JS Doily 1 Update

Tatting the button ornaments is taking some time away from my Jan Stawasz's Doily 1.  I don't really mind that because the doily is a long-term project which I consider as something to fill my time when I am not creating new designs.

I am in the middle of Round 9 and it is now 38cm wide. I couldn't get a nice picture of the full doily so here is part of it.

I have also been crocheting during this pandemic.  I started on a Scheepjees CAL by Christina of the blog A Spoonful of Yarn called d'Histoire Naturelle. I decided to do the CAL to use up my yarn stash and stop when the yarn stash run out.  And it did before I completed the CAL.

There were six parts of the CAL. I managed to reach Part 6, but I had to omit some rounds to finish off mine.  Here is the photo of my final lap-rug, measuring 96cm square. The full size would have about 10cm more to it if I had had enough yarn.

I am very happy with this even though I was not able to do all the rounds.

Tatting project Updates.

 No new projects started since the completion of Harmony Tat-along, here is an update of a couple of WIPs

Jan Stawasz Doily 1, from Tatting Patterns and Theory.

I am still doing the individual motifs of Round 5, and there are six more to go. Upon completion of Rd 5, this doily will be about 28cm wide; still a long way to go to complete.

Thread is Coats Mercer size 40.

This square mat is my own design, made up of nine motifs joined together with four filler motifs.

Thread used is Olympus Special Gold Label in two shades, red and light variegated red.

Finished size is 23cm square.

Jan Stawasz doily again

This Jan Stawasz Doily 1 from his book Tatting Theory and Patterns is my long-term project that keeps me tatting in between burst of ideas.

 

I am at Round 5/15 now, which is made up of individual motifs. This round will take a while to finish as I don't exactly fancy individual motifs in a round. Thankfully, it is only this one round.

The thread I am using for this is Coats mercerised cotton in size 40.  A beautiful thread to tat with; tats smoothly and seldom twist when closing rings.  Sadly, I think this thread has been discontinued, but I have enough to complete this.

Jan Stawasz Masterpiece Doily - 2nd time.

Sometime in July 2016, I started on the Jan Stawasz Masterpiece doily all in white.  I finished the doily in June of 2018, tatting with size 20 Hakelgarn Online.

I have not posted a picture of the finished doily since completion as my laptop had gone kaput. Now that I had gotten myself a new computer, here is a photo of the completed doily.

I don't usually do a re-tat of a pattern,  but I have been seeing beautiful colourful photos of the JS Masterpiece in a FB group dedicated to tatting this doily.  I just had to make another one, in colours this time.

To challenge me further, for this 2nd time I am tatting using size 80!  Here it is up to Round 5.

This is another one of Jan Stawasz designs from one of his book, Tatting Theory & Patterns (if it is not in this one, then it should be in his other book).

This mat was tatted in size 40 and gifted it to a friend.  I had to make something for her since she had generously given me four 50gm balls of the tatting thread which she had been keeping for years and not used if for anything.

Took a break

I took a break from tatting to do other things. Specifically, I went for a week's holiday in Perth, Australia.
Here are some photos of my time spent in Perth and places around it.

View of the city taken fom the air as the plane approaches to land.

I am not a shopping person, so while the rest of the group went to look at the shops, my sister and I took a stroll in the Stirling Gardens.

I wish I could have spen more time along the narrow roads of Freemantle and in the quaint little shops, but here is the customary post outside the Freemantle Markets.  Another sister photo-bombed me here but she is looking so cute doing it, I let her be.

The Pinnacles is one place that I would highly recommend to anyone visiting Perth.  It is worth the 2hr 45min drive up, and there are many other interesting places that you can stop at along the way. 

The obligatory photo at Kings Park for an expansive view of Perth city and of the ocean.

On our last day, before leaving for the airport, we stopped to see the tulips at Araluen Botanic Park.  It was still very early spring/late winter and we are not sure if the tulips have bloomed. We were rewarded with some gorgeous flowers in various colour.  This photo is my favorite from the ones that I took.

One last photo at Araluen, showing the stream in the background.

Oh, also tasted the apple strudel touted as the best apple strudel in Australia. That went too fast, no one remembers to take a photo of it, he he he.

Back home, I continued with Round VI of the JS mammoth doily.  I had finished half-way of the round before the break.

Here is Round VI, done

I came back from the holidays in time for the closing ceremony of the Rio Olympics. Wasn't it wonderful that they had included a tribute to lacemakers in the ceremony?

Most of my crochets had been with thread, hence all my hooks are small-sized ones that I also use for making joins in tatting.  But I have some stash of yarns from long ago that I wanted to use up.  Bought a pack of larger sizes of hooks and started on this. It may be a scarf, or something else. I have not decided.

Round V

I was so happy to come to the end of Round V.  So happy, in fact that I made a small mistake. I forgot to tat over tail of the thread at the beginning of the last motif.

It may seem strange that I have ends to hide at the beginning since I am using only white throughout hence I could easily start with CTM.

Okay, let me explain. Maybe someone may find this logical or useful.

I am using two shuttles and I am not measuring the thread for each motif of Round V.  I use whatever balance in the shuttle to continue for the next motif.
For each motif of Round V, I did start with a CTM every time but only at the first ring of the clover. I just pulled enough thread from one shuttle and finger-tatted the first ring. Then I added thread from the other shuttle for the next ring of the clover, tatting over the tail of the thread of the first ring. I should have tatted over the thread end of the second ring in the third ring, but I forgot to do that, and that end is only an inch long.

So, it is not technically a mistake but more of an inconvenience.  I almost always sew in my ends.  In this case, there was a lot of threading and re-threading of that one inch long thread to finish off this round.
Oh, I have to say that I have been good and sewing in the ends of the 12 motifs, doing it straightaway after each motif is done.

And here is the full photo as at Round V.

It is now about 27cm wide or 10.5 inches.

Off to Round VI!

Slight Change in Round V

So, I have completed Round IV of JS Model 13 doily, It seems to lay out quite well right now.

I was having slight difficulty in reading the stitch count for Round V because the numbers are rather small in some parts.  I had an idea to look at JS other patterns from his book because I noticed that he liked to repeat some of his motifs in different doily/mat designs.  True enough, the first six rounds of this doily is very like Doily IV on page 56 in his book Tatting Theory and Patterns.

I was also aware, from the discussion thread in Craftree, that there may be errors or misprints of the chart for Round V, so I was very cautious as I began to tat this, more so with my plan to reduce the number of free picots in some of the rings. But, I think I have figured it out. A marked difference are as pointed out by the red arrows in the photo below.

I made a slight change in the shape of the rings joined to Round IV.
My stand here is, any change done consistently throughout becomes a design variation. In this case, the change is too minimal to alter the big picture and that is how I will continue for this round.

JS Doiy Model 13 Round 3 Completed

But not without a slight hiccup just before the end.

So, as in the previous post, I started over Round 3 because I noticed a mistake right at the beginning of the round.  The re-worked round looks much better.

As it seems to happen often to me, I ran out of the shuttle thread real close to the end,

There was only 5 inches of thread left for two rings and two chains.  I could use the SLT at this point and continue tatting but it would distort the shape at the base of the trefoil. So, I loaded the shuttle and finished the round.

After so many years of tatting, I don't particularly pay special attention to the amount of thread needed for any project.  I just loaded the shuttles and start tatting.  For a large project such as this JS doily, you can't escape running out of shuttle/ball thread.

But, it does help a lot to know the different methods of adding new thread.  I think knowing the techniques of adding new thread is one of the basic skills that every tatter should know. There are many tutorials available online showing the various method.
I wrote a tutorial on the knotless method in my How-To page here,
Jane Eborall included one in her techniques page as well.
Karen Cabrera shared a video tutorial of another method of adding thread.

Tatting is suppose to be enjoyed and running out of thread is not going to spoil that for me.

Round 3 and 1st mistake made

I started on Round 3 of the Model 13 Doily and made my first mistake.

There was something wrong in the rings of Round 3 as I looked at them. I looked at the pattern a few times and was very sure they were all correct, until I noticed that the rings at the base of the trefoil has an additional picot and three extra doublestitches.

I could undo all the stitches if I want to, seeing that I am still at the beginning of the round, but I decided to cut it off and start anew.

Having lots of this particular thread is another convincing factor to cut off, :)

The 'after' looks much better to me.

I am not very fond of picots with a single ds in between.  Somehow the picots get squashed when I do it like that. That is why I have altered some of the rings to have two doublestitches between picots, while still keeping to the same total number of stitches in each element.

Short Update

I should be sewing so this is a short one.

Just completed Round 2 of JS Monsterpiece.  There a very slight cupping which I think will flatten with pressing.  I was making small joining picots because I think that was how Jan Stawasz made his from photos in his two books.  For the next round onwards, I may make make the picots slightly bigger. I have also removed/rearranged some of the decorative picots for this project.

Seven more repeats to go for this crochet doily.  

The pattern for this doily in in Moje Robotke Nr 7 2009, for anyone who is interested in this.

One sewing project done, except for attaching buttons on the cuffs.

Another one is waiting at the sewing machine.

So, bye for now.

Jumping in with Eyes Wide Open

Yes, open-eyed, looking at all the beautiful Monsterpiece Doily, how could I not jump in!

I have been putting this off for so long. When Ginny Weathers showed her almost done Doily in Facebook recently, I finally decided I have to start on it.  If I am going to take a year or more to work on this Jan Stawasz doily, I might as well get cracking.  The longer I delay, the longer it will take to get done.
Hmm ... can you get my logic?

It was a toss up between a size 20 thread or at the other end a size 80. Common sense prevailed and I chose size 20 because I have already have lots of that in one colour, which happens to be white. No problems with matching the colours here.  This thread is German Hakelgarn, a soft 6-ply thread which is one of my favourite to tat with.

Oh well, just have to make sure that I wash my hands each time I want to work on it. I am not going to think any farther about what shade it will be a year from now, ha ha ha...

I should be doing a lot of something else around this time.  We are already half-way into Ramadhan and I have not sewn my garments for the celebratory 'Eid festivities.  Boxes of stuff from the re-painting of the house are not totally cleared and I have yet to think of the food to prepare for 'Eid.

Instead, if not tatting, I am doing this,

This crochet piece is from another Moje Robotki magazine (not the same as the one that has the Monsterpiece Doily in it)  This is crocheted with Omega thread size 50.

Oh, how wish tatting can be work up as quickly as crochet.
Okay, off to ponder what I should really be doing.

Oh, almost forgot ... I finished a UFO as well. A small doily, 19cm in diameter.

Thread is Milford mercer size 20.

Done and Drawn

My Jan Stawasz doily is finally done,

Jan Stawasz Doily XIII from his book Tatted Treasures.
Thread : Milford mercer # 60
Size: 39 cm

It took me just under six months to finish.  That may sound quite a long time to finish a doily, or maybe not, but there were frequent breaks in between. I did bring it with me on my holiday to Spain in November last year and managed to add some additional rounds to it.

This is a close-up of the doily,

The piece lay out quite reasonably well - I did not really need to block it.  Instead, I lightly press it with a steam iron and shape it as I go.

Oh, as you know, I was worried that I may not have enough thread to finish this. Well, this is how much of the thread left at the end of this project.

Okay, the result of the draw that most of you are waiting for. From the 37 names in the list, Happy-Kat came up tops. Congratulations Happy-Kat

Happy-Kat, I do not have any way of e-mailing you to let you know beforehand of your win. Please e-mail me your particulars within the next few days.  If I do not receive anything from you by Monday (12th Jan 2015), I will make another drawing.  I hope you understand.

Right, now I have to start putting some things together ...

New Year, Old Tatting,

This is what I am currently working on (posted earlier on my FB),  a Jan Stawasz doily from one of his books. I thought I can finish it by the new year and show you the completed piece, but other things got into my plans. The pic below is as it was at the penultimate round.

I have progressed a bit since then and started on the final round. This final round sort of ties up the loose motifs of the previous round.

What I am worried about now is the amount of thread left in the ball and the shuttle.  I think (hope) there is enough so that I don't have to buy a new ball just to finish a few repeats.  We'll see how it goes.

And, as for the new year .....

I could not say that it was a happy one for 2014.  So many things has happened that affected the nation, with the loss of two airplanes (one shot down and one still missing) in a space of a few months.  There were also the natural disasters - landslides in the highlands and flooding in several states.  Several areas are still innundated at the time of this post, while the water has receeded in other parts.  It is a long road to recovery and that will be a major part of 2015.

So will it be a Happy New Year 2015?

Well, why not!  There is no knowing what 2015 holds.  They say, good things come out from calamities.  People grew closer and differences can disappear, if everyone try their damnedest. I still have faith in people.

The giveaway below has ended.

Enough of the ramblings ....If you reach this far, this is the first good news of 2015.

I feel like celebrating this new year with a "blind" giveaway.  Yes, "blind".  That means, you won't know what I will be giving away.  Well, I don't even know what I will be giving away (not yet anyway)!

So, if you have faith in me, and want to try your luck, leave a comment and your name will be included in the draw. Closing date is 7th January and I will pick a name at random soon after that.

Jan Stawasz Doily III

My first completed Jan Stawasz pattern, Doily III from Tatting Theory and Patterns.

Measurement: 20.5cm square
Thread: Olympus Gold Label, 366 Solid, M13 grey variegated

I used up almost one ball of the grey variegated and about three-quarter of a ball of the solid blue.
I had started on another doily before this one but looks like I may have to start over on that one because it is not quite turning out how I would have liked.

Seen together in the photo are three of my treasured shuttles, a red clover, a milward and an engraved Hinton shuttle.

On another note, it was an eventful weekend for me.  I attended my class reunion celebrating 40 years since we were in school together. I attended an all-girls boarding school and 106 girls (ladies now) attended from six classes.  Here are the girls of my class, each successful in their own way. Certainly brought back a lot of memories.

Stawasz Doily XII

My current project is this doily by Jan Stawasz from his book Tatted Treasures.  

Happy that it is progressing rather well, even if at a slow speed.  I am even enjoying the fine thread of size 60.  I am trying to follow Jan's method as much as possible i.e. making the picots between the 1st and 2nd half stitches.

Was stuck at one time when trying to jump out to the next ring with split chains. That really got me at one point when I wanted to move out to the next round of small rings and chains.  Following Jan's method, I will end the first half of the chain with a 1st half-stitch, and proceed to make the split chain form the other ring at he beginning.  By that method, my split chain will have to end with a half-stitch as well so that the mock picot is formed correctly viewed from the other side.

Confused?  Well, Jan Stawasz's style is not that easy to decipher at the first attempt.

Anyway, my solution to the split chain problem is to make it from the front side, omitting one half stitch at the beginning of the 2nd half of the split chain.

Eid Mubarak

A little bit delayed, but

to all my Muslim friends and followers.  I hope, despite of what is happening around the world right now, it had been a wonderful celebration to all of you.

Eid was celebrated on Monday, 28th July in Malaysia. The celebration was rather subdued after the shocking and sad news of what had happened to our airline MH17 adn MH370 before this.  Most of the national celebration were toned down or put on hold in remembrance of the victims and their their families, who are still waiting for closure. Somehow, it does not feel right ....

On the tatting front, I am working on a Jan Stawasz doily from his book Tatted Treasures, on page 62-63. This is the progress at this time.

It is a bit flimsy working with size 60 thread, after the Olympus for the two previous doilies.  I was not even sure it will lay out properly after the first round of rings-and-chains, but it seems like it is turning out alright after I have attched the second rings-and-chains round. 

Jan Stawasz's Motif

Took a break from the square and tatted this from Jan Stawasz's book Tatted Treasures.  It is the motif of the table runner on pages 65 of the book.

I tried my best to follow his instruction on making the picot within a double stitch, i.e placing the picot between the first half and the second half of the double stitch.  It was not easy getting used to it, sometime I got it, other times I slipped back into the usual method. Unpicked a number of times because of it.

I do find a bit f a problem following the chart for this motif because the numbering of the stitch count jumps all over the chart.  I find that I have to read a different part of the chart for the middle group of rings and for the chains because the were not numbered in the working sequence in the chart like I am used to. 

Still, I am quite happy with this one.  I will be adding more to it as a way of taking a break from the square mat that I showed previously.  Here is a photo of it with a second square added.

These two squares used up almost one ball of the DMC size 80.  I only have one more ball of the thread so this will be a four-squares mat with maybe just enough for a thin border around it.