New Tatting Item -- a Continuation of an Old Request

Working to attempt to complete (by Christmas) a request from a former colleague. Doug has an antique smoking table that he inherited from his grandfather. His request was since the table is oblong that a doily be fashioned and NOT be round. I've been playing with this project for a number of years and it has gone through several iterations.

I'm happiest with this one (finished size must be just less than 12" x 15"). I'm well on my way. The pattern is Robin Perfetti's Garden Square from her Etsy shop. Since Doug's favorite color is green, I selected a colorway (Lizabeth 138-Leafy Greens) and a coordinating solid (Lizabeth 684 - Leaf Green Med). Here is a picture of the WIP:

The colorway reminds be of leafy camouflage and since Doug is an outdoors man, it seemed very appropo.

I still find time however for interruptions. I left a meeting Wednesday (Nov 1) and it was snowing and has been snowing off and on ever since. This one was taken yesterday out our dining room looking east. Ordinarily (hint, hint on a clear day) the Madison Range is clearly visible across the valley.

I'm also very guilty of poor planning! My prescriptions were running out and the pharmacy I use with my Medicare supplement is in Butte, MT. Ordinarily, it's not a bad afternoon outing to run over to Butte (across the Continental Divide) and drop into the pharmacy and then maybe time for extra shopping however ... It is November and we had early snows (they helped to quench our AWFUL fire season) in September.

As DH always says, it's an adventure. We planned to take the Highland (4-wheel drive) but hadn't started it since I came back from Bozeman on the 18th of October). The battery was dead. So we did the car dance to move the Prius (front-wheel Hybrid that high centers on a cow chip), back out the 4Runner (2-wheel rear wheel drive) and headed north. Got as far as McAllister, MT (10 miles) and turned around to buy a new battery and install into the Highlander.

I was going to insert a short movie clip but Blogger didn't like the size I guess, so here are pictures taken from the window of the moving vehicle showing the snow-draped Beaverhead-Deerlodge natural forest.

We estimated about 6" of snow on the "ground" and Butte is expecting another 10" tonight. Needless to say, quick stops at the pharmacy and gas station and then back on the road to Ennis.

Interruptions Galore!

I do get side-tracked (LOTS). We have an absolutely wonderful view out our dining/kitchen area of the Madison range. Such as the one below which was taken on the 3rd of October and shows the full moon rising over fan mountain (the tallest peak).

We also get unexpected visitors for dinner.

A simple (and original) Heart pattern

The instructions below are for a little heart that I tatted "on the fly" back in 2008. The original posting can be found at Original Ombre Heart posting along with the corrections that needed to be done per Katie Verna.

 I was waiting at the dealership for a service to be completed on my Prius (oil change & tire rotation). Then I got enough requests that the challenge of documenting the process with stitch counts began. Since I changed my profile picture on FB, several commented so I thought I would share the pattern. Sorry I haven't diagrammed it as yet.

Ombre Block Tatted Heart

Teresa Woods©, 2008

This one is simple enough, but I’ve got some hints. Use paperclips or safety pins as helpers where the green arrows are indicated. The blue arrows would use the helpers on the picots while the green arrow in on the core thread. The red arrow is where the center of the heart begins, use a helper here to have something to hold.

Abbreviations:

—         Picot (decorative along outer chains)

+          Join

Ch        Chain

lj           Lock Join

lp          Long Picot

R          Ring

sp         Small picot

SR       Split Ring

Using whatever style of block tatting you prefer (I used Jane E's braid method and the instructions are written that way) with two shuttles wound continuously.

Center of Heart (Block tatting)

Row 1 Ch 4 sp 4 (odd rows have flipped stitches while even rows are unflipped).

Row 2 Ch 1 sp 4 + (core thread to picot on Row 1) 4 +

Row 3 Ch 1 sp 4 + (lj with core thread) 4 +

repeat 2nd and 3rd rows once more

Row 6 Ch 1 sp 4 +

Row 7 Ch 1 sp 4 +

repeat row 6

SR 4/4

Ch 3 — 2 — 2 — 3

R 6 + (last picot on Row 8) 6

Ch 3 — 2 — 2 — 3

R 6 + (same picot as prev ring) 6

Ch 3 — 2 — 2 — 3

R 6 + (picot between 5th & 6th row) 6

Ch 3 — 2 — 2 — 2 — 2 — 2 vsp 1

R 6 + (picot from row 1) 6 SS

R 1 + (adjacent chain) 4 — 1 lp 1 — 4 vsp 1 SS

Ch 1 +(adjacent ring) 2 — 2 — 2 — 2 — 2 — 3

R 6 + (core thread at halfway point on first row) 6

Ch 3 — 2 — 2 — 3

R 6 + (start point of block tatting) 6

Ch 3 — 2 — 2 — 3

R 6 + (same picot as prev ring) 6

Ch 3 — 2 — 2 — 3

R 4 + (turning picot on row 5) 4

Securely tie, cut and hide ends. Of course if you thought ahead, magic thread loops can be put into the last chain and within the last ring.

Moje Robόtki No 8

Here is my attempt (through Round VII) of Jan Stawasz' large doily for the Polish magazine referenced in the title.

The photo is only a portion and of course the piece is not blocked at all. Currently it measures about 18" in diameter and I'm going to start Round VIII soon. I love the symmetry and negative space that are typical of Jan's patterns. I am lucky to have both of the books (in hard back) that were published prior to his death. I'm also glad to have found (thank you, Tim K) this pattern as well. This piece will be a wonderful addition to my "linens" in our new home.

I so look forward to arriving in Montana. I'll also be able to pick up another of my hobbies that I had put on hold when we moved to North Carolina. I also do china painting but need to acquire a new kiln as the one I had purchased from Ruth Little in Lubbock is probably 50 years old and was on its last legs when I got it. It's fun to research the various kilns and I plan to contact several porcelain artists who live the NW part of the USA to get their recommendations. There are some good videos on YouTube not only from current artisans but the history of porcelain making and decorating. Needless to say, I won't be acquiring a kiln that is used for massive firings but don't want a "table-top" version either.

Lace Knitting and learned the hard way!

The photo below is through round 140 (of 238) for the 1940's Lace Knitted Doily that I had found at 1940 Coats Patons Doily and is not blocked! We will not talk about how many times I started this one over. I started (finally!) putting in life lines every ten rounds when I reached round 110. I had a difficult time with rounds 130 through 139 and I'm still not certain that the instructions and charts are exactly correct but I shall persevere and plod onward.  

Knitted Lace Doily from 1940's Coats 

Patons Crochet Doily Leaflet

The orange stitch markers seen in the photo on the lower left are the first stitch for each of the lifelines (I'm using pink size 10 for the purpose). I also learned to be very, very careful about color fastness of any thread/yarn that I use for a lifeline. I have a couple of retries that started out wonderfully white but became pinkish after using RED for a lifeline that was NOT colorfast.

I finally had to take the work off my 32" circular needles because the stitches were so crowded I was dropping stitches as I moved groups onto and off the needle areas and would have to tink back or frog back to a lifeline.

Without being blocked, the work measures more that 19" (~48 cm) and there are still 98 rows to go. I just hope the 47" circular needles I have on order will be enough. Otherwise, I'll be trying to find a 60" FIXED circular needle in size 0.

I am using Lizabeth size 20 in white; I had purchased the cone from DS9 Designs (thank you, Deb!) at one of our first CWTs at the Flathead Lutheran Bible Camp. This is also the same thread I am using for the tatted doily by Jan Stawasz. I finally finished round VI of that piece and will post a picture later. I'm not sure how long it will take me to use up a cone of size 20 (8,400 yards / ~ 7,700 meters). I also use this thread for tatted angels, snowflakes and will probably use some for some of the wonderful patterns (I have all her books with the new one on order) from Ineke Kuiperij of The Netherlands.

It's OFFICIAL!

It's now official ... I retired as of April 28th from Clariant Corporation! We are in the process of moving out to Ennis, MT where my husband of 48 years and I built a dream log home in 2015

The picture just above was taken in November 2015 before construction on the exterior was complete and the slabs on the garage hadn't been oiled. All of the exterior is complete and landscape is being installed now. What you cannot see from this photo is the Madison Mountain range behind the house. The base of the range is only about ten miles across the Madison River Valley.

This life change will give me more time to do what I want. I always have several projects going so current inventory includes the Jan Stawasz doily from the 2008 Polish magazine (I borrowed from the PTG library). I am also on round 99 of the 1940s Knitted Lace Doily. Both doilies are being done with Lizbeth Size 20 in white. These will alternately grace a table in the great room that was once a pedestal dining table. I'll try to get some pictures posted of progress once we get a little more settled. These two projects make for good companions on the cross-country drive from North Carolina to Montana.