at crossroads

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Renulek’s Wiosna Doily 2015

(Progress stalled !!!)

(click here for pattern)

After spending a long time discussing, debating, stalling as I described in the previous post, when I finally decided to continue with the final rounds, I simply chose one almost ‘at random’. Now this is Not the right way to decide; but I do it sometimes …. it’s like I forget to give it a once-over … yup, fools rush in !!! Well, when this is the path you follow, you may have plenty to regret.

Okay, so I chose to not do Round 10, & replace it with Round 11 because maroon seemed to be a good enough dark shade to have near the cream. But the compromise I made to my DH was to make it All-maroon (instead of maroon rings & black chains). My intent was to then add a final Outlining round of black chains & picots.

The Dilemma was that after every 2 repeats I kept feeling that this decision was wrong & many other options kept surfacing. I staunchly pushed them back. Till I couldn’t any more. Hence I seek your collective wisdom, your guidance yet again.

Here’s where it is at :

The maroon round is exactly halfway over with 18 repeats. I don’t mind snipping it all off. Better to waste some time & thread now than to regret at leisure .

I think it is too overbearing ;

it masks the beautiful Round 9 ;

an additional black outline will make it all too dark & shift focus from the lighter rounds.

So I started with the black & beige Round 10 following Renulek’s original pattern, and as chosen by many of you.

My final round will then be 2-coloured - maroon rings & black chains again true to the original pattern. 

Here is the crossroads I am at ….

Should I snip off the maroon & continue with the black & beige ?

Or should I simply continue with the maroon & later add a black chain outline ?

I do like the original pattern & black & beige round.

But there are times when the all-maroon doesn’t look all that bad either [I guess I Am over-thinking] and I Have invested a lot of time (one entire week!) & effort (4 days) into it - imagine cutting off this half-complete broad round !

So, dear tatters , you have been so very helpful & prompt with your suggestions & opinions earlier. 

I seek another intervention – this time ‘timely’, coz the tatting is on hold till I get responses …. 

Related Posts : Collecting Wisdom

Experimenting with Colours

and options

and decisions

and decisions !

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Working on Renulek’s Wiosna Doily 2015

The Last Rounds   (click here for pattern)

What did Big Ben say to the Leaning Tower of Pisa?

If you have the inclination I have the time.

Well, I almost did it again …. Stopped short of the complete pattern. For my 2014 Spring doily, I fell short of threads & time (impatient to get on with new learning).

For the Wiosna, there was no dearth of threads, no dearth of will, no dearth of time, no dearth of inclination.

But decisions decisions decisions ! Especially when there are 2 many cooks ;-P

In a cinch, I asked hubby dear to help me out after Round 9. We were in total agreement over these 3 aspects :

1. Round 9 colour (ecru) & pattern kind of completed the doily. It looked beautiful & could well be the last round.
2. The best colour to use for next round should be maroon.
3. And outlining the maroon should be black.

That’s where our consensus ended. Colours, placement, pattern, size – many things to consider. Much hmms, umms, nahs, maybes, perhaps, blahs, bahs, tatting segment trials, sketch pen trials, pattern trials later, we decided to call it a day. Round 9 was the finito for Wiosna 2015.

Felt very ‘light-hearted’ after decision was made – suddenly I had plenty of time to move on to my other projects. Couldn’t bring myself to snip off the trial segments just yet, though.

Passage of 3 days ! 3 entire days of tatting wasted . ((post written on April 6))

And guess what … I actually had Withdrawal symptoms !!! Didn’t take up any new project or learning; didn’t take any Grand Finale pics; didn’t even feel like blogging.

No, I just Had to get back to the doily & ‘complete’ it, even though I will be making a few tweaks yet again. Some of it is a ‘compromise’ (my DH does have good taste in decor. He may not be able to tell crochet from tatting, but he does try to be very supportive) ; nonetheless, I persevere with gusto.

Yes, got back on the wagon earlier this evening & tatted away enjoyably. Even got back my mojo for blogging ;-P Here I am in the wee hours of the morning, typing away :-D

I won’t post though, coz I need one more photograph of doily with the sketches ….

Trial Segments - Tatting

Trial 1 :

All beige Round 10 in keeping with the central rounds where maroon was preceded by a ‘solid’ beige round.

Trial 2 :

Black & beige Round 10. Black closer to round 9 in order to highlight this beautiful light shade round.

Trial 3 :

All maroon Round 11, skipping Round 10 completely. I had maroon rings & black chains in mind for this last round. But DH insisted that the pattern should conform to the earlier all-maroon round.

If you notice, I did not cut out any of the trial threads. This left me with the option to simply pick up the shuttles & continue with the ‘chosen one’, as I mentioned in my earlier tip to Wait before cutting out errors, here.

Trial Segments - Sketching

Sometimes I sketch with colour pens & markers to give me a quick feel of what the colours & design might look like.

Option 1 :

In the image, I place the doily & roughly sketched out a potential Round 10 … a repeat of Round 9 as the final round, in all maroon or in maroon & black with switched placement.

Option 2 :

Further above, is my attempt at maroon & black.

Option 3 :

On top right hand, is another option using black as a separate outlining round. (the green is supposed to be maroon).

I have decided & started but would be interested in what you would choose/recommend. 

Any of the above, or something totally different ? 

Curious to read your perspective (& be inspired for the future) … :-)

 oooooooooooo

Jottings

I have started a new Page “Jottings” (click on tab above, or here), where I will keep adding my musings/notes on various tatting techniques. Wherever there is a quotable source, I will give due credit. For the most part, it is my own learning & perspective .

I invite you to share your input, thoughts, experience, perspective, tips, etc. through comments or email.

Related Posts : Collecting Wisdom

Experimenting with Colours

and options

Experimenting with Colours

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Do colours go round & round when tatting a doily ?

Do they Have to?

How about adding colour-stylishness to traditional rounds ?

Renulek’s  Wiosna  Doily 2015

Rounds 6 & 7 (pattern here)

I used a lot of collective wisdom in the earlier rounds of the Wiosna doily here. But wanted to do something more as the rounds progressed. And then I remembered Ninetta’s experiment with colour on her Anne Orr Doily here , & here ! Quelle inspiration.

Now, I liked the twirling effect of round 6 & did not want to use 2 colours within (ie. for chains & rings) since that would break up the ‘continuity’. But how about using 2 colours in segments ?! Why not play around with colour placement ?!

I also find Celtic interweaving very inspiring. Some superb effects have been created using normal shuttles, merely by placing colours appropriately. A recent excellent example is Sue’s working of Jane Eborall’s Roundabout Motif here !

  

So there I had it ; Collecting Inspiration !!! 

Round 6 would be broken into 2-colour repetitive segments & Round 7 would be the same 2 colours, but in alternating placement to previous round, creating a kind of undulating wave.

Sharing some of the techniques I used/worked out to put the visualization to practice.

• “SLT Picot” (Round 6) 

Switching shuttles midways through a chain, And a picot required there ! So, Shoe Lace Trick to the rescue, but with a tiny space that became the picot.

The one shown in photo looks pretty good. But not all were good. This was very tricky to do since the natural tendency of this technique was to close the gap.

Why did I not use a Lock Stitch instead ? Because the colour blip of one unflipped stitch would show.

·        Large Rings (Round 7)

A little way into round 7, I came across Patty Dowden’s excellent tip on how to work large rings. Immediately tried it out with the 24ds ring & it worked Beautifully & smoothly !

In Patty’s own words & diagrams, which she has kindly permitted me to share here ( Thanks, Patty :-) ) :

Working with Large Rings

© Patty Dowden 2013

(This pattern) calls for large rings that require more than the normal amount of thread to be wrapped around the left hand that holds the working thread.

To avoid moving the working thread back and forth and produce a better double ring, or causing the thread to fray:

1. Enlarge the thread wrapped around your hand for each ring by doubling (or more) the amount of thread you normally use.

Wrap the excess around your pinkie, as for a chain, except hold the thread above your pinkie and wrap toward yourself instead of away from yourself. This allows the extra thread to be easily released one wrap at a time from the outside in.

2. Also, after making the picot or join at the halfway mark of a ring, leave a loop of core thread to allow for more easily closing the large ring in two steps. Close the first half by tensioning the core loop and then finish closing the ring by tensioning the shuttle thread.

Download link - https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B5MqI5ByadI4aERmSEt6UGVOeU0/view?resourcekey=0-FHILMfcIqknZ87Awol19Uw 

                                           ooooooooooooo

It has many advantages – one does not have to keep pulling thread from shuttle at intervals ; it keeps the large ring from distorting ; it keeps the thread from twisting ; keeps the stitches neat & even ; closes the ring much smoother ! What’s not to like ;-P

But since habits are not easy to change, I felt more comfortable starting a ring normally, make 2 ds, Then pull the extra length of thread to wrap around my pinkie. Also, I totally forgot about the 2^nd step, but pulling the thread all the way through, worked fine for this size ring.

UPDATE : click here to download tutorial directly  

• Switching colours (Round 7) :

Lock Join for 1^st ring of new segment

Each segment in this round is made of 6 repeats in one colour, before changing to next colour. At this point of change, a simple LJ using the core thread shuttle works because it is the same colour that will be continued for next 6 repeats.

Slope & Roll join for subsequent rings within segment …

However, while working these repeats within a segment, each shuttle has a different colour. Hence, when starting the 2^nd to 6^th repeats in a segment, I used the Slope & Roll Join as described/illustrated here.

…. accompanied by Shoe Lace Trick

Also, make an SLT Before & After the S & R join :

Before, in order to switch from chain to ring ; and

After, in order to move from ring to chain.

The S & R join does create a slight mismatch of surface. But it is a necessary evil in order to avoid the colour blip. The SLT helps flatten it to some degree. Tiny picot joins work better as noted next.

·        Tiny  Picot  Join  between  Chains  (Round 7) :

As mentioned above, there is a slight distortion/level-mismatch caused by the S&R join, mitigated only partially by the SLT. A tiny picot join between chains in round 7 , however, might have brought the chains more at the same level. This occurred to me halfway through the round, & didn’t want to ‘change’ at that stage. After all the next round & some ironing would bring it all together. Yet, caved in towards the last couple of segments & you can see the difference in the pic.

·        Wait  Before  Cutting  Out  Errors

When in doubt, wait ! Keep scissors at bay.

After 2 segments of round 7, I was dissatisfied with the ‘weaving’ effect because of the ring colour that connected to form a ‘wave’.

But I wasn’t certain a change would work better. So, kept off the scissors – after all 1/6^th round was already complete - & started tatting a little distance away. I now had the option to either continue with the 2^nd version & snip off the 1^st, or vice versa.

Eventually, I stayed with the 2^nd version & snipped off the earlier portion.

My  Dissatisfaction :

• The thread colours in themselves were not inspiring enough. Too similar to bring the experiment to light. Will have to use black for next round.
• “Interweaving” effect not prominent enough, again because the colours were pretty similar.
• Secondly, I should’ve used Karen Cabrera’s 2-coloured Ring technique for the “interwoven”/crossover ring! As indicated in the picture above. 
• A mistake exactly halfway through Round 7 which I discovered only at the very very end ! No patience to cut & redo half the round again.

Despite my dissatisfaction, I think it is worth trying out such an experimentation with colours even if one is working on traditional-type doilies. It probably lends some interest, some character, some modern stylishness.

Now on to the next rounds ...

happy tatting !

Related Posts : Collecting Wisdom Wiosna Rounds 1-5 
and options Wiosna Rounds 8-9

Collecting Wisdom

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Working on Renulek’s Wiosna Doily 2015

One can learn so much when one comes across the right people, the right places, the right attitudes ! One stores little snippets somewhere in the grey niches, and at times they pop up like AHA moments .

(click on coloured, bold links for source)

I started Renulek’s Wiosna (Spring) Doily 2015 a few days back. And am finding myself applying tweaks & techniques that I read of / learned along the way. A lot of it was garnered from the tatting angels at InTatters (now Craftree), some from actually tatting patterns shared by experienced designers, some from blogs (posts & comments), and of course the numerous tutorials that have been shared.  I am truly grateful for all the combined & cumulative wisdom.

·        Flat Rings :

Adding a 2^nd half stitch before closing rings helps them lay flat. (InTatters).

I now do this almost on a regular basis.

·        2 shuttles :

I am getting into the habit of using 2 shuttles, whether the pattern calls for it or not. It is much neater, convenient, & it opens up numerous options. One can switch shuttles when required (instead of making SLTs) . And one does not need to buy 2 balls of same thread !

Used this is even in round 3 & was happy ! Learned my lesson during last year’s Chrysanthemum Doily, where my natural tendency was to go with shuttle & ball wherever possible.

·        Hiding ends, customized :

As detailed in the post on Hiding ends sans sewing, I learned a few techniques. However, there was overwhelming opinion in favour of sewing down the ends. One cannot ignore combined wisdom ! Hence, although I still used MTT, Frivole’s hiding ends in the last chain, SSSR, etc., (because they eliminated that eye-sore Knot!), I also sewed in the end(s) to be safe, using Jon’s instructions on sewing.

I am happy with the combo & now have many options to choose from; and I Did use different methods in different rounds – Customized treatment, shall we say ?!

hiding ends - SSSR, sewing,  & adding tiny stabilizing picots

·        Tiny Picot to stabilize elements :

The 5-ring flowers in Round 5 were fiddly. My tatting experience with Jane Eborall’s TIAS 2015 & her Chicken Wing Coaster came to mind. I had been impressed by her use of a teeny tiny picot to anchor adjoining elements. Thought to give it a try here.

It Worked ! See how flat the flower lies, and it will be much easier to join the next round, even if I don’t iron it.

Working 2 rounds simultaneously

 ·        Hiding ends with SSSR :

Working the flowers separately, gave me the added advantage of being able to easily use SSSR to finish off the flowers. 

(I remember seeing a tut long time back, but don’t remember exactly who wrote that post …. She had used SSSRs to hide ends in jewelery tatting. Will add link when I find it)

'Lengthening' Thread functionality

·        ‘Lengthening’ the functionality of thread :

Joining a length of extension thread to tail end. Many a times you Know that there is enough thread to complete the next element, before reloading shuttle. But it is so difficult to handle & manoeuvre that short length that I always ended up cutting it off. Recently I recalled another tip from InTatters. Attach a piece of scrap thread to the end so that one has ample length to wrap around & work ! I joined this extension (tan thread in pic) using a weaver’s knot , thus giving me plenty of working & wrapping length !

In photo below, one can see the very very short tail left !

SCMR instead of normal ring to use up last length of thread

·        SCMR instead of normal ring !

I could see that there was enough thread to complete that single ring. But not possible to work a Normal ring. So, SCMR to the rescue ! Used the last length (with extension) as a chain thread, making a mock ring with Sh1 thread.

Abbreviations Used (in order of appearance) :

SLT : shoe lace trick

MTT : magic thread trick / magic loop

SSSR : single shuttle split ring

SCMR: self closing mock ring

Sh1 : shuttle #1

   

Isn’t it nice that we don’t have to reinvent the wheel ?!

All solutions are already floating around

– simply collect, collate, combine, cumulate –

and wait for them to waft into our conscious from the mental storage pool! 

Related Posts : Wiosna Rounds 6-7

Wiosna Rounds 8-9