Marta’s Magic. : )

Marta is back from holidays and sent me this. It is my Pine Plains Picot pattern (now in my Etsy shop) that I asked her to test tat and she has done a superb job.

I also appreciate the photo of the backside of the motif. Thank you Marta!

Now, a progress report on the tatting technique; it is wonderful!

It seems I have made the transition to the new tatting motion, which it is almost second nature now. That was quicker than I ever imagined it could be. Good old  - and I do mean old! - muscle memory. Maybe all that jogging I do counts for something other than good cardio!

Anyway, I was going to toss this motif or hand it over to The Boss for creative cut-and-paste, but I have grown to really like this piece a lot. I will keep it and compare it down the road, as a marker of tatting progress.

It is, I realize, the largest #80 I have managed so far in my career, discounting edgings. Luckily, I am having fun as I have a lot of Perfect Quilter in my stash to play with.

The only downside is that I really am not that fond of variegated thread and it as all that.

There are many mistakes.  I transitioned from the old way to the new with Perfect Quilter thread, which is thinner than the middle that is tatted with #80 DMC, but far nicer to tat with.

I had to cut out whole sections and un-tat again and again,  for I kept making the wrong sort of knot.... Grrrr. There were lots of problems and yet I still like it! It has a lovely feel to it; the mistakes are well hidden and my stitches are looking pretty good and mostly very consistent - for once!

It feels wonderful - a sense of tatting freedom - to tat in the “stabbing” fashion. It is smooth and quick and there really is a rhythm that kicks in. Very pleasing. I couldn’t be happier!

It is even now working on this Trellis pattern...

Though I was hesitant to tat any of this because I thought I would mess up the Victorian Sets, I have to say it is really easy and FAST to tat them with the new method.

What a learning experience this has been. After over 4 years of tatting under my belt, I cannot believe I was not using this method. I had read about it but it just didn’t work for me when I tried to do it. Even the videos did not help. You really - or I really -  needed a real live tatter to demonstrate the technique.

Seems it is a very good thing to change it up - maybe not just in tatting either! Stirs the imagination...