Derailed a bit

I caught a nasty cold earlier this week. I’m spending all my energy getting healthy. I hope to be back by the end of the weekend.

Here’s what I got so far

The Revers pattern was fairly straight forward. It uses 5 different starts. That's a lot of ends to hide. It also uses a downward picot between chains used for joins to 2 rings. Not necessarily tricky as the photo is clear. 

I used up bits of thread from other projects. The white is Aunt Lydia cotton size 20 and the beige and multi- variegated is Lizbeth size 20.

Next try is in size 80 thread.

Que peux tu revers?

 That’s a poor translation into French of what I think it says. In the current Handy Hands Newsletter there is a pattern for a Rever; a piece of lace intended to decorate a lapel of a jacket or dress. I see an earring. With beads……lots of beads…….

Ready to block

I finished the tatting of the frame. Now to block.

I do not pin or starch to block my lace. Especially if I’ll be mounting the lace on fabric to frame behind glass. I don’t pin the picots. I don’t use a rolling pin to flatten the lace. I just give a good soak for a few minutes in plain water and then lay it out on a clean napkin or tea towel. Occasionally, I'll finger press things in place to dry. 

For this piece, I chose to move it to the grid once it dried for a few minutes. Then I gently pressed all the beads into place so that everything will lay flat for sewing it on the fabric. 

Turning a ..........

Corner.

Like many new tatters, I tackled edgings. I found patterns that were easier to follow. Then, I tried to come up with my own edging pattern. I thought I would be clever and adapt a bookmark pattern I enjoyed tatting. That worked until the corner.

That proved a bit more difficult than I expected. So, I did what I always do in music and asked more experienced tatters for tips. The best tip: consider how the straight part of the edging looks with a mirror set at a 45-degree angle. Most of the time, I could come up with a suitable solution. Most of the time.

Sometimes a browse through vintage books will solve the problem. Sometimes you just gotta sample, sample, sample.

Kinda like practice, practice, practice.

Fortunately for the frame I’m working on, the pattern is pretty easy to turn a corner with.

Both are good options

 Work on the frame is continuing. I’ve completed a round using this:

Plan is to build on that idea for this:

No progress can be good

I didn’t make a bit of progress on any of my projects. I went for a challenging hike instead. That took 5 hours of my time, but it was so worth it. I’m very hopeful that I have recovered from my brush with cardiac issues. I’ve learned how to adjust, and I have had a great deal of help.

Now back to the projects……