Josephine Rings

Josephine Ring Medallion - (pattern HERE)

Lizbeth #154 (Wildflower Garden) size 20 thread

I've realized that small tatting projects suit me well these days.  I have a doily I'd like to start when the snow flies and the evenings are longer, but some quick projects to satisfy the bug will suffice for now.  There are some quilting projects to work on too - but I better continue going to work until I win the lottery. 

I saw this on Pinterest over the weekend, and decided it was a perfect small project to remember how to make those Josephine rings.  The pattern page is great for choosing technique-specific patterns to practice.  

OK, I'll Do It

After some serious thought and some practicing, I think I'm ready to try the Victorian Trellis Doily [so dubbed by Frivole.]  Well, I'm at least ready to try the first round, which is the beginning lattice work.  

This is one of those very old patterns that is incredibly difficult to understand, but Frivole has given a detailed explanation of how to complete that first round.  I am certain I would have tossed even the mere thought of trying this doily out the window had it not been for this explanation, so many thanks to Frivole for the work she does clearing up some of the mysteries of tatting old patterns.  

I am intrigued by the fact that this doily is all chains.  No rings to un-tat? [This is great news, since I'm expecting I will be doing some retro-tatting . . .]   I love the ruffly look of the Victorian Set stitches, and the very unique look it brings to tatting.  This beginning round also has SCMRs (self-closing mock rings), so after a few more of those I should be able to remember the technique.  I have a hard time remembering which technique is used where and how to start, so just concentrating on the fact that I'm only working chains helps to pound that SCMR into my memory bank.  

I KNEW there was a good reason to have coil-less safety pins, too. I searched and searched for these awhile back, and was excited to find them - only to find I don't really use them as much as I thought I would.  This pattern definitely has me using . . . one  :)  I found these handy pins in the jewelry-making supplies at JoAnn's, not in the sewing stuff as one would imagine.  If anyone has a need for these pins and can't get them, let me know and I would be happy to get some to you.  Of course, good old bobby pins work for this pattern too - ha ha!

This doily may take me forever-and-a-day but I think it's a good challenge.  I will probably have to work on other projects between rounds so I don't get bored and give up altogether, but I seem to complete things if I have an absolute deadline.  Next year's fair entry is due in July 2014 . . .

If anyone else is interested in trying this pattern, here are some links I used to get myself started on this pattern:

The pattern is in this book, page 17:  Priscilla Tatting Book No. 2
(pattern is also in Julia Sanders Tatting Patterns book)
Frivole's first round explanation post: First Round Explained 
Frivole's Self-Closing Mock Ring video:  SCMR De-mystified

And, last but not least, here are posts showing Frivole and Jane M 's successful finishes of this doily.  I can only hope to finish this one myself - it most certainly won't be fast.

TIAS Day 6 and JOINS

Day 6 of the TIAS 2013:

Day 6

What is this thing????  Ted says it's a grocery cart.  Maybe it's a baby buggy?  With 5 more days to complete the motif, I think we'll know SOON :)

Day 6 was good split ring practice, and had me fumbling with the correct way to join.  Duh.  Re-joined about 3 times on the first join, and then I realized I was making it waaaaaay too hard.  I think I've got it now . . .

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Yesterday, Michelle and her daughters and I got together for some tatting at the coffee shop.  We practiced the Catherine Wheel Join (CWJ) that I could have used back on Day 4 (but didn't).  It's really quite easy, especially after watching Marilee's great video.  And since we were onto joins, we also tried the Lark's Head Join (LHJ) - and found Karen's video to be very helpful.  The question is, why would one use the LHJ vs. a regular join?  We also tried to get Jane's blipless join to work, but to no avail.  (I really need to master that one using these variegated threads!)  We then questioned whether or not the LHJ produced the same results as the blipless join?  When and where does one use these different joining techniques, and why?    More study necessary in the future. 

And it's snowing like crazy outside here . . . 

TIAS Day 5

Tat It And See (TIAS) Day 5

I think I'm convinced that this is a flower basket.  Jane is clever with her TIAS, though, so we'll see where Day 6 goes!

Here is the progress through Day 5:

Day 5

Today's technique is a Lock Chain.  A lock chain is simply a chain made by flipping the first half-stitch, and not flipping the 2nd half-stitch.  The result is a bit of a braided look vs. clean double-stitches:

I did a little chain study back HERE as well, but when I don't use these techniques often I tend to forget them.  There are so many interesting chain techniques to try - I find them especially fun when making bookmark tails.

Check out the 2013 TIAS Blog and see everyone's progress and guesses as to what this year's project is!

TIAS Day 4

I chose to make Day 4 pretty easy and went with lock joins vs. the Catherine Wheel Join (CWJ), which I haven't quite mastered yet.  I have done it, but it doesn't roll off my shuttles without a little study.

Here is Day 4 progress:

Day 4 - What is this?

I still have no idea what this could be.  Where is my imagination?  

This is a good project to get my brain going on some simple technique study.  Michelle and I have talked about how the various techniques are fun to study and master, but because most are not used on every piece one tats it's hard to remember how to do each one without a little refresher study.  Jane has some great technique instructions on her TIPS and TECHNIQUES page.   And specifically for the TIAS Day 4, here are links to her LOCK JOIN  and CATHERINE WHEEL JOIN instruction pages.

Onion Rings

I've never really thought about tatting 'Onion Rings' before - I've just followed the pattern and they seemed to work out right.  However, when tatting this pattern I realized I was doing my own thing to get them to work and not actually reversing when the pattern said I should.  Hhhhhmmmm.

Eye Spy

by Julie Patterson

in Yarnplayer's HDT 'Lava' Size 40



I continued and finished this bookmark anyway, with numerous little snafus that I won't point out! But it has prompted me to start a little studying of onion rings.  I've only reviewed a couple of links so far, but I intend to look a little further.  At this point, it appears that there are actually several types of onion rings with as many methods. Any insight would be appreciated.

I love this "Lava" colorway!  I also wondered as I was tatting away, if an experienced tatter would recognize where the colors change and see that I didn't necessarily do it "right".  I wouldn't notice such a thing at my level of tatting, but do other tatters see it?  I think this is a 'perfectionist' type thought :)  Oh well!  A non-tatter will never know the difference.

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I've also been attacked by starving mosquitos while picking fresh strawberries.  I survived, and made strawberry rhubarb jam and some fresh bread.  Yum!

AND

My flower "pot" is beautiful this year:



Unfortunately, the deer that pass through the yard have found petunias to be delicious!



Saturday Tatting

Michelle, her daughter, and I met today for some tatting time.  We have such an enjoyable visit that the time flies by as we sit with our coffee/tea and tat.   I was quite confident while working on my pendant that it would be soooooo easy to complete - now that I had the correct size (and shape) bead.  Oh yes, it would be no problem! 

So, I tatted on.  And tatted some more when I got home.  I was going to finish this!  And here's how it ended up:

Ugh.  A re-do for sure.  I think Marilee needs to move to Minneapolis!  What the heck is wrong here?  Is it my tension?  The pattern does state to check tension, but I thought it was pretty good.  I have always crocheted very tightly, so maybe my tatting is following that trend . . . ? 

In any case, I got to practice the V-stitch/Victorian sets/Zig-Zag/Ric-Rac stitch that I practiced and explained back HERE.  And, I worked on the Catherine Wheel Join according to Yarnplayer's great instruction video HERE.  I had never done that join before, so it was good to work on another new technique.

Now that I have worked on the techniques, I need to figure out why this is so wonky.  Is it the tension?  How do you monitor your tension?  Your critique and advice is welcome!  Dang it, I thought I was doing so well.  I will keep trying :) 


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And guess what I'm going to do with these old doorknobs?

Another bright idea on my list of things to do.

Bead Intimidation

I was procrastinating trying to add beads - why, I don't know.  I guess I was just a little intimidated by adding another step.  Remembering how to join, where to join, which join to use, and how many picots confuses me enough sometimes :)

This is why it's so nice to have tatting friends to tat with in person, and try new techniques. Michelle and her daughter and I met yesterday to tat, and we worked on the Mary Konior "Posy" as a wreath.  I asked Michelle for some help on adding beads, and she brought some beads and her bead spinner and got me started.  (That bead spinner is a worthwhile little tool if you use beads - I think I need to get one!) Once I got the hang of where to place the beads for this particular project, it was a piece of cake. I finally finished this cute little wreath tonite:

I'm so over being intimidated by beads! 

Purl-Pearl-Picot?

At our last Twin Cities Tatters gathering, Michelle and I were looking at the different chain stitches, which prompted my Study of Chains a couple of posts back.  While looking at the Node Stitch, we saw further explanation of up and down picots.  I've been looking further at those picots in my Elgiva Nichols books on technique and history.

 In the Elgiva Nichols books, the Node Stitch is described as sets of half stitches, i.e. three first half stitches and then three second half stitches. Naming the stitches is suggested as first halves "plain" and second halves "purl".  Like a reverse stitch in knitting.  The nodes end up on upper and lower edges, or where the direction of the stitch changes.  Picots will end up as "up" or "down" by making them between the sets of half stitches. 

Picots are formed by whichever stitch follows them - a picot just prior to a set of first half stitches (under) will be "up", and a picot just prior to a set of second half stitches (over) will be "down".  (The books suggests memorizing this:  Plain drops down; Purl stands skyward - however, that will depend on what you consider first half and second half.  The 'Purl' will just be the reverse of the 'Plain'.)  I practiced.  It's hard to remember which half you're on :)

I was all excited about the "purl" part and thought to myself, "Oh - this is what purl tatting is."  WRONG.  This is a purl STITCH.  Purl/Pearl tatting involves (gasp!) 3 shuttles.  So, just for fun, I looked up purl and found Wikipedia says:  In older tatting and crocheting patterns, picots were sometimes specified as purls, purl stitches, or pearl stitches. These specifications are not to be confused with the reverse stitch known as a purl inknitting.  WHAT?  I thought I just learned that the purl stitch was exactly the reverse of the plain.  Like in knitting.

No wonder tatting is so blasted confusing!  Or is it ME that makes it so much harder to understand?  I always need to understand things backward and forward.  I do tend to make things more difficult than they need to be. 

In all that trying to study and understand, I didn't get any actual tatting completed.  But I did spend some time sewing more armchair caddies:

and devoured this wonderful book in two days:

And to finish my weekend, I will spend this afternoon celebrating the 50th Wedding Anniversary of my dear Godparents.  This will be the sixth 50th Anniversary celebration of 7 brothers/sisters in my mom's family.  How wonderful is that? 

Chain Study Continued

I wanted to explore tatted chains a little bit further, and re-look at that lock-stitch chain after Gina's comment on my last post.  I found the biggest threads I could so I could really see the stitches - unfortunately they weren't the same size . . .  Oh well.  I could still see what I needed to :)

Lock Stitch and Lock Stitch Chain

Since the lock stitch is composed of one unflipped half of a ds, and the second half of the stitch flipped, it only makes sense that the lock stitch chain continues in this way.  First half ds unflipped and second half ds flipped.  Here's my testing:

I think it looks sort of braid-like.

What I was doing in my last post is really considered an "S" chain, according to THESE INSTRUCTIONS.

"S" Chain

Another practice with the larger threads produced this, using both halves of a ds unflipped, followed by both halves of a ds flipped.  This is the "S" chain:

The "S" chain shows a bit wider color band as Gina mentioned, with a bit more texture and forming a sort of "S" shape, yet remaining in a straight line.  Here's the difference:

"Z" Chain

Taking that flipped/unflipped ds a step further with more stitches, you get the "Z" chain.  I tried 3 complete ds flipped, then 3 complete ds unflipped to get a small "Z".

(Remember, the threads aren't the same size - but you get the idea.)

Then I tried 6 ds flipped, and 6 ds unflipped to produce a wider "Z". 

If I am understanding these chains/stitches correctly, this one is also called a "Zig-Zag" chain.  Which makes more sense since the Z is so visible - unlike the chain made up of a "Node" stitch being called a zig-zag chain.  No wonder I get confused.  (Am I missing a larger piece of that zig-zag chain description?)  Here are both sizes:

Which brings me to another new discovery.  Duh.  I never really knew what a "Lark's Head Knot" was.  So, a Lark's Head Knot is just a complete, both halves unflipped ds.  Why didn't that ever click before?  Maybe I just didn't memorize it. 

So my tatting accomplishments this weekend consist of practicing and testing and studying.  Hopefully I will remember my findings!

Studying Chains

Have you ever noticed how MANY different decorative chains there are to tat?  I didn't really notice much before I saw Yarnplayer's Trendy Teardrop jewelry pattern.  The pattern has a beautiful look to it, but I didn't know how to make the stitch to make that 'bumpy' look.  This spurred me on to a little study of stitches.

The stitch on Marilee's pattern is referred to as "Victorian Sets" or "Zig-Zag" tatting.  The further I looked into it, I found it's also called the "Node" or "Ric-Rac" stitch. Sheesh!  A very simple stitch, but when I was looking for instructions I found varying descriptions that only confused me.  I have a couple of books that I decided to actually read (imagine that!) and really got into the descriptions.  Rebecca Jones "Complete Book of Tatting" and Elgiva Nichols "Tatting Techniques" have great technique instructions - I should probably set aside some time to read more, because some of the reasoning behind the stitches is what made it "click" for me.  This is probably basic for accomplished tatters, but I'm excited to have learned a few simple, new to me tatting techniques when making chains.

Node / Victorian Sets / Zigzag / Ric-Rac

OK.  I tried to get some pictures of this stitch once I accomplished the 'look'.  This is what I was practicing:

See the little "nodes"?  A bit of a ripple effect, if you will.  Very attractive stitch!  The NODE STITCH name makes sense now.  The "nodes" are created by making "sets" of stitches - two first halves, then two second halves.  That is considered one "set".  Aha!  That's where the name VICTORIAN SETS comes in.  A set can be any number of first halves followed by the same number of second halves.  Two and two seems to look the most attractive to me.  This bumpy, node look is on both of what I would call "sides" of the tatting.  (I'm thinking frontside/backside.)  I couldn't figure out where the ZIG ZAG (or RIC RAC) look came from.  Until I looked at what I would call the TOP. 

NOW the ZIG ZAG (RIC RAC) name makes sense!  Simple but oh, so confusing for some reason.  But now I get it.  And this discovery made me curious about other chains.  (Well, OK, the books went into descriptions of different types of stitches, and it just intriqued me.)  So, I decided to continue my study of chains, since I'm working on a few bookmarks to have on hand. 

Spiral Chain

This one I've done before, but I really tried to concentrate on it this time.  I like the look, and it's SO easy.  I use the second half of a ds only, keeping the stitches snugged up and allowing the twist to emerge naturally with just a little coaxing.  I ended my spiral with a lock stitch. 

Lock Stitch

OK, so now I had to look into the 'lock stitch' a little more.  Sounds dumb, but all these terms are assumed - and I sometimes forget to actually "think" about what I'm doing and why it does what it does.  The lock stitch is handy to be able to really lock stitches from moving and losing the shape you are trying to create.  And all it is - is a ds with an unflipped first half and a flipped second half, no longer allowing stitches to slide - thus "locked" in place.

And so, this brought me to another type of chain . . .

Lock Stitch Chain

This one was perfect for my next bookmark with two colors.  The lock stitch chain gives a checkerboard look in my mind - and you can see both colors nicely.

This chain is made by making double stitches alternately flipped, then not flipped. (I lose my place easily and often!)  A full ds (both halves) flipped, and then a full ds (both halves) unflipped - over and over again. 

More studying and practicing needed! For now, here are Motif #s 23 and 24 of my 2nd 25-Motif Challenge:

These two are a couple of my favorite bookmarks to tat up quickly.  On the left is the SPIRAL BOOKMARK, with a lock chain tail and a charm.  Size 12 pearl cotton in brown and pink.

On the right is the BOOKMARK PATTERN from Jane in South Africa, done in a dusty pink size 8 pearl cotton with a spiral tail and a charm.

On with my studies. Up picots. Down picots. Purls?  Nothing like standardization!   There are so many great technique instruction pages online - but my recent searches went here first:  Jane's Pattern and Technique Pages, and a reference guide to various lacemaking youtube videos here:  LaceNews

And a final note - my little froggies have stuck around all summer.  One last shot before the lilies were done blooming: