Getting Connected

Here's the next bit of the necklace, with the two plowshares connected by the leafy bit. All that's left is to make the flowery part and add findings.

The green thread is Lizbeth color 676 Leaf Green Dark.

I added more seed beads than the pattern calls for because the leaf beads I used are so wide that they really needed longer picots to hang on. If you make this pattern, be sure and string your leaf beads on the thread so they are all facing the same way.

UPDATE: Just noticed I joined to the wrong rings of the plowshares. I'll have to cut the green part out and re-do it, but it won't take long.

Corrected Version

Here's the corrected version, with the sword part the right length.

If you compare this scan to the one in yesterday's post, you can see how the sword on the left yesterday curved too much at the base; this was the result of the chains being too short. The one on the left in this pic sits much better.

Despite my complaints about the thread size, this really is a fun pattern to work. I think it's very clever how Marilee uses sets of half stitches to move the working thread around the core, thus enabling you to make floating rings on both sides of the chain. This way the line down the middle of the plowshare remains smooth because the core thread is not interrupted by having to make rings with it. Very smart design idea; I'll probably steal it someday!

Oops!

I finished the mirror-image part of Marilee's pattern, only I have to do it again.

The one on the left is the new one, and I thought it wasn't quite sitting right. When I put the two of them together, I realized it was because I made the sword section too short by one set of 3 ds. I'll rework it tomorrow and then be ready to start on the center section.

The thread is Lizbeth color 605, silver. The pattern calls for size 10, and it really does have to be for the finished project to be big enough. If you've been reading my blog for a while, you've probably seen me say that I can't stand working with anything larger than size 20 because it hurts my hands. Therefore, I don't own any size 10, and I wasn't about to buy three balls of it for one relatively small project, when I would never use it again. What I did instead was to double some size 20, and it's working very well (and yes, it does hurt my hands just like a size 10 would, but I won't have to do it for long). The double thread technique will be especially interesting when I get to the section that uses a variegated thread.

Still Here, Still Know How to Tat

I know it's been a while, sorry. The fact is, I got bored with the coaster and didn't feel inspired to tat anything else, so I haven't tatted anything in over a month. I have started again, though-- nothing like realizing Mother's Day is two weeks away to get you going. And after I finish this project, I will probably get back to the coaster. In the meantime, I'm counting on my dad to keep Mom away from the blog; shouldn't be too hard, she's not much of a web surfer.

So, I have made a start on a new piece; I'm sure many of you will recognize the pattern.

If you don't, the hints are Isaiah 2:4/ Micah 4:3, and Marilee Rockley.

Coasting Along

I'm still plugging away at the coasters. The last one for this set is underway, but it has taken me a while. For this one, I am working from the book Tatting Together Square Motifs, published by Iris Niebach, but each pattern is designed by a different member of a designing class she once taught in Denmark. I really wanted to make the one by Ulla Bendtsen, which in my opinion is the most beautiful in the book, but there are certain joins in this pattern that distort the chains. I tried making these joins as written, I tried putting them in different places, I tried omitting them, nothing worked. I just ended up with a pile of wasted thread.

I think there were a couple more attempts, too, but these were all the scraps I could find for the photo. Does anyone have this book and have any insight into this pattern?

So I finally gave up on it and switched to the design by Elsebeth Rasmussen. This also turns out to be an interesting and challenging piece to make. In this one, you have to insert a "something" to make picots on the core thread. First, I used a paperclip as stated in the book, but this resulted in picots that were way too long; the motif felt floppy in the middle, and also it made the middle too large for the outside so that it cupped quite badly.

So I made it again, this time using a length of thread to make the core thread picots. Finally, I have something I can use.

Now I just have to make three more of them to complete the large square.

Dalia

Sorry to be taking so long between posts. This set of blue coasters are all made of four motifs joined together; four motifs obviously take four times as long to tat, so that makes for a longer time before I have anything to post.

My criteria for selecting motifs for this set are (1) a square motif that can be tatted in a single pass; (2) the motif is interesting to tat, since I have to do four of each; (3) the use of two colors enhances the design; and (4) joining four motifs to form a larger square brings out secondary patterns where they are joined. The master of this type of design, in my opinion, is Iris Niebach. Today's motif is her "Dalia" from Tatting Fantasia.

The motif does turn out to need a little blocking. Since I waited till the end to do this, rather than doing it after the first square was completed, this one got a little smushed in the scanner.

Here are the four joined together.

Hmm, the negative space at the center of each small square still needs a little adjusting. I'll be able to take care of this when I stitch it down to make the coaster.

Chinoiserie

The next motif I chose for the set of blue coasters is Karey Solomon's "Chinoiserie" from her book Make Many Merrily. "Chinoise" is French for "Chinese", and "Chinoiserie" basically means "Chinese stuff" or "Chinese-looking stuff". Well, I don't know about that, but it's definitely a beautiful motif that is very satisfying to tat. Here's one square of it...

...and four squares of it:

I don't know why I can't manage to lay things on the scanner straight. Don't you just love the way these motifs join together?