"Adalia"

 This is the third try and final result of the project that I started earlier. This is a one-pass design, i.e. the tatting was not in rounds but instead done in one go, moving in from the point, down to the middle and out again, completing each point one by one.

(Read here, https://tatsaway.blogspot.com/2023/07/still-tatting-but-was-distracted.html)

All I can say is that it was not an easy tat. It took me three tries to get this done. Even then there are still mistakes in this final version but they are passable mistakes that do not affect the final design.

I started in early June. 

The first attempt was to get the feel of the stitch count.

The second try was to get the construction process, i.e. to find the better way to move form one element to another in the construction.

The techniques used are basic for shuttle tatting.  What made it a difficult one for me was non-existent of symmetry in certain parts of the design .  I have to keep looking back at the previous parts to see what the next element is. I had to make sure that the shuttles are in the correct working position after each turn, reverse work or flip.

I am not even sure how to write the pattern for this.  I don't feel that the diagram alone is going to be enough !

To relax my mind in between tatting, I doodled.  Here is what is on my sketchpad pad right now.  It is far from finished but the main shapes are there.  I plan to add in darker strokes and shadings, maybe.

Flowers and Leaves

 I decided to do another Ruth Scharf project after completing Kesturi. 

I have tatted a Ruth Scharf design a few years ago and thought I'd give a go with another design. I picked a pattern from her second book 'Occhi - Neue Blatter', on page 30. 

This is the basic composition of the design, a set of four leaves and flower motifs surround it.  I decided to make the flowers in different colours, using threads that I have in my stash.

Below is where I am at this moment. There should be another set of four leaves at the bottom right which I am going to do next.

Aftetr the third set of leaves, I realised that it would be easier for me to do the leaves first and then make the flowers later and join them up. There will be another flower in the space in the middle of the four set of leaves, which I plan to use bright solid colour. I am thinking of deep yellow to signify the sun.

Now that understood the construction and assembly of this Ruth Scharf design, I fell  in to temptation and decided to join Renulek's Spring 2023 Tat-Along. I have completed the first two rounds and now waiting for the next part.

Project Abandoned

 I abandoned the project that I started earlier, the one with the blue/green/tan thread.

I decided that I didn't like it as much when I added the orange thread.

I actually finished the round but the piece didn't lay flat even after pressing.  There is some kind of rippling between the rounds.  It is not really visible in the photo but the ripples are there.

I snipped the whole orange round off.  This is how it look after I removed the orange round.

Looking at it for a while, I think I am going to leave it as it is for now.

This is an easy beginner pattern requiring shuttle-and-ball.  Maybe later,  I'll draw up the full chart.

More on the Nameless Project

 I added a few more rows to the initial motif that I started just to empty shuttles (previous post)

All the previous rows were tatted with shuttle-and-ball.  I wanted to do something different and used split rings for the next round.

What do you think of the new colour?
I should really name this piece, for easy reference at least.  Stump for a name, though.

6-point doily

While waiting for a good name to come, 6-poibt doily is the working name for this.

I am my worse critique. There are some things that I like and some not so about this doily.

Generally, I am pleased.with the design but the small bits that I think need changing are what I see staring back at me.

I am doing this again! This time in a solid colour. Hopefully, it will show up the lines and design flow better.

p.s. another point on the Blogger mobile apps. 

It only allows me to post, edit, view or delete my own posts. I can reply to comments on my posts.

I cannot read other blogs. To do that I have to open the web view on my laptop.

Presenting "Solaris"

 The doily with no name, shared here is now called 'Solaris' and the pattern is now available for purchase.

I had a great time working on the design for Solaris. If you like this design as much as I did, you can tat it, too. I tatted this with size 40 thread and the full size is 27cm across.

The pattern is now available for purchase through AlenAlea's Design on Etsy. While you are there, you may want to pick the thread to tat this from the luscious hand-dyed thread that is listed in the shop.

(https://www.etsy.com/listing/987667227/solaris-by-jon-yusoff-tatted-doily?ref=shop_home_active_1&crt=1)

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.

14-Day Tatting Challenge

[This topic was posted in my Facebook Page, Tat-a-Renda a few days ago.]

To keep my mind active and not be thinking to much about the current situation, I have embarked on a challenge for myself.  I called this my 14-day Challenge; i.e. to complete a new design in 14 days.  It is a challenge for me, but you are welcome to join me and tat-along.  There should be be no rush on your part.

Instructions for Day 1/14 to Day 7/14 has been posted in my Facebook page. I am now sharing this here for tatters who don't frequent facebook.  I will update the coming days' instructions in Facebook and copying it here as well.

Day 1/14

Day 2/14
If you see some bowling appearing, you can change the chains count to (5-4-4-4-5).
That is the feedback I get on my FB page from tatters who have tatted this.

Day 3/14

Day 4/14
All rings are (4-4-4-4) , with joins as shown in the photo.
All chains are (4-4-4-4)

Day 5/14
The big rings are (4-4-4-4) placing the joins as shown in the photo.
The small rings are (5-5), placing the joins as shown.
Short chain are (4-4) and long chains are (5-5)

Day 6/14
Small rings are (6-6) joined as shown.
The slightly bigger rings are (3-3-3-3), joined as shown.
All chains are 4 counts separated by picots.

Day 7/14
Similar counts to Day 6, but with an additional  (3-3-3-3) ring for each segment.
All chains have 4ds separated by picots, as shown.

After Day 6/14, I see a trend emerging in the design which I quite like. The piece can now be separated into eight segments and the pattern for Day 6/14 be repeated for each segment. As you can see in Day 7/14, the instructions for Day 6/14 is repeated but with an addition of one (3-3-3-3) ring in each segment. I plan to continue with this trend for a few more rounds.

p.s. Some have asked for a detali written instructions for this.  I am not going to do that at this time.  It will take much longer for me to write the full instructions and will not be able to meet my challenge if I do that.

Stay safe and stay in

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.

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!

Hearts All Done

Finally.

A number of tatters have asked for the pattern when I posted my progress on my FB page.
The pattern for the doily is from the Land of Laces blog.  It was published bt the blog author in several parts.  You may have to scroll down several pages to get the pattern since it was published a while back.

The thread that I used for my doily is DMC perle cotton no.12.  Not really a fan of perle for tatting but I had to try it at least once to find out how it feels.  Well, still not a fan.  The thread fuzzes up easily, understandable since it is loose twist 2-ply.  The picots splits, which made it harder to join, especially if the picots are small.  May not consider using it again for future projects.

Photo on the grid mat to show the actual size after blocking

On white, to show the colors of thread used.

Close-up of the hearts

To Change or not to Change

This 

started as a re-work of this,

but, as it often happens, the mind wonders.

I have some issues with the (lower) pink doily, so I decided to re-work it. It is difficult to try and stick to the original design plan and it turned into the upper design.  I may decide to come back to the pink at some point.

Other tatting updates.
I have finished the Spring 2015 doily.

Size 40 milford in two shades, 16 inches wide.

Tatted a bookmark for a friend who wants to start tatting again,

Pattern by Robin Perfetti from the blog Tating by the Bay

I sewed a few fabrc bookmarks as part of a Crafting for Charity event by the Arts & Craft Guild, KL and Selangor. These were later finished with button embellishments but I forgot to take any photo with the buttons on.

I think this about sums up what I have been doing the past few months.

p.s. the title of the blog refers to the re-working of the pink doily.

p.p.s Oh, my birthday was at the end of August and I treated myself to these goodies.

A couple more tatting pics

This one is a 'what if I do it this way..' tatting and it turned out quite alright.

Thread is Olympus Gold label in teal and brown.
Finished size is just over 10cm

I don't usually find the need to block my tatting, suffice with pressing under several thick books. When I lifted the books to place this piece, this Amusement Doily (below) surfaced. I can't remember when I placed this doily under the books.  There are several books stacked together and I can press more than one piece at a time.  I guess this amusement doily was the one that I forgot

The thread is Lizbeth size 40 but I cannot remember the name.

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.

Spiderweb

The title has nothing at all with what I am writing about today.  Well, maybe a little.  This is a doily that I am currently tatting.  It is the Floral Bouquet Doily from the book New Tatting by Tomoko Morimoto and it looks like spiderweb to me.

Floral Bouquet Doily by Tomoko Morimoto from the book New Tatting

Most of the rounds are made out of chains, long and short ones. I showed another photo of this in my Facebook page and a tatter asked me how I manage to get my chains turning out right. I am not sure if I gave the correct answer for it.

Usually, I snug the double stitches right close and stop when I fell that they will not slide anymore.  I don't force them beyond that point.  I want to be able to see the form of each double stitch, and make out its 'legs'.

So, how do you keep your chains looking just right, not loose or bunched up together?

UFO no longer

I chanced upon a UFO while scrambling through my craft space.  It decided to fly off somewhere and now found its way back.  It left for quite a while when I first started on it, as I wrote in this post in 2011.

The pattern is the Clover Doily by Eileen Stafford  tatted in a size 50 or 60 thread.  I am not really sure of the size but you can see the label of the thread in the picture in the first link I gave above.

Pic taken after I just completed it.  It needs blocking because the doily is not lying flat.

On the blocking board under the fan, waiting to dry.  I normally use a blocking template but could not find one for this.

All blocked and dry.  The finished size after blocking is 22cm wide, or 8 3/4 inches.

I tatted the final round slightly different from the original pattern.  Instead of picots in the long chains of the final round I tatted floating Josephine knots (JK).  I felt that it looks more 'finished' with the JKs instead of picots.

While waiting for the doily to be blocked, I crocheted this purse.  It is made by joining two pieces of granny square and making a flap over the opening, held down by a button.  This is a cheap RM5 thread in size 10 that I thought I can use to teach tatting but just don't like the feel of it when tatted.  It crochets very well, though.

Firus Transformed

Umi of Umi's Embroidered Gifts in Facebook tatted a bunch of the Firus motif from my book Elegant Tatting Gems and transformed them into a stunning doily.

She then cleverly adapted part of a pattern from Jan Stawasz's book Tatted Treasures into edgings to enclose the motifs, modifying the stitch count to fit around the centre piece.

I think Umi did great with this.

Umi is more well-known for her beautiful ribbon flowers which you can see in her flicker page.

Need a Name for a Doily

Remember this doily?

It is done.

I was considering adding a few more rows to it, maybe repeating the scallops, but I think it looks just nice as it is.  The finished doily is about 8 inches wide or 21cm, tatted with Milford 40.  Even though it says size 40, the thread feels like a size 30 to me.  Despite some twisting, it is a beautiful thread.

I have drawn the chart for it and will be writing the full instructions to include with the chart.

I am searching for a name to give to this doily and suggestions are welcome.  The only name that comes to mind is "Scallop Doily" but I will be happy to consider other suggestions.

Next, some of you were wondering what I plan to do with the Mary Konior motifs that I showed here.

Now that the project is done, I can share it.  It is for a multi-craft quilt project undertaken by a group of crafters.  This is my block,

It was prepared for a very special person and I will share a full picture of the quilt in a later post together with the story behind it.

After the lull

After taking a tatting break following the huge work on the Mystery Doily, I picked up the shuttles again.

I wanted to re-work this doily after comments from my test-tatter (thank you, Lady Test-Tatter). As often happens, I get distracted by new ideas that seem to push everything else away, and this is what turned out.

I still need to do the re-work of the earlier doily as there are some interesting elements in there that I want to keep.  I just hope I don't get distracted again.

Doily WIP - thread is Milford Mercer #40

At this point, when I finish this last round, the doily's measurement will be about 8 inches wide.  I am having a thought as to whether I should stop at this round or add more rounds to it.

In the meantime, I decide to try a new technique that I have not tried before, Maltese rings.  Here are a couple of my attempts, 

It was quite confusing at the beginning, but once I understand the concept it flows quite smoothly. And this is the real thing,

This is Gloria's Maltese Bookmark pattern by Martha Ess.  The thread used is Lisbeth 684 for the solid and Lizbeth 109 for the multi-coloured, both in size 40.  You may not be able to see it in the picture, but each maltese ring is of a different colour - one the surprises of using variegated thread in tatting.

This unfinished oval medallion is a Norma Benporath pattern from her book, "Tatting Illustrated'.  I plan to turn it into another bookmark.