Tatting Away XI : TIAS 2015

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Jane Eborall’s TIAS 

(Tat It And See) 2015

(click on title for direct link to site & pattern)

I have posted progress pictures of Days 1 - 6 here , & Days 7 - 8 here  . Now for the rest, along with a compiled bird’s-eye view of all 13 days .

I used to think that Lock Chain was a very nice decorative element in tatting. Now I realize that it is also a Straight chain ! 

Unlike normal double stitch chains which tend to curve, a LCh does not curve at all. Hence it is a design element for a straight line. 

The only drawback, at times, can be that if working with 2 colours, both colours will show up on the chain even if you want the straight chain in one colour only.

 

 

 A few lines to go with the penultimate day , with due apologies to Shakespeare .....

An Ode to Scissors Snippers or Schaar Ne'er from a craft far .   Trimmers or Shears   Sharp as spears. Clippers?! I groan But errors are shorn.    Scissors by whatever name   Cutting smartly is it's bane. Hands can horrifyingly slip And make a very wrong snip.   Unloved, disliked, taking the flak   C'mon tatters, cut it some slack ! How into a project we first tread If scissors do not cut the thread?!   Without it, a project may stall   Helping away when troubles befall.

Now that Jane has posted pics of  her own tatted scissors here , I cannot help wondering why most of us did not get the cutting edge as straight as Jane’s ? Should the Lock Chain have been looser ? Should we have added 1 ds more to our tatting ? Or was it the very small end rings that played mischief ?!

Any answers ? Any tips ?

Many thanks to Jane Eborall for All her tremendous work & effort in sharing patterns, techniques, & processes. And this start-of-the-year fun game.

Motif #6 / II for 25 Motif Challenge

Tatting Away X

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Aislyn’s Bookmark

Designer : Carrie Neahring

Carrie, on Craftree, created this bookmark pattern as an incentive & reward for her little daughter, Aislyn, if she would finish her reading her book. It worked ! Not only did the 5 year old complete the book, but was thrilled to have her Mom create something special for her.

I offered to test tat the pattern, which Carrie will soon share on Craftree . I will update with links then. It is her very first attempt at designing & writing out a pattern. 

My conceptualization of this, which influenced the choice of colours, was a garland of daisies in the centre, surrounded by green leaves & vines, all abloom on the brown twigs/stems. Not very original, but I tend to stay close to/within the box ;-P

Threads Used :

Anchor Mercer Crochet size 20.

White

Yellow : 4054-0289 

Variegated Green : 4054-1213

Variegated Brown/Tan : 4054-1218 

Measurement

On completion : approx. 6½” x 1½” (without tassel)

Each daisy is 1” across.

It is an easy, beginner’s pattern, done in 3 rows, with simple rings & chains for the most part, & tie & cut at each stage. However, it can easily be adapted into an advanced pattern by use of 2-shuttles & techniques to climb out of elements/motifs.

I played with threads & colours in the last row .… The metallic green adds bling but hides the clover in the previous row. The dark brown was my 1^st choice, & it shows the clover off well; but it seemed a bit too overbearing & a tad out of place. Snipped them both off & settled on the variegated brown.

Added a little tassel using up some of the leftover threads (variegated green & brown).

  

 

My Thoughts :

• I liked the easy flow of this pattern.
• It lends itself nicely to both single shuttle & ball, as well as 2-shuttle tatting.
• Good practice for beginners.
• One can play around with colours & placement to create abstract or decorative pieces.
• Since I was testing the written pattern, I did not stray into advanced techniques as far as possible. However, if I were to make this again, I would join the daisies using Split Chain to climb from one daisy to next. I Really need the practice !
• I would Definitely use 2 shuttles for the 2^nd row, since it has thrown rings on chain. It is so much neater. However, SLTs (shoe lace trick) can be used if working with only 1 shuttle.
• I love the little chain doubling up as a small ring on the last row ! Clever application :-)

Update : Here is Carrie Neahring’s pdf download link for her Aislyn’s Bookmark. Do take a look at her bookmark – adorable colours & gorgeous tassel ! Hope you enjoy making it :-) She has uploaded it on Craftree here, & kindly accepted to share it through my blog as well, for anybody interested.  

Motif #3/II for 25 Motif Challenge

☻☺☻☺☻☺☻☺☻

Before I sign out, the progress on Days 7 & 8 of ....

Jane’s TIAS (Tat It And See) 2015

Surely it's a Bunny !

Bunny leap snipped short by a (?) Scissors?!

Since Day 2, I had been predicting that this year's piece is a Crocodile. But by Day 6, I had started my hop across to the rabbit colony, & was officially declaring it with a rhyme before Day 8, when all my guesses were cut to pieces !!! Day 8 looked Nothing like a rabbit :-(  Instead, the only image that leaped out was of a scissors-in-the-making. A good tool to cut off mistakes – be it in tatting or in guessing .

I bit the bait
At the TIAS gate
Tooting a toothless
Crocodile thing !

Come Day Eight
With a clean slate
I have hopped over
To the Bunny ring !

Ends the long wait
For her rabbit mate
Maureen's Easter Bunny
Is here with a spring !!!

My apologies to Fox (Day 6 rhyme) & Maureen , for taking the liberty ....

☻☺☻☺☻☺☻☺☻

Happy tatting :-)

WIPs

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I can safely call this post WIPs … Works in Progress, TIAS included !

New Learning, New Insights

This is my 2nd year of Jane's Tat It And See . I learned a lot in the 2014 series & shared my musings & my learning in 2 posts (click on links for respective pages)

Besides the jump-start to learning modern or more advanced techniques in tatting, it was so much FUN that not joining again was Not an option !

I used Anchor Mercer Cotton size 20, Variegated Pink : 4054-1208 

The Firsts

Tatting with/on a button

Like beads, it was on my to-learn list, but as you know, it is always such a long list with shifting attention & priorities. So, this year's TIAS gave me the boost to cross at least one off my list.

Turned out to be pretty easy ! Why did I take so long ?!

I did snag my thread a bit the 1st time, trying to pull it up through the button hole with a fine crochet hook. Why ?!! I had a shuttle with a hook that could pass through that hole ... did I have a hole in my head ?!

Smooth sailing thereafter :-D

Now to tackle beads ..... like I said, the list never ends ;-P

Lock Chain

Seen so many wonderful bookmark tails & Jane's snowflakes, etc. using this technique. I knew how it was made, too. Never got around to actually doing it. So another first. Easy. Just required a little more focus to prevent premature locking down, & keep the chain neat.

TIP : I think the beauty of a lock chain is revealed more when there are contrasting colours in the shuttles.

My guess since Day 2 has remained Crocodile, although I can see where the other guesses are coming from, too. 

TIAS = SAIT !

Tat It And See

commanded Jane, so

Sat And I Tatted,

Saw As I Tatted,

it's a crocodile,  no ?!!

 

                              

With my Day 6 installment, a few lines based on the main guesses/ categories …. Lots of guesses coming in, but each has some hitch or the other. I’ve tried to include these main guesses, along with their glitches in this verse (but some of them raced right out of my mind when I penned this : Starfish, Wheel, Windmill) :

Squids are slippery
Birds follow suit .
Dragonflies flutter away
Plants hafta take root !

Dolphins are playful
Bunnies are cute .
Crocodiles are toothy
Scissors' a brute !

But the Foxiest conjecture
A Cowboy without Boots !
Oh, Whatever we guess,
Jane cares not two hoots ;-(

                                                                                        muskaan, Jan 2015

And the fun continues !!! Do join in if you haven’t yet :-)

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Waves In the Sea

(On the Crochet Front)

A couple of pics showing the growing sea of flowers in the MemoryAfghan. 

Last 10 motifs left to crochet ! Didn’t get around to trying out the border/edging. Waiting to finish motifs & then focus on that.

 

The afghan looks much much better in reality than in the snaps, brightening up the room & livening up the cold wintry greys. DH loves this one the best so far ;-)

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Daisies in Winter

(Back to Tatting)

I took a day off from crocheting, to test tat Aislyn’s Bookmark, a pattern by Carrie Neahring. 

It is a fairly easy, beginner’s pattern. Will write about it soon.

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Related Posts : Learning is Fun with TIAS

Learning was Fun with TIAS

Memory Afghan (1)

Memory Afghan (2)

Quick TIPS II : CTM

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Continuous Thread Method of Loading Shuttles

Think you have it all figured out . Then comes the knock . Hey that particular figuring out doesn't work every time or in every situation or without changes ! So back to tweaking - probably the favourite byword of us tatters …. Should we be called The Tweaking Tatters ;-P

I shared a tip here, on how to wind the 2nd shuttle CTM (continuous thread method) using any calibrated holder/winder. The 1^st shuttle was fully loaded & only 2^nd shuttle needed to be loaded, for which we used the holder/winder of known circumference.

But what if Both shuttles require a measured amount of thread, neither of which is fully loaded ?

Case in point : Jane's TIAS 2015  

Many of us are getting ready for the TIAS, and some might be facing a similar problem. If so, the following might be of some help to you ..... Read on :-)

Winding shuttles CTM when

neither shuttle needs to be full, 

or,

when precise lengths need to be loaded on each shuttle

Converted yards to inches, and then calculated the number of winds required on my 'winder' (my spectacle case, where 1 wind equals 6.6 in) for each shuttle (Sh).

I needed 25 winds for Sh1 & 17 winds for Sh 2.

On the winder, I started winding thread from the ball for Sh2 first (indicated with solid white circle & Arrow #1). 17 winds.

When done, Without changing anything, I continued winding for Sh1, But at a slight distance away (Arrow #2). 25 winds. (Arrow #3).

Then snip off thread from ball (shown by solid red oval).

Now start winding Sh1 from this cut end till all (25) wounds are loaded onto the bobbin. (Arrow #4).

The remaining 17 wounds are for Sh2. Take the starting thread end (the solid white circle end in pic) & start winding Sh2, till all remaining thread is loaded.

You will notice, when you start winding Sh2, that the thread end is Beneath the 17 rounds, unlike for Sh1. Hence, when winding, there is a tendency to play footsie / entangle with Sh1 thread.  To avoid this, turn the winder as seen in pic, so that Sh1 is 'out of the way' And winding can continue in original clockwise direction. I found it even easier when I moved Sh1 also to the other side (left hand side in pic).

Both shuttles now have the required lengths of thread, wound CTM !

The best part, to me, is that I did not have to measure the lengths Beforehand ! All I needed was to count the number of winds and then load ....

And I am ready for Jan 7^th 2015 . Bring it on :-) 

Disclaimer : I may have a couple more winds than strictly necessary - better safe than sorry ;-)

How have You loaded your shuttles CTM for the TIAS  :-)

How did You do it ?

Related Post : Winding Thread, CTM