Friday, July 16, 2010

Stick-to-it-iveness: colloq. (orig. U.S.), dogged perseverance.

 The Pay Off

#3 Motif Challenge

I started this many times.  Is it the weather?  Everything I do is wrong - sloppy - uneven - cut picots -  knots where they should not be. You get the picture.  I should have stopped after one wasted attempt with this wonderful ( Thank you, Suneeti!) Garden Afternoon by Yarnplayer  HDT.  But, no.  Snip, cut, tear, growl, pull and stomp. Cry. Pound fists.




I did not give in to temptation. No short-cuts.  I took the high road and tatted the best that I could.  I have a long way to go, but this is the best yet.  The tension still sucks, however. I know, Gina!  It takes time, but I am really noticing it now and it is frustrating!  The muscle memory is just not developed enough.




As a reward, I allowed myself an hour in a cool coffe shop to bring down my body temperature, high already because of the weather, and higher still due to the Battle of the Threads. 

Sitting there, in the cool, sipping hot coffee, I realized that, 
beyond a doubt, colour is happening...


#4 and #5  Motif Challenge

I am so encouraged by your comments about my use of colour, that I have been experimenting beyond my comfort zone.  Example:  the yellow here, I bought because I was doing the  T.A.T.  course and I needed #20 flower colour.  The DMC Cébélia is available in Toronto, so no postage fees; I bought  a number of balls. Not wild about the colours and thought the thread would languish in a box forever.

Enter The Thread Exchange!  I have sent off yards of the stuff! I am playing with the colours I have, and being - for me -   very adventurous in the combinations.  Sometimes they do not work, but so what! For the first time in my very disciplined and unadventurous colour life (aside from the stained glass work, years ago) I feel creative. The new sense of freedom  is a very good feeling. 

So, folks, thank you for all the wonderful comments and encouragement.  You may have unleased a monster - in technicolor!

 Remember, I tatted this a few days ago?  It was to be the last one for a while...  Well. I was having my lunch break at a Czech Deli near my work place  - always wonderful soup -  when the waitress came over to check out  what I was doing.  She loves tatting and has told me she has seen lots of it in Poland where she grew up. She always comes to look!

Impulsively I handed her this dangle, which was in with my tatting gear and said,
" This is for you."  Well... she looked astounded and said. "For ME? Thank you .  Thank you so much. Thank you."  She must have thanked me twenty times.  And, it was genuine!  I got the gift.

Anon,

20 comments:

  1. Fabolous! I like the colors and all your work!
    Best regards from the summer in Scandinavia...
    Isa

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  2. Thank you so much, Isa! Hope you are having a great summer.
    Fox : )

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  3. beautiful work..love your use of color.

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  4. Thanks, Josie! You see - it is those terrific comments that really work!
    Fox : )

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  5. The Pay Off is GORGEOUS, Fox! The pattern and thread are a wonderful combination and your stitching is VERY well done. Your mistakes are even beautiful!

    I am loving your color play! If you are going to create a monster, a colorful, beaded monster with a deft tatting hand is the way to go!

    :) Ann

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  6. Oh, Ann!

    I love your enthusiasm! Thank you so much.

    I am really pleased with this, but am even more excited at the way I have suddenly become aware of the plateau that I have passed, as I begin a trudge up a new mountain! The challenge is so exciting.

    Thanks for your constant support and unique perspective. I value both.
    Fox : )

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  7. OH WOW I love the pay off! It is so beautiful! I really love the HDT. I had this color and used it in a bookmark but your work makes it just look so much more nicer then my bookmark. I also am a "giver" so I know how it feels to give something to someone who genuinely loves what you gave them. I think that was a very nice thing just to do. Keep up the wonderful work!

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  8. I love the colors too! And they bring out excitement like summer time after a long cold winter.
    Keep having fun with the colors because it is fun to watch and see what is coming next! :)
    Have a great day!

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  9. I knew you'd get that motif done in the end! The Garden Afternoon is perfect for the design, too.

    I like your dangles. I'm not normally a yellow person, but that one is so cheery and summery looking. I love the way you've used beads to tie the colors together. And of course, black with bright colors always looks so striking.

    Isn't it wonderful when somebody truly appreciates your tatting? I keep meaning to tat up a few little "bits" to give away to interested people, but somehow I never got around to it. This story inspires me to actually get it done.

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  10. Love that "Garden Afternoon" thread! I only wish the humidity would quit so I could seat in the garden in the afternoon and tat!!!

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  11. Love the thread Garden Afternoon and the motif turned out well!

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  12. Wow foxy! Way to keep working at it! Send me some of your stick-to-it-iveness would ya, Dr. Vonthreadmore has had some discouraging results lately and needs encouragement lol!

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  13. Well obviously I HAD to respond to THIS post!!! I've been cheering you on, and by golly - as they say in My Fair Lady: "You Did It !!!" And you're far too critical! Your tatting looks great, and in Marilee's thread it's oustanding. I LOVE it!

    And you sure have those cute 'dangles' down pat It has to be fun to make them in all colors. I have yet to tat over a ring! I love that you just sit and tat away in delis and bookstores as 'relaxation'!

    The gal in the Czech Deli made an interesting comment that she saw a lot of tatting in Poland. My paternal grandmother was born in Poland, but came to the US in the early 1900s in her 20s. I didn't see her that often but I know she crocheted a lot (and I have one of her doilies). I am now wondering if she ever tatted! My mother had some tatted items in her china closet. Could my grandmother (her mother-in-law) have made them? I'm afraid I'll never know!

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  14. Fox, I hate days when it's nothing, but cut, snip and starting over. But your end result is very nice. Good job for sticking with it. :)

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  15. I love the #3 motif challenge... where did you get the pattern? Do you mind sharing it? oh do tell!!

    I have similar experiences as you when it comes to messing up in tatting. I'm a perfectionist in my hobbies and if I see one teeny-tiny mistake (even tho no one else can see it) I can't go on... either I have to take it out and fix it, or toss it and start over... I feel sometimes I've wasted so much thread in the process...

    Your work is absolutely beaufitful... Tat on my friend!!

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  16. Lily, Thanks! It is a wonderful pattern. Look at Sat. July 10th post and follow those directions!
    Fox : )

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  17. Thanks, Everyone, for the marvellous comments. That give me tatting fortitude!
    ♥♥ Fox : )

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  18. Your colour combos are great, keep it up, you never know what will happen next. Loved the pay off story.

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