Tatting With Size 80

One ball of size 80, DMC in particular, fills up just under four shuttles.

How do I know?

I have been working with size 80 thread this past week.  I have not worked with anything smaller than 40 but for this current project I will be needing more than one ball and the only ones that I have is the size 80.  I have forgotten how it felt tatting with fine thread and now I understand why some tatters keep picking up these fine sizes to work with.

I have finished one motif of the project and it used up almost half a ball of the size 80.  The way it is going I did the right thing to pick that thread because I am going to need at least two balls for it.

This is what I managed to finish with two full shuttles of size 80, one square and a little bit more of the second square motif.  The complete square is 4.5in wide (11.5cm).

I like to join similar motifs together to see if there are any underlying design the pops up, and I think this is one of those time that it may turn out quite well. If you have been to my facebook page Tat-a-Renda, you would have seen a representation of it.  Here it is again, for those who are not on Facebook.

Janet

This post is about a lovely friend, Janet.

I have known Janet for slightly more than seven years.  A bubbly person with always a pretty smile on her face.  A very good and generous crafter always sharing tips and technique on a variety of craft - patchwork, cross-stitch, tatting, fabric poscards, moos, whatever that you can think of.  She regularly attended our craft meets even when she had to travel far by bus or train.

Sadly, early this morning Janet left us due to cancer.

This tatting quilt block that I made was for her.

When Nik (the owner of the NNC craft group) realised that Janet's health was detriorating, she decided that the members should do something for her to cheer her up.  The idea was mooted late last year where it was decided that we should make a quilt.  So, a number of us agreed to prepare a block each for the quilt using our own craft ideas.

The assembly of the quilt was not without some anxious moments since the blocks are coming from all over the place, including from Switzerland and the US, with the one from the US held by customs for quite a number of days.   But, thankfully, the higher powers know what and why we are doing this, and the quilt was finally done last week.

Nik, Rose, Paul and Radha hand-delivered the quilt to Janet at the hospital on Saturday and today, four days later, we received the sad news of her passing.

I will always remember Janet for her beautiful smile, and will cherish the gifts that she made for me.
My condolences to her family.

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.

The Non-resolution

I have never started a new year with any kind of resolutions, and I don't plan to make it any different for 2014.  But, I received this meme on my phone which I think are both fascinating and compelling at the same time.  I don't know where this originates but thank you to the one who shared this with me.

Like I said, this is not a list of resolutions, but I am just sharing some of it here.

Drink plenty of water

I can do this and will continue to.

Eat Breakfast like a king,  Lunch like a prince & Dinner like a beggar.
I try not to skip breakfast, but certainly not to have one like a king.  Sometimes I skip lunch but not dinner.

Live with the 3 E's - Energy, Enthusiasm & Empathy.
So true

Make time to pray.
Food for the soul.

Play more games.
Huh? I play with my shuttles - does that count?

Read more books than you did in 2013.
Ha ha .... I just need to read one book and I have met this target.... errr... does this include tatting books?

Sit in silence for at least 10 minutes each day.
I do this all the time when I tat - not a problem here.

Sleep for 7 hours.
hmmm .... sacrifice my tatting to sleep?

Take a 10-30 minutes walk daily And while you walk, Smile.
It feels much better when people smile back at me, :)

Don't over do. Keep your limits.
What? Don't know if I can when I am tatting!

Don't take yourself so seriously.  No one else does.
Oh, I never do.

Don't waste your precious energy on gossip.
I can't afford to gossip, I will miss my stitch count.

Dream more while you are awake.
I don't dream during my waking hours, I tat.

Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.
I have enough shuttles and thread, I don't need to envy anyone ... I think.

Life is too short to waste time hating anyone. Don't hate others.
Teach them how to tat.
Make peace with your past so it won't spoil the present.
This is difficult - I won't be at peace until I correct that mistake in the last round.

No one is in charge of your happiness except you.
I am happy tatting what I want and the way I want.

You don't have to win every argument, agree to disagree.

Tatters call this creative diversion.

Each day give something good to others.
Yes - give them a tatted butterfly

Forgive everyone for everything.
I am not strong enough yet for this if it affects my tatting patterns, I am sorry.

Spend time with people over the age of 70 & under the age of 6.
Learn from the senior tatters and teach the young ones.

Try to make at least three people smile each day.
TIP - Tat in public

What other people think of you is none of your business.
But I'd love to know what other people think of my tatting - good or bad.

When awake in the morning thank GOD for it.
Aamiin

Your inner most is always happy. So, be happy.

This is a no-brainer - tatters are happy people.

I hope this made you smile, :)

Happy New Year everyone!

Blue Mary's

In a rush to tat some motifs for a project, I turn to one of my favorite designers, Mary Konior.  These are what I have chosen from the book 'Tatting with Visual Patterns".

Quuen of Hearts

Posy

Maids of Honour

As to what they will be turned into, you'll have to wait a while for that.  The thread is Lizbeth no. 142 size 40.

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.

Mystery Doily - Epilogue

I was so excited to share my finished Mystery Doily in the earlier post that I forgot to add a few details about it.  Even if I did, I may lose you attention mid-way because it will be a lengthy one.  So, here it is  now.

The Mystery Doily pattern is from here for the full length instructions by Vickie Reynolds or here for the diagrammatic form prepared by PattyD.
The threads used are Lizbeth size 40 in two colours; 127 for the multicoloured and 615 for the solid.  All rings are tatted using the multicoloured thread and all chains are in yellow.
The amount of thread used; almost three-quarters of a new ball of thread for the multi-coloured and half a ball for the solid.
The finished size is 10.25 inches or 26cm in diameter.

Now for a little bit more detail, but before that -
I am not finding fault in any of the two instructions available to tat this doily.  I am just sharing my observations when I compared Vickie's and Patty's version, in order to get the version that I am happy with.  You may or may not agree with me on this.

If you compare Vickie's and Patty's version, you will notice a difference in the stitch count for the chains; 4-4-4+4-4 in Vickie's and 4-2-4+2-4 in Patty's.  You can use either for the doily, I don't think there is much difference in the end result.  But for my Mystery Doily, I used both stitch count for the different rounds; Patty's version in rounds 1, 3 and 5, and Vickie's version in rounds 2, 4 and 6.

Why?

I noticed that my chains are being pushed up if I use 4-4-4+4-4 (Vickie's) in rounds 1, 3 and 5.  And conversely, I have to really stretch the chains if I use 4-2-4+2-4 (Patty's) in rounds 2, 4,. and 6 to avoid the bowling or cupping effect.

I also noticed a difference in the number of rings in the inner cluster for Round 4 (that are joined to Round 3); a 5 5 6 5 5 6 sequence in Patty's while Vickie's are all 6-rings cluster.  I decided to use Vickie's version for round 4 because that it what I see when I studied the picture of the doily given by Georgia in her website.

Other than these two main points, the rest of the doily was tatted as the pattern.