were linked to each other through tiny picots close to the base (stabilising picots), it would’ve led to squishing and cupping. But since each ring was ‘free’ at the base, the little rings lifted above that constricting space. Textural effect!
I like the texture created. With beads, it could make a beautiful necklace! Looks nice as a collar, too.

Since it was meant to be a short round, I left the thread attached to ball. But shuttle ran out at 25th repeat. There was quite some length left, but not enough for a true ring.
TIP : So I used a slight variation of adding new thread within ring. I started SCMR with new shuttle thread acting as core, and old tail for stitches. The entire ring was done with the old tail. Then the tail ends were hidden in next 2 elements.

I now have to design/adapt rounds inside and out to make a snood. Sigh, and here I was going for something simple....

Many thanks to Liisa Maarit and apologies to Lyndsay Rogers

14 comments:

  1. Ah, I know the perils of the miscount, especially when you don’t notice. But you have certainly done a good save here.

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    1. The save is pure luck, Jane ;-P Still, I'm happy.

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  2. Both projects look fabulous!!! :)

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  3. I could so see this happening to me! Right down to trying to do something simple...😂 Your snood will be lovely though and I'd like to see it when completed.

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    1. Not my first, and certainly not my last time, Emily ;-P
      I'm trying to work Lindsay's original rounds for the outside. Let's see how it works out - it wouldn't matter if there is a bit of ruffling. Will need to design the inner ones, though.

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  4. I should post how many time I can't count even to ten 🙂 I think we just get caught up in the tatting. It's like the saying "can't see the forest through the trees"

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    1. Good point, Carollyn 🌹 And sometimes our eye is on the television 😀😄😄😄

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    2. Mine are nearly always on the television part of the time. I like to catch up on my shows while I tat. Or watch a movie.

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    3. Welcome to the land of tele-tatters, Grace ;-D

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  5. Well, musicians have an excuse for counting wrong. We can only count accurately to 4. Sometimes even 3 for waltzes.... ROFL.... I know, not very funny, but that's my story and I'm stickin' to it!

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    1. Come to my arms, dear Mel 😃😄 We still manage somehow, don't we 💗

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  6. I can not imagine myself that I could do such beautiful things. Congratulations!

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    1. Matter of time and practical learning, Edna! You will get there soon :-))

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