How much thread to use?

That question comes up a lot. With just about every pattern I do, I try to estimate how much thread I’ll need to wind on the shuttle, if I should use a ball or wind thread on a second shuttle. And if I’m using a needle or the hooks, there’s more questions: what size to use and how much thread to reserve for chains and such.

So, as I tat up these samples for Starfish Fiber, I’m getting answers to the questions. Short answers: Use 2 shuttles and for size 10, I need 7 yards wound on each shuttle. If you look carefully, you can see where I had to add thread…..to both shuttles! (awkward!!)

I’ll be tatting the pattern using size 80 next. I doubt I’ll need 7 yards on either shuttle. Care to guess how much I will end up needing on either shuttle?

And for those that are sitting on the edge of their chair, I estimate by wrapping around my hand the number of times I’ll be tatting rings, then adding a bit more for chains and then 18” or so for comfortable movement of shuttle etc. Not scientific and when I’m doing a pattern repeatedly or for a class, I make more exact notes. The devil is in the details.

Exploring gift ideas

I belong to a chapter of the EGA. Most of the projects are a bit beyond my stitching skill level. I try, but I don’t produce heirloom quality stitching. I started getting involved so that I could learn how to add tatting to more things. I’ve learned a lot.

This is a little sachet with Cross-stitch and Stem stitch. I did my best, but I think I missed the mark. I didn’t get the chance to examine what other people did close up. I hope to see more of them in the future.

 I decided to tat something “thistley” up to sew on the back. I kludged together a couple of patterns. I think this hit the mark.

Taking time

 I have to remember to take time.

Take time to read the pattern all the way through (1 shuttle, 1 shuttle with ball, or 2 shuttles)

Take time to rest (walk along the Bay or through the woods)

Take time to untat that ring (Ok, the one 3 rings ago)

Take time to block and finish the lace (“there’s too many mistakes in this one”)

I have to remember to take time.

I did earlier this week. The sun was behind clouds, but here’s what I could capture of some wild irises:

More samples ready

 The next sample I tatted for Starfish Fibers.

The pattern is vintage. I haven’t really tweaked it except for using smaller picots to join things up. I do like the bright colors!

Pausing while a bit of shaking goes on

I had great plans to finish up some projects this morning. I may get to them, but first I must make sure everything is still OK with the house.

Early this morning, we experienced a jolt that woke us up. A quick peak around to make sure nothing was really broken, no wires down, or water gushing and back to sleep. You can go to the USGS website here to see the data, but you may need to change the settings to give you earthquakes that happened earlier than the default (1 day) or change the map to show more detail (Zoom in to the San Francisco Bay area with about 100 miles radius showing).

We live in a historic home. It was built around 1910. We live on granite and the house is sturdy. It’ll take The Big One to do significant damage, but by then our whole town will be at the bottom of the MontereyCanyon in the Bay. We did have a brief shake, but no rolling or anything. The house didn’t slip and no damage to the utilities. Later we’ll look around outside. Make sure there’s no cracks or trees down etc.

Then I’ll get to the projects. Today also starts the Triuum. As part of the music leadership, I’ll be busy the next 4 days. I’ll be prepared with some easy tatting I can do in the down time between the activity. Maybe I’ll finish a bootie.

Getting it together

 I’ve made a start on using all those beads. I think I’m on the right track. We’ll see if I can figure out a way to tie together the 3 motifs. Some way that makes sense together.

Ready or not, ...........

 Here I come!

It took a while to load all these beads. They are so close in size to the thread that I couldn’t use a needle at all. Not even with a helper thread*. So, I dipped the end of the thread in white glue and let it dry to “needle” the thread. That worked. This is explained well with pictures on Jane Eborall’sTechnique page about beads. There’s about 500-600 beads on my thread now. Ready to tat!

* I like to use beads close to the diameter of the thread. I feel they sit better on the thread and look a bit neater. To do that, I thread the needle with thin thread (Sliver metallic thread works well), pass the needle through the bead so that it rest on the thin thread, pass the needle back through the bead creating a loop of the thin thread, placing end of  the thread to tat with through this loop, transferring the bead onto the tatting thread (which makes a loop) and drawing the tatting thread end through the bead (which leaves the bead on the tatting thread. Wind up your shuttles or thread your needle and your ready to create lace with beads.