Doily and Gifts

Finally finished the round of the doily that is made up of small round motifs.


I am a bit apprehensive about the next round though. You see, it requires leaving bare thread between rings. I am never good at estimating how much thread I need to leave before making the next ring. They are seldom of consistent length, sometimes longer and sometimes shorter than it should be. Does anyone have any tips to make then of regular length?

Then, there is the problem regarding tension. My rings are usually closed quite tight. I anticipate a number of re-dos before I can get it right.

Or, the easy way out - I can just stop here. It doesn't look too bad as it is, although there are four more rounds to go. It is quite large enough already at 24cm (9.5 inches) across.

What say you all - do I continue or stop here?

On a another, happier note - I received some lovely thread from Ulla in Sweden. Ulla wrote in the ShuttleandNeedles Yahoo group offering some thread to anyone interested. All we needed to do was e-mail our addresses, which I did promptly.

And these are what I received. Five balls of Altin Basak thread in size 50 in such beautiful colours. Thank you Ulla.


As you can see, I have started something with them. It is the beginning of the 'Arches' doily from the Yarnplayer. The pattern for the doily is here.

Comments

  1. I Love it the way it is! I thought it was finished! Like you, I am not good at that "bare thread between rings" thing, either. I don't like having to pick up a tool to measure it, either! I just wanna TAT! LOL! Sometimes I notice that the ring "moves" on the bare thread when I close it so there ends up being more thread than what I had measured out...maybe I should take that into account next time...but it doesn't seem to be consistent, either...hmmm...maybe if I paid enough attention to it I could figure the subtleties that make a person really good at that.

    ....aaaaaaand I'm rambling! LOL!

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  2. It's beautiful now as it is, Jon! But I'd enjoy seeing it with the additional 4 rounds.

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  3. It looks beautiful as it is Jon, I have found that when I need to leave thread space if you use beads or bugle beads you can get the exact length every time,,maybe you want to do that???
    But it is beautiful just as it is if you don't want to continue.
    And you received such beautiful threads..Lucky gal!

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  4. Oh I feel this doily is gorgeous and sufficiently large, Jon. The colours are lovely.

    And you are so lucky to have received all the thread to test them out. Tell us how they tat.

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  5. Good for you receiving those beautiful threads. Have you used Altin Basak before? I have and love them!!!! Your doily is great just the way it is.
    Happy Tatting

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  6. You asked - do it!! It is an opportunity to stretch your already wonderfully competent and talented wings and grow even more! You can always remove it if it doesn't please you. You already know all this! : )) Fox

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  7. Good Morning Jon, yes, your doily does look lovely just as it is, but if you want to finish it so you have a larger one, then use a picot gauge or cut a piece of plastic from a lid or other item that is the correct width. Use that to measure your thread space just as you would a picot gauge

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  8. The doiley looks like such a lot of work, but it is beautiful. Altin basak thread is very pretty in such lovely colours, if a little soft. Arches doiley is looking nice, another to do!

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  9. I think if it were me I would stop there. It looks lovely just how it is....
    :)

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  10. Wow! That doily is gorgeous! I've never been able to tat anything that big, so I would probably stop while I was ahead. I have done a bookmark several times that required leaving spaces of thread, and simply guesstimated about how much space to leave. I've never used a picot gauge, but maybe that would help?
    Sarah

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  11. I think the doily is lovely just as it is. I love the pink and green! Your new threads are beautiful too! I decided to print the Arches doily pattern to try some time.

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  12. Beautiful the doily. Your threads colours from Ulla is also nice.

    Looks like we are doing the same doily but i'm not sure when mine will be completed.

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  13. The doily is beautiful! I think you should at least try the next round. I'm not much for a picot gauge either. I've actually marked my finger with a Sharpie (permanent fine tip marker) and used that as a gauge. At least you don't have to pick up a tool to try for evenly spaced rings that way.

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  14. The doily is looking beautiful and it would be a shame not to do the last 4 rows. Large doilies are rare and they are so special, so I vote, please finish it.

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  15. Happy to see the sweet doilies you are doing.I'm so happy you can use the yarns I'v sent you.Althi has realy wonderful colours and I really love the quality.
    Ulla

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  16. Reading all your comments, I am going to brave it and try and complete the doily in full. That means doing the remaining four rounds. Give me a few days and I'll show you some pictures.

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Thank you for your comments. I really appreciate it