Doublestitch brush

As most may know, I like to design my own tatting patterns.  You may see these patterns under the respective tabs in this blog. Sometimes I write the patterns in full and publish them together with charts, sometimes they are only in chart form.  Personally, I prefer charts to fully written pattern as I am more of a visual person and can grasp things quicker when I see a chart or a diagram or a tabulation in the discussion.

I have just finished a major tatting project and have some time at hand, at least before I am tempted to pick up the Monster doily again after putting it away for the recently completed project.

I draw my tatting chart/diagram using the computer software Serif Draw+ X5.  There is a later version but I don't really feel the need to change this to the newer version.

Anyway, this software has a 'brush' feature where you can draw lines or outline of shapes in different style/pattern. Here is  sample of embroidery stitches available with the software,

But, there is none for the doublestitches in tatting! So, I experimented with creating my own brush and this is what I managed to do.

This is how it looks as a flower.  This flower is drawn using the quick shape feature of the software.

Obviously, there are still lots of tweaking to do. In fact, I am not totally sure if this will come handy for my charts because of the different stitch counts in the different elements of the pattern.

Still, I find this kind of interesting considering that I am not a trained designer and learn as I go on how to use this software.

Oh, you are waiting to see a photo of the major tatting project!
That will be a later post, sorry .......

Coquille

No excuses for being silent for so long. Sorry.

Well, the last post was about my trip to Japan.  Since then, I have been to Norway, Sweden and Finland spending a good two weeks savoring the breath-taking views of the fjords, glaciers and  learning the histories of the respective countries. Tavelled by bus, train, plane and took the cruise ship across the Baltic Sea, where I had a wonderful view of the sunrise.

But, this post is not about the trip.

August is a special month for me and I want to share it with all my readers and followers.

This doily was designed in 2014 and I was keeping it for a good time to share it, .... and it slipped my mind until now.  I wrote a post about this doily asking for suggestion to name it. Kathy Nicklewicz suggested the name "Coquille". It is short and simple, which I like very much, hence the name. Thank you Kathy.

And the good news is I am sharing this pattern for free.
You can download this from Google drive through this link,
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0Bz--YEf52NIRTkEwblhIbnBZTmM/view?usp=sharing

Please, please, this is a free pattern.
You do not have to pay for it. 
There have been many posts about certain people taking free patterns and selling them.  I don't know which is worse, selling free patterns or sharing copyrighted patterns for free. Feels like it is stealing either way.

oops .. sorry ... venting a bit ....

Anyway,  you can sell anything that you make from this pattern, if you wish.

This is my first time sharing anything through Google Drive, so they may be hiccups along the way. If so, Please let me know and I will make corrections if I can. When it comes to computers,, I am not really tech-savvy, actually.

Enjoy!

I was in Japan

Warning: photo-laden post coming up

A small group of old school friends, seven of us, decided to visit Japan early April.  We particularly wanted to catch the beautiful sight of the sakuras, and boy we sure did.  I am going to let the photos tell the story - not in the sequence that it had taken place

Entrance to the Osaka Castle

Found a piece of the homeland here

Chanced upon a monthly fleamarket at the railway station on the way to Nara

Was amazed at how tall and straight the bamboos shoot up to the sky

Bamboo groves - looking up as Arashiyama, Kyoto

Bridge over the Oi River, Arashiyama

Supposedly the oldest sakura tree in Kiyomizudera Park, Kyoto

A geisha at Gion Street, Kyoto.  Can't imagine how she can walk wearing that kind of shoes.

Himeji Castle, Himeji

The fishes, in clear water of the pond  in Koko-en Garden, Himjei

We feasted on the sakuras - Koko-en Garden

In the park leading to Himeji Castle

Leading to the Tokyo Tower

Went up the mountain to walk in the Ogimachi Village - a UNESCO heritage site

Took a ride on the Shinkansen bullet train for the first time and a couple more times after that

On one occasion, we had the whole coach of the Sinkansen to ourselves.

Another first - tasted onigiri, the japanese fast food on the go.

And to round it up, this was waiting for me when I returned from the trip.