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Sunday, July 21, 2013

Tatting Marathon to the Finish :)

It's complete!  The Jan Stawasz Doily XI is finally done.  Whew. Just in time to enter it into the county fair. 

I worked on Round 11 while on vacation this week waaaaaay up in northern Minnesota on the Canadian border.  I am a slow tatter, so Round 11 took me several hours. Good thing I was on vacation and able to do whatever I wanted!  I believe I cheered when this round was done, knowing I just had ONE MORE ROUND to completion.

Jan Stawasz Doily XI - Round 11
I thought that "one more round" would take me forever, and I realized I only had a few days until I would have to submit it for the county fair.  I had in my mind that I would enter it IF I could get Round 12 done, but if I didn't finish it wouldn't be the end of the world.  But being this close to done made me really want it done for the fair. (I don't know why it's so fun to get a ribbon, but it is.  Some kind of recognition along with keeping the class available is the reward.) A marathon.  Others run marathons.  I tat them :)

At one point I even timed myself to see how long just one repeat of the final round would take.  15 minutes for ONE repeat.  Yikes! That meant I had about 7 hours of work left to finish the 12th and final round.  I don't think I should do this in the future - too much pressure!  I tatted in the car.  I tatted in the living room. I tatted in my woman cave.  I tatted at a craft-fair.  I actually got pretty good at tatting while talking - only a few un-tats . . .

Ta Da!
I forgot to measure the doily before I brought it to the fairgrounds, but I think it's about 15" across.  I finished rounds 11 and 12 with the Lizbeth Latte Foam to match the center, and I am happy with that choice.  I considered using some darker brown for one round, but I like the neutrality of the variegated ecru.  It certainly doesn't show up well in photos on the black foam board I used for a fair display - I wish I had used a tan background.  It's visible in person, anyway.



Tuesday I will work a fair booth (for work) and I will be able to sneak away for a few minutes to see how I did . . .

14 comments:

  1. Stunning...can hardly wait to see how you did, your doily is spectacularly done!

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  2. Absolutely beautiful. If I were judging, you would get first place. I don't even need to see the other entries. Great job!

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  3. lovely hope you win first place.

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  4. Beautiful! I agree, it is like a marathon, but oh so nice to finish! :) good luck at the fair!

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  5. Congratulations well done on finishing it, I hope you win, it's a gorgeous doily.
    Margaret

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  6. Very nice doily Cindy! I hope you win at the fair!

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  7. Well done! Fingers crossed you get a top notch ribbon, you deserve it after all that work, and the doily looks splendid.

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  8. WOW! That certainly WAS a lot of pressure! I sure couldn't have 'tatted and chatted' while doing the last round, which had so much going on! It's a gorgeous piece, and I'm so glad you finished it in time! I hope it's well displayed! I'm also amazed you can 'pop over' to check on it. Any of the fairs I entered were at least an hour away, and parking was far away, usually in a muddy field! Will you have to pay the entrance fee, too, just to pop in? I'll anxiously await the results!

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    1. Thanks Kathy. I work for the county and work a shift at the fair voluntarily. Because I work a booth, my admission is paid for. I am fortunate to live and work only about 6 miles from the fairgrounds, and parking is pretty good. We'll see tomorrow!

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  9. An absolutely stunning doily!!! :)

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  10. Thank you for all the nice compliments! I am really pleased with the way this doily has turned out.

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