Saturday, May 7, 2011

Despair of the Doomed Doublestitch

#12 Motif Challenge

There was much grief.  There was a multitude of cuts. There was terrible shredding. There was a dreadful abundance of frayed thread.

As I  raved my way through this vintage pattern there were tears and the gnashing of teeth.

But, in the end, perseverance and bloody-mindedness won out. 




The thread is the last of Margaret's samples and a bright Lizbeth yellow. **The pattern is from the book pictured here.



In spite of a goodly number of trial runs, I still had terrible problems with this pattern.  Something to do with the directional thing - again.

The last ring and three chains took me three and a half hours this morning.  I was fit to be tied!  Can you imagine?  One ring!  Three little chains!. 

I am glad I ordered this book.  No regrets. Lots of goodies inside.

In spite of the misery this pattern wreaked, I shall enjoy tatting others  from this compendium of vintage delights.

Happy Mother's Day!

19 comments:

  1. See, tatting is a very dramatic thing. People don't understand.... That's only half joking, though. Sometimes uneven chains make me want to beat up my brothers stuffed animals.

    What doesn't kill you makes you stronger! (In most cases) And it turned out great. I thought it was going to be a fish for some reason. Flounder from Ariel. I like this much better. The colors are so pretty!

    (:

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  2. Isn't it amazing the amount of grief that simple rings and chains can cause? I can see how finishing the outer round could be challenging; I would probably have to re-do it a few times too.

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  3. Well you must have the patience of a !!!!!! it looks great and Happy Mothers Day!

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  4. That's one gorgeous motif! I can see that the pattern would be difficult to follow, but I think it was well worth the effort, the cuts, shredding, fraying, tears, and gnashing of teeth. I, for one, am very glad that you possess the qualities of perseverance and bloody-mindedness!

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  5. Wow Fox what amazing grief over a ring, I think the overall motif looks lovely, perhaps another try and you will find it easlier now you have done one. Looks a very interesting book as I have not seen this book before may I ask where you brought it?
    Your thread was so beautiful and the things I have made will be on my blog during this next week. I am so pleased that you enjoyed my thread, let me know when you want to do it again.
    Have a nice weekend.
    Margaret

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  6. Margaret, I bought this book from Nancy Tracy,
    at Be-stitched:

    http://www.be-stitched.com. : )

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  7. Diane, Thanks for that rousing vote of confidence! Tee Hee!
    Fox : ))

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  8. Your persistence paid off because I drooled on my keyboard when I saw this! Happy mom's day Foxy fox!

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  9. A nice use of colour, Fox, and it turned out wonderfully! The 3 P's: patience, persistence, perseverence certainly paid off! I tlooks quite intricate.

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  10. I think that's a really interesting motif! Lots going on there and I like the look of it. I have a feeling I tried something very similar before... is it not a Frauberger pattern? If it makes you feel better, I didn't get to the end of it when I tried. So well done!

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  11. Frivole, No, it is from the Handy Hands publication pictured above. I have none of those German patterns - yet!
    Fox : )

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  12. I have this book but just spent a great deal of time NOT finding it. Lovely pattern and good for you for working it out. I wouldn't bother with the directional tatting on the first try but I know you do. You know what? I think I used this pattern in an early exchange. We made pincushions embellished with tatting and I put it on the top of the pincushion. It was in pink and green. I wonder if it IS the same? Amazing what color does!

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  13. Intricate motif and looks prettier because of the blue centre!

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  14. Un Hermoso patrón, valio la pena tanto esfuerzo.

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  15. Thank you, Everyone!

    Gracias, Maria!
    ♥ Fox : )

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