Keeping track

 

I encourage students to consider “mistakes” are really just variations. Most of the time, what we see as mistakes aren’t really that bad: the odd loose stitch, a small picot instead of a larger one, or a larger instead of a smaller, a forgotten ring or chain section, or added extra. You get the idea. When tatting up my sample for next week’s class, I knew I wanted it to be rectangular to use with our oval table. So, how many squares to tat per side? All was well until the second long side. I kept second guessing where I was at. You guessed it, I made mistake after mistake. I finally made a small chart in frustration:

I have included a similar chart at the end of the pattern I’ll give to the students. They can use it, or not. It will be their choice. Me, I need simple and clear and ways to reduce the noise as I tat;  a bit like using a bookmark when I’m working through a text. I love post-it notes!

Oh, and bookmarks….

Is it any wonder that I like bookmarks…..and have tatted a few…..just a few….?

If you need the link to sign up: https://www.thelacemuseum.org/workshops.html

Clipped the Climbing out

I’m always interested in finding ways to avoid hiding ends by climbing out from one round to another. 

As I finished Round 3 of the bun holder, I carefully worked a split chain and started on what I thought would work for row 4. I decided it didn’t work. 

So, out came the scissors and the split chain disappeared (After the sun came out the next day!) And ends to hide……

I think my idea will work, but I want to measure to make sure the row will lay flat and not cup or ruffle. When I figure it out, I'll let you know.

Ornament for the Fair

What do you do with tatted bits that can’t be used? Well, find a use for them!

Sonata for Bach Festival

Remember this? 

While tatting Sonata, I missed a crucial join in the next to last round. The result? Get out the scissors. I discovered this when I was very close to finishing the last round, so what to do with that tatting?

Experiment with covering an ornament ball.

Handy Hands sells these, and I picked up some glass ones during a sale. 

The black looked very nice against the redish metallic looking glass.

I had a shuttle with a bit of green left from the Candle Cuff, so get out some bling thread and put it all together.

The judge liked it too!

Moral: Don’t bin any tatting…….

So, now I know

I figured out why I was stalled on blocking the Saint Saens. I wasn’t confident there wasn’t a huge mistake. Yes, that last sentence had a double negative. Doubly upset is how I felt Tuesday evening.

 I went ahead and blocked the doily once. I figured I’d be blocking it 2 or 3 times. There’s a lot of negative space and different techniques. So, I really haven’t examined it closely. Well, closely enough. I knew the individual motifs for Round 2 were correct as was Round 1. I knew things got connected well as Round 2 was finished. I knew everything was correct enough to do Round 3. But, it wasn’t correct enough.

I joined one of the D motifs to the wrong point of an A motif.

Several factors stalled me Tuesday evening and Wednesday morning:

I needed to prepare for the Executive Committee meeting of the AGO chapter I serve.

I hate cutting out sections as that means patching in new tatting and hiding ends (like 6 ends)

The area with the mistake is all split rings. I hate unpicking split rings. Not even calling it retro tatting helps me to feel calm about it.

We needed to pay attention to the computer I use for Picotsnkeys tasks AND the computer I use to pay bills and keep track of our budget. Both are aging. As my daughter puts it, “that laptop is working because of duct tape, rubber bands, and spit.”

I just don’t have much patience left over trying to navigate the next 5 years of transition in my life.

All told, I didn’t spend a lot of mental energy on figuring out my next step until Wednesday morning. After mulling it over and thinking hard, I deduced that 30 DS needed to be got rid of. That’s how many DS are in 5 split rings in this part of the pattern. So, after I spent 4 hours with scissors and pointy things and magnifying glasses, I’ve gotten to the point I think I need to be to repair this effectively.

I woke up achy this morning after all that upset and work. I’m not sure I’ll have what it takes to correct it all today. I’d like to attend a Guild meeting at the Lace Museum and Rehearsal. We’ll see what I accomplish today. Regardless, by next post I’ll have it fixed and the doily blocked. Maybe I’ll even get it mounted. So, more then.