#22 Motif Challenge
I was very interested in this motif after I saw it on Gina's blog: here.
I am not happy with this motif at all, as I think there are too many stitches somewhere in the pattern and it bows; I could not get it to spread out properly. Gina's looks good and so does the original on Carla's blog - I think it is her own design.
When I went to the site to get the address, just now, I took a good look at Carla's tatting and I see that she has allowed the chains to overlap - this would explain why I cannot get my tatting to open out fully. It simply cannot!
Well, I feel somewhat better about this, but I have to sigh miserably when I see Gina's looking so pretty and this poor thing looking like a lumpy little misshap - or what my colleague at work (who is about 4o years my junior!) says, an "epic fail!"
John had me thinking about being a tangential thinker:
Tangentiality - Replying to questions in an oblique, tangential or irrelevant manner. e.g.:
- Q: "What city are you from?"
- A: "Well, that's a hard question. I'm from Iowa. I really don't know where my relatives came from, so I don't know if I'm Irish or French."
This thought process came about because I am taking Sharon's Design Course. It has certainly got me looking at my tatting in new ways - even now at the very beginning.
For instance: I always tat a downward join when tatting on the front side and never really looked at the stitch to see if it did look like a real front side ds. It does not. Nearly, but not entirely. I had avoided really looking at this stitch, because I had read alll about it, looked briefly at pictures, but totally AVOIDED really understanding the thihng. Why?
A lot of my tatting learning is like this. Such a struggle! I am not complaining as this is the very thing I adore about lace-making.with little knots - it is very stimulating and never boring!
Thanks, John!
Anon,
I think you used a bigger thread than I did. I used size 40 and I made those side chains only 8 ds instead of 9 because it seemed to bow out too much for me. I think a bigger thread might emphasize that even more but you've done a great job. Mine is the 2nd try.
ReplyDeleteI approach new techniques in a "need to know" framework. If I'm happy with the way I'm doing things, I don't usually bother with it. Eventually, at some point, I'll be interested and when I am interested, it is MUCH easier to understand. As you can tell from Mary Konior's patterns, you don't have to know a lot of techniques to tat beautiful things. I also find that unless it is something I have a reason to do frequently, I forget how and have to refresh my memory. Of course, at this point, I've been tatting a long time and probably tried most of the techniques at some point.
whew...getting long here!
it looks also like the long picots in the center were much longer than yours...that would give you more room to work with... perhaps making it look less crowded.
ReplyDeleteMaking a join look just like a DS is a matter of tension. My tendancy is to pull is too tight, so that it sort of pinches the core thread. So then I overcompensate by making it too loose instead. As a result, I've learned that I really do have to look at each and every join, no matter which side I'm tatting on, before I go on to the next stitch.
ReplyDeleteThen, on the second half stitch, you have to remember that the thread is coming into it from a slightly different angle, so this will make the "cap" of the stitch not lie quite parallel to the caps of the adjacent real DS's. Pressing on it with your thumbnail will help, but I have to admit that my tatting often shows "slanty-capped" joins.
Thanks, Gina. After your feedback I have taken off the hair shirt. : )
ReplyDeleteShannon-in-love, I did notice this after the fact! Thanks. Yes, it would have made some difference, but it is VERY tight! Thanks for taking the time to help!
Miranda, It is sadly true. One must examine every stitch if the piece is to shine. No way around it.
I did use the fingernails and then the added the weight of a very hefty Criminal Code - nothing ... : ))
I love your tatting and this looks just fine to me. Of course I am still trying to learn how to put thread onto the shuttle bobbin. LOL I do have a book and DVD on order so I can possibly learn this frustrating tatting that I am consumed with. Happy tatting...
ReplyDeleteCreatology, I am so excited for you! Cannot wait to see how you do with your new learn-to-tat goodies!
ReplyDeleteFox : ))
I like your version too. Though it looks compact in the centre, it is pretty.
ReplyDelete