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

'coz we are tatters

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On International Tatting Day, 2015,

this nonsense verse is dedicated to us, the quirky Tatterati !!!

'Coz We Are Tatters 

The room is all a-clutter
The family a-grumble,  a-mutter,
But my heart is still a-flutter,
Stashing more thread is all that matters
'Coz I am a tatter.

"That money's for food !"
Oh, honey, I'm sure we're good.
Need a new shuttle in wood
Diversifying my collection is all that matters
'Coz I am a tatter .

There's a new book online
Well I mayn't tat a design
But that book has to be mine
Stocking my library is all that matters
'Coz, peeps, I am very much a tatter !
                     (muskaan . March 2015)

Make lace, not war :-D


Earlier today (31st March), Patty D, in a Craftree thread, wished that "there was a Tatter's Song". That’s when my brain went into overdrive ;-P   Well, I couldn't belt out a verse on tatting,  but tatters & our obsession with collection did emerge .

Feel free to use it as you wish (with credit).... spread tatting and good cheer today, and always :-D

 Chat 'n' Tat 'coz we're the Tatterati !!!