sliding in ...
I discovered this when working the Angel Choir doily in size 80. The joining picots were extremely tiny - mere stubs. Often it was difficult to insert even a fine hook through such a tiny space. However when I inserted the hook from behind/backside (in order to make a down join), it went in smoothly! Hmmm...
I believe the reason lies in how threads lie. The close-up of backside of picot (pic above) shows that the adjoining stitches are mere vertical columns, whereas the picot when seen from front shows 2 horizontal bars on either side (pic below).I discovered this when working the Angel Choir doily in size 80. The joining picots were extremely tiny - mere stubs. Often it was difficult to insert even a fine hook through such a tiny space. However when I inserted the hook from behind/backside (in order to make a down join), it went in smoothly! Hmmm...
These horizontal bars create more friction thus making it difficult for the hook to slide in. There is not as much friction from behind and the vertical threads make way easily to accommodate the hook.
Would you agree?
Even if I was not making a down join, I inserted the hook from backside... this 'opens up' the picot space and the hook can then be inserted from the front.
Try it if you remember, and let me know if it works for you.
Isn't it annoying when we find a slab or uneven thread in the middle of our tatting? And then one has to make forced decisions, snips, ugliness, thread ends to hide, whatever!
When we load our shuttles, whether winding the thread around shuttle or walking shuttle over the thread, it is a good idea to let the thread slide gently between finger and thumb so that we can catch any slub or thread deformity in time and take timely decisions.
I've never used a machine to wind thread, but if some of you have, can you slide the thread between fingers before it loads on the bobbin/shuttle? Or is there any other way to catch the culprits beforehand? How do you manage?
Hope these little tips are useful. Do you have a quick tip to share?
But before sliding away, would you like to see some magic or maybe it's an optical illusion?!
sliding in some magic...
Well, I have absolutely no idea how this came about but take a dekko ...
All 3 screenshots were taken 3 days back at the same time. Look at the thumbnail encircled in red. It shows my 2 quick tips post in the feed of my (above), Jane McLellan, and Ninetta's blog!
The above thumbnail is of the 1st pic from my post - I had made it smaller to accommodate 3 in a row.
Spot the difference?😵
The ones in these other blogs show an image of the 4th pic from same post!
How'd it happen - any theories/solutions? It would be fun to replicate, eh bloggers 😄
