hits and misses

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Early last year I had bought variegated thread online, and though the colours were gorgeous & thread good to tat with, it turned out to be thicker than even size 10 – probably a size 7 or 3? Nevertheless, I was impatient to tat with it, having used only one of the 5 variegation thus far. Both coasters were tatted in 2015 & some parts of the post may appear dated due to my subsequent learning. I have given away all my circular coasters (tatted up until July 2016), so I don’t have exact measurements or photos after blocking.

Melt into Spring Snowflake * ‘coaster’

Marilee Rockley 

Started : 15 Feb 2015

Challenges come in many forms, when/where least expected !

I was so happy when Marilee posted & shared her latest Melt Into Spring Snowflake pattern here. Daisy Picot was on my to-learn list. So the snowflake came at just the right time. Also, since it is a 6-point pattern, it could work well with the Chicken Wing Coaster I had recently made. So off I went & printed it out.

Materials : Bliss (India) variegated thread (no colourway, dye details or size mentioned). Probably a size 7 or 3.

South Maid Mercer Cotton (USA). Art. D-54, White. Size 10.

2 shuttles

Techniques : directional tatting, daisy picot, thrown rings (Josephine knots/rings)

Now, one would expect all the challenge & difficulty to lie in the daisy picot round. But that went off quite nicely ! What with her instructions & pics, as well Riet Surtel’s technique posted by Jane Eborall here, it was a very smooth & enjoyable round. No mistakes, no unpicking & retatting. Perhaps working with a large thread helps when doing a new technique.

The 2^nd round is simply rings & chains ….beginner level. Yet, I kept making mistakes in stitchcount, joins, horrible thread sensation, you name it ! Finally, very frustrated with all the unknotting & retatting, I snipped it off. Glad Jane had gifted us these scissors ;-)

Started the 2^nd round afresh the next morning & it was a breeze. But I learned something else about my own tatting….

The pattern indicates that the 2^nd round is worked counterclockwise. Hence the chains are tatted on the front/right side, but the rings after RW, on the reverse/back side.

I found that my shuttle movement is such that the already tatted trefoils interfered with the shuttle, coming in it’s way. That’s when I realized that perhaps I tatted more easily, more smoothly if it is clockwise ?

So, when I started again, I went round clockwise, with FS/BS tatting & it Did work ! Must keep this in mind for future.

I anchored the JRs, by adding picots on either side & decreasing the stitchcount to compensate.  

Marilee kindly permitted me to make any changes I wanted, but I am deeply unsatisfied & ashamed with what I did in Round 3. That was the reason I hesitated to post it for so long….

I loved the curves of the outer chains, but wanted the trefoils at the tips to be smaller or different. All I came up with was to make daisy picots like a corona/outline around the central ring.

Someday I will tat this again, in smaller thread. 

Triangle Motif Doily * 

Anne Bruvold

tatted on 20^th July 2015

Spot the Odd One out !!!

My notes reveal that I had taken a hiatus from tatting last year as well, for a week. I think I was sewing during that time. Anyways, this simple but lovely doily was my ticket to get back into tatting mode. It was quite a rage on Craftree at the time, where I first came across the pattern.

Materials : Bliss, India.  Variegated thread (no colourway, dye details or size mentioned). Probably a size 7 or 3.

South Maid Mercer Cotton, USA . Art. D-54, Color 430, Cream. Size 10.

2 shuttles.

Techniques : directional tatting, thrown rings (trefoils)

 

Started with this colour placement, but switched to the other because of thread size mismatch & also it seemed like the central flower effect was being lost.

This is one of those easy, almost generic, triangle motifs that can be used to create large fabric when joined in different ways. 

Very quick tat, joining individual motifs as one goes.

One realization about working with variegated threads in directional (fs/bs) tatting dawned. I had started the 1^st motif with normally tatted inner rings, & RODS for the chains & trefoils. Since this latter was a larger chunk of working, in next motif I switched to RODS for the inner rings & normal sequence for outer ecru part. This reversed the colourway (from clockwise to counterclockwise)!!!

Can you spot the odd one out ?

Again, many thanks to both designers, and my apologies to Marilee. 

Hope I can do a better job next time.

happy tatting :-)

Heart to heart ....

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Hearts reach out 

across ages and generations , 

across borders and boundaries , 

across arts and crafts, 

across blogs and sites,

from cold snowflakes to warm hearts ....

hearts reach out !

These are some of the most elegant tatted heart patterns I’ve come across. These are hearts I have admired & wanted to tat since first I set eyes on each. And they were just as pleasant to tat as to ogle.

A few common points :

• Click on title of each for link to the pattern source & on name of designer for their blog wherever applicable (all red words are active links). All are free patterns.
• I use fs/bs (RODS) tatting . I’ve listed it in the techniques, but it is optional.
• Since I knew that these patterns worked great in single colour, I decided to continue with my study in colours (very very limited colours to choose from – Madura Coats (Anchor), are you listening?).
• All these hearts are definitely going to be repeated over the years !

In no particular order ….

A Sweet Heart Valentine

Pop Lenuta Maria

Techniques : 2 shuttles, ANKARS (basic) or layered rings, graduated picots, floating ring.

Measurement : 1½” x 1½” in Anchor size 40 Art 4054 (052 pink & 022 maroon)

"Officially” this is my first ANKARS project, even though it is pretty basic. It Finally lay to rest a niggling doubt I had harboured, not having studied the technique properly. Yes, I had tatted it, without knowing that it could well be ANKARS ! ANKARS is an elaborate & dense working of simple layered rings . It is also the technique I used in my Curled Rings earrings. And all it takes a simple picot join !

Georgia Seitz will be walking us through this pattern in the Online Tatting Class on Monday the 15^th … Join in :-)

I added a tiny ring with SH2 after joining back to the first ring. There was a bare, flattish space in my working that I thought needed filling up. The tatting is all done from the frontside, not reverse work, except for this additional ring.

Also 3 graduated picots in the centre of the chain to make the tip a bit more prominent.

I used a picot gauge, as recommended, but found that it causes my picots to twist & become unseemly, and the stitches to become uneven ! It was back to eye-balling … this works better for me. 

It ruffled a bit. Lay flat easily after dunking & rolling. I didn't block each picot. Now, looking at the diagram, I realize that rings 21 & 23 are the same size ! Didn’t appear so in the tatted model … good excuse to tat again :-)

Kiss Curl Heart

Nicola Bowersox

Techniques : 2 shuttles, CTM, dead end/blind start to chain, floating ring, RODS.

Msts : 1½” x <1¼” in Red Heart size 20 (0289 bright/dark yellow)

I fell in love with this heart that moment britinpa shared it on InTatters over a year ago. Simple, elegant outlining, & I love floating curled chains !!!  

I was a bit unsure how much to tension the chains, so left them without snugging closely. But I definitely need to re-tat & experiment a bit more. For one, I need to start the chain in RODS, for it to lie on the left side as in original pattern. Also, Frivole had suggested using a SCMR instead of floating ring, which I want to apply as well. And check out Jane McLellan’s gorgeously colourful hearts she did a while back, inspiring me to use a yellow.

Heart’s Desire

Susan Fuller

Techniques : 2 shuttles, thrown/floating rings, RODS.

Msts. 3”x 2¼” Anchor Size 40 Art 4054 (0131 blue & 0896 copper)

Arguably the most elegant heart pattern I’ve come across & it works with all kinds of threads & colours/colourways ! I have yet to come across a working that did not work :-) It is a Perfect Design !

Great diagram by Frivole – equally elegant with colour coding ! 

Hearts of Hope

Anne Bruvold

Techniques : 2 shuttles, CTM, CWJ, thrown/floating ring, twisted picot, SLT, RODS.

Msts : ¾”x ¾” in Anchor size 20 Art 4054 (020 red) 

Love the simplicity of this pattern. 2 shuttles. To maintain continuity of the chain outline, she uses the CWJ. Very quick to tat up & a great way to empty the shuttles, (and to learn the CWJ if one is dithering).

The twisted picot in the little ring looks frayed & forked - probably the picot should've been just a tad longer keeping thickness of thread in mind. 

Hearty Thanks to all designers for sharing these wonderful heart patterns,

&

to all who have made it possible through diagrams, classes, etc.

Have a hearty tatting weekend !

Motif #21 of III for 25 Motif Challenge