dancing continuously

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 My apologies to those who have participate in the TAL - a bit under the weather. 

Carin Jansen’s Angel Choir doily TAL – Round 4 

pattern - http://handwerk-fee.blogspot.com/2020/11/engelenkoor.html

Techniques : 2 shuttles ctm, long chains, lock join, dot (tiny ring).
Optional Techniques : 1 shuttle and ball ctm, mock picot, adding thread on a chain, substituting dot, fs/bs tatting.
All tutorials, including for needle tatting, can be found here - https://tipsaroundthehome.blogspot.com/p/tatting-resources.html

Anita Barry and I join forces to share our notes and thoughts .....

This is Anita's doily all pinned out on foam at the end of round 3. In her own words -

"I felt I needed to pin Round 3 flat in preparation for next round. I needed my Picots of the Round 3 rings to be fairly centered above each ring. That way as I’m tatting the chain of Round 4 I have correct distances from one center picot join to the next center picot join."

As pointed out in previous post, we can climb out of round 3 by working the final ring as a split ring. Then leave a tiny mock picot and continue with the chains.

I wanted to change the colour, so after making the mock picot, I added yellow ball to the green core from shuttle, hiding the yellow tail under first few stitches. 

I snipped the unwanted green (on left) and later whip stitched it under the split ring.

Cristina Reb (facebook) followed the tip to work both rounds in one pass.

Carin tells us she did the same for her white version. But a designer has to keep the pattern simple and uniform to make it easy to follow. As tatters, we have the liberty to tweak the basic framework to suit our skills. All the hard work has been taken care of by the designer!

My round ruffled, but settled beautifully after blocking with the rolling pin.

This round is made up of mainly chains with just one dot per repeat where we need to reverse work to tat it. I realised too late there was this barely visible ring - I might've gone with yellow throughout!

Worked clockwise, mainly from the front, this is a speedy row.

In Lizbeth size 80, the doily is now 12cms in diameter.

The dot is merely a 4ds ring but it serves to increase the height of the adjoining chains. Perhaps one can easily substitute these dots by simply adding a couple more ds to the chains on both sides, and a small picot to join them. The quick round will become quicker still with All Chains only. Just a thought for the lazy tatter!

TIP : We can climb out of this round as well with a short (8ds) split chain. The next round will then start with a split ring for the center ring in the clover.

If you join us on facebook, remember to tag your post : #AngelChoirTAL to allow us all to enjoy your version!
I have completed the next round and started the 6th. Wonder what you will think of the colour placement!

Related Posts -
Round 1 Notes - https://tipsaroundthehome.blogspot.com/2021/01/two-to-tango.html

Round 2 Notes - https://tipsaroundthehome.blogspot.com/2021/01/a-quadrille-or-more.html

Round 3 Notes - https://tipsaroundthehome.blogspot.com/2021/01/dance-nonstop.html

Round 4 Notes - https://tipsaroundthehome.blogspot.com/2021/01/dancing-continuously.html

a quadrille or more

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Yesssss, we now have more tatters joining in our dance - it's no longer a tango! More on that at end of post.

Carin Jansen's Angel Choir doily TAL – Round 2

pattern - http://handwerk-fee.blogspot.com/2020/11/engelenkoor.html

Angels are what first drew me to this pattern. And to see them merrily dancing around was an added bonus. It is a very clever and creative design and hats off to the designer, Carin!

Techniques : 2 shuttles ctm, long chains, pointed chain (one stitch SCMR), picot join to right, SCMR, lock join, very small picots.
Optional Techniques : 1 shuttle and ball ctm, frontside/backside tatting, other methods for pointed chain, mock ring, blipless join, beads.
[all tutorials can be found here with several alternatives for pointed chain, joins, etc.]

As before, we share our joint notes, tips, and ideas below. Carin has already given very detailed instructions, including alternate stitch count for metallic thread, which I will try not to repeat here.
Round 1 Notes - https://tipsaroundthehome.blogspot.com/2021/01/two-to-tango.html

 

This is a cleverly crafted angel using simple rings and chains and reverse work between them.

The 1ds SCMR creates a nicely pointed chain for the wing tips and a picot between the 2 half stitches is perfect for joining later, without adding extra length/bulk to the tip! Whether to put a paperclip to hold the picot open depends on our personal comfort and skill.

Shuttle 2 requires more thread than shuttle1 which is used for only 3 of the 4 rings in each angel. However, one can work entire round with only one shuttle and ball if the head is worked as a mock ring. After making a lock join, continue to tat a chain and make another lock join in the same picot to simulate a ring.

Each center and head ring is secured on either side with joins to a chain, ensuring good stability. 

Joining to previous wing tip can be a bit tricky in fine thread. However joining directly without SCMR creates a curved, not pointed wing. It is easier to work this SCMR with 1st half stitch, join, 2nd half stitch.

Besides joining the wings at the tips, another join can be made further down to add stability or hold shape – about 4 or 5 ds down, using a very small picot. This will not alter the overall shape. This additional join could be more important if one does not want to tat more rounds.

Many tatters prefer to work long chains with the balanced double stitch. Make necessary stitch adjustments if you use it.

TWoT Notes:  The row can move in clockwise or counterclockwise direction as seen in both WIP versions. The reason can be found in whether one is doing traditional or fs/bs tatting; whether the first ring was worked frontside or backside.

In directional tatting (fs/bs), one should be careful while making joins to avoid colour blips on the front of work. Or one can use blipless joins.
For frontside/backside tatting, you could start this round with a backside ring so that most of the tatting is then done frontside.

There is some ruffle while working the round, but settles after simple rolling pin blocking.

The last wing joined to the first is an example of picot join to the right, though one may not realise it.

Beads on the halo would sparkle. Or perhaps graduated picots? The free flowing effect of these angels seems like they are floating through air, making each angel unique.

Notice the large sunflower shape if we do not tat the top half of each angel's body? So we have a bonus option to work a large flower coaster in the right colours! And we know how to get the petals to be pointed :-D

In Lizbeth size 80, 

single Angel motif  : < 3cms high; 2.5 cms wide wingspan; 1 cm wide at base.
After 2 rounds, this doily measures 9 cms in Lizbeth size 80.

I absolutely love this colourway and am glad I did not go with my original yellow for this round. And the little ring for body is truly special with the 1ds adding a tiny 'waist'! Every project brings in new learning in some way or other.

Now for the group dance ..... 

Several tatters on facebook showed interest in doing this tatalong with us!  I might include their versions here as I blog. eg. Cristina Reb's 1st round in Anchor size 20 -

My friend, Rose Deguara, had a tip for Round 1 (which I have now included in that post) - The last inner ring needs to be joined in the round to the first inner ring, thus calling for a picot join to the right.   

Look for #AngelChoirTAL on facebook to find posts and pics; some have joined us in the Just Tatting group.

Off to do the next round, now that I have immersed myself in this orchestration ;-D

Oh, and check out how Vera has covered her bauble/ornament even though it is not Christmas - https://veragondolatai.blogspot.com/2021/01/frivolitas-gombre.html I have updated my post with this option and my own idea!