my round 3

Pin It now!

I started and finished tatting the 3rd round of my DAL 2026 Challenge yesterday morning. Gave it a simple damp, rolling pin block in the evening and took pics at night. Today I started to prepare a presentation for the pattern (as a PDF file) and finished diagramming and also notating and uploading the pics in this post. But writing the blog post could only be accomplished now at night. Happy to present my swirling type of motif...

In Anchor and Red Rose size 20, the final motif is a bit more than 8cms across, tip to tip.

While I worked it in 3 separate rounds, it can be worked continuously with split rings and a split chain.

 For a long time I couldn't get my head into designing mode for the DAL 2026 challenge. Ruth Perry had suggested adding the inner motif and then filing up the space between them. I decided to give it a go.

Ugh, I didn't like my working one bit! Snipped it off and sketched the base motif on grid paper and tried out a simple round.

Mind you, there is two models where these rosettes have been used very effectively! So the fault lies in me.

I tend to sketch with a light hand which is why this is the best I could achieve in a photograph.

I laid the base motif on the grid, aligned it such that the center point was on a point on the paper, etc. Then I made points with the pencil through the picots - notice dark dots? Then I roughly drew the rosette and scroll. Thus this sketch was to scale and it was easy to draw the 3rd round and guestimate the size of the rings, etc.

 

Well, the chains arr way more curved than in the diagram but I kind of like it this way, too. I also experimented with the 2nd repeat, joining the large ring to the previous chain, but didn't like it. 

The small rings were supposed to be in line with the large rings. This would happen if there were stabilising picot(s) - joining to the large ring and to the chain. 

Again. I took the lazy way out and opted to see what would happen.

I like the slight angle! I think it adds to the sense of movement that the chains created. Which is why I didn't even try to block them straight. Au contraire ;-P

I hope to be able to share the Google doc with all participants and their models soon. Waiting for patterns to come in and do some of my own cleaning up. By the way, I am now officially 16th on the list of participants ;-P 

§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§

A confession.

Are you wondering about the pair of motifs below? Hmm. I had made a mistake!

The one on the left is the original motif which I put in the challenge post - https://tipsaroundthehome.blogspot.com/2026/08/time-to-play-again.html 

However, it was only when I sat down to design the 3rd round and referred to the post and diagram did I realise that one count was incorrect! The rings in round 2 were 8+8, not 6+6! 

But nobody complained about cupping, etc. So, instead of confusing issues at this late date, I tatted another following the diagram just like everybody else.

As you can see, this one on the right is a more defined square. And it seems to have worked structurally too. 

§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§

For previous design-alongs - 

https://tipsaroundthehome.blogspot.com/search?q=DAL 

https://tipsaroundthehome.blogspot.com/search?q=design-along

vintage false CTM

Pin It now!

 

There are so many methods and even more combinations to add new thread to a work in progress lace. We came across Eleonore Endrucks' advice to fix mistakes in her 1920 book, 'Die Schiffchen-Spitzen'. Here is the translation - 

We now call it False CTM (false continuous thread method) and I have shared several scenarios and applications over time. Here, we limit ourselves to Endrucks' method, a variation of the same, and a knotless method.

All this has been presented as pictorials in this PDF - 

False CTM - Endrucks' Advice & Pictorials -https://drive.google.com/file/d/1_Jm7puHcMemY3lhwP2cP8G3EmcgamlVj/view

Since everything is already presented in the PDF, I will be brief here, with only a few selected pics. Please click on the link above to download the document.

1. False CTM - Endrucks' Method

Notice 1. the old tails tied together and the new ones tied together ; 2. the knots are far apart, with the new knot wound on the ball or 2nd shuttle, far from the point of attachment to the work in progress.. The blue thread between these two points creates the false continuous thread.

However, since the two tails (in each pair) are tatted over in the same element, it creates bulk. This can be countered to some extent by tatting very tightly.

TIP: Use a slip knot to tie the new threads (blue) so that it can be opened and the knot repositioned as desired.

2. False CTM - Variation of Endrucks' Method

In order to avoid bulk, here the old shuttle tail is tied with new shuttle tail and old ball/2nd shuttle tail to the new ball/2nd shuttle end. Preferably, maintain a distance between the two knots so that we have a continuous thread space to work with.

Look closely, all four tails are hidden (tatting over tails) in four different elements. The extra ends are trimmed later.

3. False CTM - Knotless Variation of Endrucks' Method

Knotting the tails can be completely avoided. Above the new ball or 2nd shuttle thread is being folded around the old tail and will be tatted over in the chain element. 

Similarly, the core thread can be added and worked over.

The other tail in each case can be sewn/whip stitched later, or pulled through stitches using a magic loop, etc.

The choice of the three methods would depend on the specific situation - how long are the old tails, etc.  The above is merely a small glimpse of the numerous ways in which we can apply false ctm. Some related posts/pictorials/PDFs -

https://tipsaroundthehome.blogspot.com/2019/10/false-ctm-part-1.html

https://tipsaroundthehome.blogspot.com/2019/10/false-ctm-part-2.html

https://tipsaroundthehome.blogspot.com/search?q=false+ctm 

Tatting Over Tails (PDF updated from 2017) - https://drive.google.com/file/d/1kwszAseuEZqkMdXosfTHtXdw0diCwmKz/view

Starter Picot or Starting with a Chain (PDF) - https://drive.google.com/file/d/1vzSHMxas51Yn5iujdmror1obx27AuIhw/view

Hiding Ends and Adding Thread - vast compilation of options and tutorials - https://tipsaroundthehome.blogspot.com/2016/11/beginning-or-ending.html

Hope you find this helpful in some future situation. 

viral spread

Pin It now! This would've been the first time an entire month would've been devoid of a single blog post here in my 12/13 years of blogging! Couldn't let that happen, now.

 

The reason for this silence and absence has been my own viral flu which came on a bit severely this time. Since we started taking the flu vaccine annually, we only get some very mild symptoms, easily covered with some paracetamol tablets. Despite the antibiotic course, it left me totally devoid of energy - both mental and physical. I am still taking extra measures to overcome the inflammation and this leaves me very little time to do much.  And while I have been visiting blogs to see new posts, I haven't been in a very chatty mood nor mode, hence no comments ... hope to make up for it soon. As it is, the new line of treatment I started some months back hasn't worked, at least clinically, leaving me more exhausted than previously. The book editing has been shelved for probably two months now and I might not be able to get back to it till late September when I see my pulmonologist with blood tests, etc. :-(

All I can manage are kind of mindless activities which is why the  other virus (below) has been detected at an opportune time ...

💦💦💦💦💦

Interestingly, another virus was detected – a simple ‘s’ that spoiled the party! Spellings are so important especially when citing or crediting. 

‘Die Schiffchen-Spitzen’, 1920, by Eleonore Endrucks
NOT  

‘Die Schiffchen-Spitszen’

 

I profusely apologise for inadvertently introducing an ‘s’ into the book title when we started the Endrucks 1920 Project. Initially my spelling was correct, but when I typed it in my fall-back word doc, the 's' creeped in and I continued to copy and paste this in my blog, PDFs, and articles. :-( 

Except for a miniscule number, this has also been copy-pasted by almost everybody through the years till Manju Talekar’s sharp eyes spotted the error and pointed it out some weeks back. 

Since then, my extremely supportive PIC Ninetta Caruso and I have been on a mission to update all Google docs, blog posts, and pattern PDFs with the correct spelling.

We also created a checklist of other updates we had been mulling over since this has been an evolving and an unbelievably expanding Project. I am taking this opportunity to simultaneously incorporate as many of these updates as possible and Ninetta will be doing the same eventually (she has already completed the spelling-change in her PDFs!). This often requires some reformatting and could easily take up to an hour or more for each PDF. Unfortunately, we cannot do anything about articles written for publications but we can be extra vigilant in future.

PLEASE NOTE that while the original reworked pattern PDFs have her full name, Eleonore Endrucks-Leichtenstern, we have removed her maiden surname in the derivative patterns and now use only Eleonore Endrucks. And all her 44 patterns are listed as E1, E12, etc., where E stands for Endrucks.

We are also adding the links which did not exist before, viz., the EP LINKS and the Directory links.

My sincere apologies once again and please do not hesitate to inform us of ANY discrepancy or problem you might encounter in any of the documents. We wish to remain as error-free as possible.

And many many thanks to Manju and Ninetta!

done

Pin It now!

 Done for now, to be clear. And not because I've tired of it. Au contraire, it is just too enticing, distracting, and addictive. I want to simply sit and tat this, and ignore all other tasks, including a couple with deadlines. So, done for now, threads unwound from shuttles and back in their respective boxes. And my apologies to my tatting buddy Anita, for leaving it here. I do hope to pick it up again some time next year.

In Anchor Pearl cotton size 8, it measures about 7cms across.

This was completed several days back. It's taken me this long to take pics and prepare a post.

At this stage I am calling it my Sunflower version. Going forward, it might become a dahlia or chrysanthemum with more colours being added.

I followed Patty's diagram again, alternating the 2nd join between the inner scallops. Later realised that the original doily throughout had a single join between the inner scallops, not alternate. By then I had already completed 2 whole repeats (4 scallops each), hence went ahead as before. Not that it shows either way at least in my version. 

How does it Always happen?! The one slice I chose for the close-up is the one where I missed a join in round 1, LOL. I missed a join in round 2, too, and also a 2ds chain segment. However, it was easy to ignore the first and for the second, I inserted a fine hook through the 'hidden picot' (viz, through the stitch) for a join. Can't even locate where this all happened. Dr Downplay zindabad!

  

I wish there was more of the chrome yellow rather than the yellow ochre in this model, but I was going from a light to dark shade using whatever I had in my stash. And the brown could've been a a couple of shades lighter if only I had enough.

My intention is to use two shades of orange then two shades of red for the remaining four rounds. I could repeat the same yellows, but that would become kind of boring ;-P

What do you think of the colour scheme?

Oh and I had updated my previous post with the completed round 1, but here's the pic again in case you missed it - 

Many thanks to Jon Yusoff for hosting the TAL. Don't know when I'll be back to complete this.

This mini-doily or coaster is my October submission to splocik's Small Decorations game. Only two months left and I still have so many ideas/projects I could submit! It's been a fun game for sure and will definitely look forward to joining again if splocik hosts it in 2025.

Check out the range of creativity and crafts for September here -https://splocik2.blogspot.com/2024/10/male-dekoracje-2024-galeria-wrzesniowa.html

sneak peek variation

Pin It now!

 This is my submission for our #TALme2Endrucks Aug2023 game of the month. It is a variation on Ninetta Caruso's Garland pattern derived from Endrucks' pattern #20. The pattern was shared in 3 parts during the 3 weeks, and a 4th part on some surprise variations will be shared in a couple of days. Here's a peek into part of what might be expected, ;-D

Most participants have already finished and shared their beautiful versions. So sharing my variation will not cause any confusion now.

It was meant to have 8 repeats and 5 rounds. I have 7 repeats and a 6th round of rosette motifs.

 

This interesting pattern is worked from the outermost round. It has onion rings with thrown rings.

Onion Ring with Thrown Ring. A few members seemed to find it difficult to understand. Hence I quickly prepared this pictorial using 2 colours to show which shuttle was in action. It is the same process as for the Happy Hands patterns from #1 (https://tipsaroundthehome.blogspot.com/2021/03/balancing-act.html). But each tutorial I referred to, was missing in one feature or other that was need for this particular pattern. Hence it was simpler to follow the steps of this pattern without the need for detailed written explanation.  

The 2nd round is worked on the inner edge of the previous round, made of block tatting 'flowers'. In my first repeats I am sure there are mistakes in the block (the very first one was snipped) - it needed mindful tatting.

I may not have gotten the shape of the flowers very nice, but the construction is very clever, as is to be expected of Ninetta.

The inner space is filled by working 3 rounds, this time in the 'proper' order - ie., from the inside out ;-D

The center rosette is worked and cut off. The thread for Round 4 is attached and worked around. 

The left one has 8 repeats, as per the pattern. This time I had counted and followed correctly, LOL.

Round 5 continues from the previous one without cutting and it is the round that connects to the outer rounds. It was only at the 'final' join that I realized there had been a miscount!!! Nothing to it but to bring out the scissors and snip snip snip.

Tatted Rounds 3,4, and 5 again, this time with 7 repeats, and joined successfully. However I did not wish to change the count which is why you see the slight curve in the linking chains. However I kind of like the organic feel of this imperfection.

TIP: To get a neat point in parallel chains or with chains that turn back, as in the middle round, I always count the lock join as one half of the double stitch. It leaves a much smaller footprint.

I had the pleasure of test-tatting and proof-reading this clever pattern back in June. Well I messed up with the repeats, but it gave us a variation that lay flat. So not much was lost.

For some reason the tinted green felt too overbearing. Hence I wanted to tone it down a bit. So after a long tatting break, I picked my shuttles for 2 nights in August for some 'mindless' tatting .....

This is what I came up with - repeated the inner flower motif around the edge. I measured the distance between the rings and the picots on the chains. It was a good fit!

Design TIP: I had initially tatted a 6-ring rosette. Surprisingly it did not look nice! So the 2nd one was made with 7 rings and these reflected the pattern well. So the first one was snipped off. 

 

I intended to fill in the space between the motifs with purple and white flowers connected with a plain green trellis. However, my tatting buddy Anita Barry, completely forbade it! She called it finished at this stage. To assuage my designing curiosity I might still try out one repeat, but not in the near future since I'm back in the no-tatting zone.

The model is worked in Anchor Pearl Cotton size 8 [green 0128; purple 00087; yellow 00291; white; tinted purple 5393. It measures around 12.5cms without and about 16cms with motifs.

I had a great time tatting it and apologize for the inadvertent error in counting. Must go back to a Maths refresher class! However yet again a mistake led to a slight variation - I should call it 'Mistake Designing', LOL.

Many many thanks to Ninetta for her beautiful pattern and all the work that went into it and into organising the game. 

2 quick tips

Pin It now!

Well tips are strewn about my blog - have to stay true to the name of this blog ;-D. Following are 2 quick tips, one of which you may already be doing.

Straightening Unravelled Thread - wind and rest!

  

When we have to unravel/untat stitches, the thread gains kinks (fig1) that are not merely unsightly but often affect future tatting. It happens because the thread balance/twist is disturbed. A quick fix is to simply wind that thread back on to the shuttle or the ball (fig2), allow it to rest for a few minutes (a minimum of 10 minutes), and voila, the thread is almost back to normal (fig3)!

In fig2, I wound the unbalanced thread partly on shuttle and partly on ball to show that either works equally well. To quicken the process, slide the unravelled portion gently between fingers, a few times while winding back.

Simple and quick, right!

Turmeric Powder for Cuts - rub and forget! 

Every Indian household knows the immense benefits of turmeric, one of the basic spices in our cuisine. It has antiseptic and healing properties - internal as well as external. You must've heard of the 'new' rage  'golden milk'? It is simple 'haldi' (turmeric) milk, an almost timeless legacy.  

What is known in Western world as 'alternative system of medicine' is over 3,000 years old based on the more than 5,000 year old Ayurveda (Science of Life) philosophy. 

So anyway, who does not get cuts, including bleeding ones? The quickest way to disinfect the area, stop the blood flow, AND heal the cut almost instantly, is to RUB turmeric powder over the cut. A gentle but deep rub in one direction such that the powder can enter the slit. Rubbing it in hurts obviously, but Do It.

In the above pic, this cut is 3 days old and it is still reddish, sore, hurt every time it came in contact with water and soap. I had Not used turmeric powder - simply used a tissue to stem the flow which took several minutes. 

But I'd finally had enough and rubbed turmeric powder. 

The above pic is taken one day later, AFTER I had spent the entire morning in heavy spring cleaning, with my hands in soapy water, etc.! But I had No problem, no reminder that there was a cut there! 

The trick is to do this deep turmeric rub immediately (I was actually surprised that it worked on a 3-day old cut). It seems to cauterize the tiny blood vessels, thus not merely stemming blood flow, but eliminating all soreness, pain, sensitivity. It kind of closes up the open capillaries and scar tissue starts forming immediately. 

It is like apply, rub, and forget !!!

Remember to try it next time - and rubbing it in is Extremely important, not simply sprinkling/applying it on top. This was my own discovery and my family/friends have become 'converts' ;-D. Turmeric powder is part of my first-aid box, besides the kitchen.

The only drawback is that there is a chance of yellow stains on anything you handle for the next few minutes until you wash it away. And for very deep arterial cuts, it may not work because the flow is much stronger.

Some more quick tips - https://tipsaroundthehome.blogspot.com/search/label/quick%20tips

waltzing home

Pin It now!

Carin Jansen’s Angel Choir doily TAL 

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

tatting completed by ANITA  BARRY

As the final strains of the angelic melody dies down, the waltz comes to an end. It was an exhilarating and learning experience that will be treasured for years to come. We didn't just tat lace, we built memories, which is what tat-alongs are all about.

Ah, but it was not an easy romp home for Anita Barry, but no means! You remember her fixation anecdotes here and here? She wasn't wearing 6 inch heels while tatting, so why did more missteps and stumbling follow, despite having the finishing line in sight?!

Round 6 struck again, this time with 2 of the 3 rings in a trefoil missing (arrow in pic above).

Some colourful language followed when she noticed the miss! And who can blame her ;-P

Where there's a mistake, there's a fix!

Anita shared her tools of the trade...I like to call it tools of our craft ;-D

 

The strange looking pick top left is a thorn from the Agave Cactus! Cool, right?!

And on the right is the needle as picot gauge in action.

' The above are "self-threading" sewing needles used for sewing in thread ends. There is a slot above the eye of the needle to slide the thread down into the eye of the needle. '

' And my fabric Ort Bag (scrap bag) for my thread ends. It's a tiny trash bag.'

Round 7 in progress. She followed my example of making the picot at tip longer.

Whoop Whoop waltzing home finally ... 

' The angels are helping me learn more ways to improvise and showing others I Tat like they do with 'do overs'. '

One would think her doily is riddled with fixes. But look what emerged from it - 

We have her husband to thank for this inspiration - he wanted the angel from Carin's doily to have "More Heart"!

I think this quote sums it up nicely since Anita will be sharing this experience in a speech titled "Fear Knot" at the IOLI Convention this year, showcasing the international cooperation this doily embodies, as well as 'bumps and grinds Tatters get themselves into'. 

        Don’t carry your mistakes around with you. 

        Instead, place them under your feet and use them as stepping stones to rise above them. 

                – Anonymous © Source: quotespedia.org

It was Anita's idea early last year, to tat a doily together. We had zeroed in on the Mystery doily whenever we could. On seeing this doily, I just felt we could all use some angels in our lives during these weird times, and Anita graciously accepted. Who knew this doily would come to create so many personal memories for her, besides the ones we made mutually!

And we had the added pleasure of several other tatters tatting along. Use hashtag #AngelChoirTAL to find the doilies on facebook as well as in Just Tatting group. If you type 'Angel Choir' in the Just Tatting search engine, it will throw up more versions by tatters who uploaded their finished doilies. Do take a look at their beautiful work if you are a member there.

Many many thanks to my buddy Anita and all my other tatting friends who joined us in our journey!

Perhaps we can plan another joyful journey next year!

Thanks once again to Carin for sharing her lovely pattern.

All related posts, with joint notes on this doily tat along - 
https://tipsaroundthehome.blogspot.com/2021/01/two-to-tango.html 

https://tipsaroundthehome.blogspot.com/2021/01/a-quadrille-or-more.html
https://tipsaroundthehome.blogspot.com/2021/01/dance-nonstop.html
https://tipsaroundthehome.blogspot.com/2021/01/dancing-continuously.html
https://tipsaroundthehome.blogspot.com/2021/01/the-dance-continues.html
https://tipsaroundthehome.blogspot.com/2021/01/fixtrot-to-foxtrot.html
https://tipsaroundthehome.blogspot.com/2021/02/treading-lightly.html
https://tipsaroundthehome.blogspot.com/2021/02/all-song-and-dance.html
https://tipsaroundthehome.blogspot.com/2021/02/waltzing-home.html