joy of succumbing

The joy of succumbing to temptation - a temptation resisted for years! Well, a little guilt colours the joy, but the thread colours brush it aside!

This is what arrived on Sunday. Opening the carton and this is only the top of 2 layers, with a total of 52 balls of thread!!!

A gift from Madhur Dadlani of the Unending Doily fame - a master tatter and admin of an Indian whatsapp tatting group (of which Usha Shah is also an admin).

Madhur has been gifting threads to tatters for years and offered to send me several times. My refusals finally wore out and this time I succumbed because several of the shades/variegates are not for sale.

These are 16 balls of size 40 and 2 metallic in size 20 on the right. 

Love the variegates! And there's a grey too!

And these are the remaining in size 20.

Brands range from Red Rose to Gopal.

I still haven't tatted from this stash, but my first impressions -

1. There is no sheen to the threads - similar to Anchor threads which have lost their Egyptian cotton sheen.
2. The size 20 is thinner than the current size 20 from Anchor. This is a huge plus because the Anchor 20 now is more like Lizbeth size 10.
3. I like the feel of the threads - they appear soft.

More observations after my trials ....

My Unending or Scrappy Doily adorns my dining table and is visible in several recent pics.

Sorting and storing took up half a day but I managed to fit everything in clear boxes. But the size 20s,  got separated and are now lodged in 2 boxes - reds and yellows in one box and the rest in the original large box.

Thank you so very much, dearest Madhur! 💖 Hope I can do justice to the shades.

Hat's off to India Post, too.