sliding in ...
I discovered this when working the Angel Choir doily in size 80. The joining picots were extremely tiny - mere stubs. Often it was difficult to insert even a fine hook through such a tiny space. However when I inserted the hook from behind/backside (in order to make a down join), it went in smoothly! Hmmm...
I believe the reason lies in how threads lie. The close-up of backside of picot (pic above) shows that the adjoining stitches are mere vertical columns, whereas the picot when seen from front shows 2 horizontal bars on either side (pic below).I discovered this when working the Angel Choir doily in size 80. The joining picots were extremely tiny - mere stubs. Often it was difficult to insert even a fine hook through such a tiny space. However when I inserted the hook from behind/backside (in order to make a down join), it went in smoothly! Hmmm...
These horizontal bars create more friction thus making it difficult for the hook to slide in. There is not as much friction from behind and the vertical threads make way easily to accommodate the hook.
Would you agree?
Even if I was not making a down join, I inserted the hook from backside... this 'opens up' the picot space and the hook can then be inserted from the front.
Try it if you remember, and let me know if it works for you.
Isn't it annoying when we find a slab or uneven thread in the middle of our tatting? And then one has to make forced decisions, snips, ugliness, thread ends to hide, whatever!
When we load our shuttles, whether winding the thread around shuttle or walking shuttle over the thread, it is a good idea to let the thread slide gently between finger and thumb so that we can catch any slub or thread deformity in time and take timely decisions.
I've never used a machine to wind thread, but if some of you have, can you slide the thread between fingers before it loads on the bobbin/shuttle? Or is there any other way to catch the culprits beforehand? How do you manage?
Hope these little tips are useful. Do you have a quick tip to share?
But before sliding away, would you like to see some magic or maybe it's an optical illusion?!
sliding in some magic...
Well, I have absolutely no idea how this came about but take a dekko ...
All 3 screenshots were taken 3 days back at the same time. Look at the thumbnail encircled in red. It shows my 2 quick tips post in the feed of my (above), Jane McLellan, and Ninetta's blog!
The above thumbnail is of the 1st pic from my post - I had made it smaller to accommodate 3 in a row.
Spot the difference?😵
The ones in these other blogs show an image of the 4th pic from same post!
How'd it happen - any theories/solutions? It would be fun to replicate, eh bloggers 😄
Mr Blogger was checking how alert you are! I think the issue with putting the hook into the joining picot would happen more with size 80 thread? Good tip to overcome the problem.
ReplyDeleteRight on both counts, dearest Jane 😁😍 Didn't encounter the issue till I made those tiny picots in size 80 😉
DeleteI have used the tip of putting opening the picot from the back many times because I couldn't go through the front until I make the picot opening a bit larger. ;) Guess I got the tip before you posted it. ;)
ReplyDeleteOr did the mental telepathy from you to me, dear Sue 😉😍 I'm certainly glad to read it works 👌
DeleteI also open up picots from the backside if they are too small or if i need to join but have no picot.
ReplyDeleteLuckily most of the thread i use now doesn't have kinks in it, but the older Romanian thread is very uneven. I just adjust the tension.
Hmm, regarding the images being mismatched, yours is from your popular posts, which takes the content directly from your blog posts and seems to always show the first image (it can also show the first few words). The ones on other blogs are from their featured blogs lists, which rely on an RSS feed parser, which might think other images are worth showing... That is my best hunch, sorry for the long comment.
Lavi, firstly thanks for sharing your input on the tips - always helps when tatters share and pool their info 💕
DeleteAstute observation and explanation re. the pics!!! It makes logical sense - thanks you once again for enlightening me - I am really quite tech-illiterate and get by trial and error.💖😍💖
And please do not apologise for long comment - tatting and chatting go hand-in-hand 😁😜
I have always fiddled with my crochet hook when making joins at VSP points. And I didn't even realize it! When I commented on your thought, one of my local tatting friends said that they had picked that up watching me. Who knew!!
ReplyDeleteAs for the posts and pictures, the coding for these programs is so complicated that it doesn't surprise me the pictures are treated differently. I saw a photo of a VW bug recently with the license plate: FEATURE which was explained to me that programmers claim a "bug" is a "feature" don't you know. I wonder if I can claim that in tatting?
How wonderful, Mel - you never know who you will inspire, how and when!💕 A strong case to always be good, huh 😃
DeleteVery interesting .... so I guess we can consider the slub as a feature, too. Just like Lavi did! We shouldn't be too afraid of embracing oddities 😇