"But, really, why does anyone create? You feel a... a restlessness inside, a need to make something new, something no one has ever seen before. You want to add to the beauty and the richness of the world with a gift, an offering that is uniquely yours. It's an act of selfishness and generosity, all rolled into one."

-- Bruce Coville,
The Last Hunt

Saturday, August 10, 2013

The Wandering Path

Here is the penultimate round of Linda Davies' "Star Attraction" doily. (Note, this time I decided to link to Linda's blog, instead of directly to the pattern. If you scroll down her blog page a bit, you'll find links to lots of her patterns, including this one, in the right sidebar.)


I love the way the pink chains make a sort of meandering path around the doily, breaking up the blocks of blue. It occurs to me that if you used a variegated thread for the rings and a neutral colored solid for the chains, it would resemble a flower garden with a stone path wandering through it; or green chains would look like grass paths. I definitely think someone should tat it like this. Any takers?

I did have to block it after tatting this round. Those inward-pointing scallops all wanted to spread sideways, causing the whole thing to ruffle. Just a few pins and a little water brought them under control nicely. The next round has a ring that joins to the scallop to make it a complete circle (Did I mention how much I love the interplay between rounds on this doily?), so even without blocking the scallops would have been tamed by having that ring to hold them in place. However, the next round will be much easier to tat with this one lying flat.

At this point, it measures about 4 1/2 inches (11.4 cm) in diameter. The finished size will probably be a little over 5 inches. I was hoping for about 6 inches, so close enough.

10 comments:

  1. Gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous!!
    Love the flower garden color idea. May have to break down and try it!

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  2. The color play is wonderful! I'm not up for the challenge, but I would LOVE to see it done.

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  3. Yes, it's very nice and fun to watch this grow! What size thread did you use?

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  4. Looking wonderful! I look forward to seeing the finished doily.

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  5. Lovely, I love your colours and yes I agree variegated colour with a solid colour would look lovely.
    Margaret

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  6. It really is lovely! You are so right about the meanders of color, truly wonderful!

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  7. You have really made this pattern interesting, and I love the way it is developing. Very different from the one in white. :)

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