Sadly Not Stellar

The Good News

Progress on the Snowflake Napkin by Renulek. 

 : )

The Not-So-Good News

I do not know what to do about buying more thread...

I have been ranting on and off about the quality of Lizbeth.  I thought jettisoning the #20 and using mainly #40 had solved my problems with uneven thickness, knots and fuzziness. But no.

Now, I have reduced my thread stash to a minimum and have mostly Lizbeth #40, in a very few colours.

There is coming a time when I am going to be bored with the lack of colour choice and there is not too much HDT either. 

But, and it is a big 'but,' I am not going to buy more until I have exhausted all alternatives. I am sick of the inferior quality - unless my expectations are wildly out of line.

I remember working with a wonderful Japanese thread - I think it was Olympus, and it was delightfully smooth and consistent in texture, but few colours were available.  

Then there is Altin Basak - lots of colours, but a bit soft for my taste. So, what's a girl to do?  I might just have to start dying my own.

I suppose I could then use Lizbeth, as I find it to be excellent, once it has been transformed into Hand Dyed Thread.

Or, I could suffer diminishing eyesight by beginning a tatting career using mainly 'Oliver Twist.' Woe is me...

However

No Woe Here!

2/100        #40 Calliope HDT by Jess

I saw this on Frivole's blog and just had to tat it - right away! 

It is a design by Jan Stawasz, and I happened to have it in my library. 

Sniezynka!

I love that word! 

Sniezynka. Sure hope it means 'snowflake' in Polish.  ": ))

The Snowflake Doily is coming along.  These colours just do NOT work in this part of the design.  I shall not post my final choice till I have a bit more of it tatted up.

This next  row - #5 - is going to take a while to complete, especially as I am also still tatting Renulek's 2011 Honey Napkin.  How did I end up tatting two humungously-large doilies? I am not even that fond of doilies? How did this happen?

Actually it was Snowy, who alerted me to the fact that these snowflakes are the #5 Row of the doily.  I thought Renulek was taking a break and had posted a new little motif that had nothing whatsoever to do with the doily! Ha!

I had printed out the motif, which looked easy enough and was going to play around with it to relax. Then I read Snowy's comment on the last post and realized my foolish error! Thanks, Snowy. 

This motif is the fifth round of the Snowflake Doily, if I have not made myself clear - all 12 snowflake repeats!

Whilst in stunned realization of this fact, I quickly pulled out a skein of Jess's Calliope and tatted up these earrings as a diversion - That's what Gian told my I did, anyway... Cute? I have them listed on Etsy.

#1/100 Motif Challenge - Another 100!

I actually have tatted quite a lot of this round on the Honey Napkin. This is not a difficult tat so far. It is much more straight-forward than the Snowflake Doily. I can't wait to add in the beads...

Angels, Earrings, and Augmenting 'Honey Napkin'

Margaret has designed a sweet angel with fluffy wings. 

Head over to her blog for the pattern, now available.
I used lots and lots of beads, but you can tat this without any.
I do love the beads. : )

I had some trouble fluffing those wings because I could not get the Cebelia #20 to get fluffier than this; I think my picots could have been longer, but isn't it a great pattern?

Well done, Margaret!  Thank you for asking me to test-tat - lots of fun!

No news on the Red Earrings!

They are languishing in my Etsy shop. So pretty - to me! But the world thinks differently!

So, I thought I would try another pair, maybe in different colours...

Lastly:

I could not resist adding in glorious red. And there WILL be beads. Such an enjoyable tat.

This is the most substantial piece I have worked on to date, both in size and in weight.  The thread makes the piece reminiscent of crochet work I used to do with fine crochet threads. 

I have but ONE piece left from a decade of crocheting - and I crocheted as much as I now tat, so you KNOW there was a lot!

Here they are, sided by side:

See what I mean about this doily being 'substantial?'

The #8 Finca thread has definite heft. 

Only 16 More Rows To Go!

Here is the beginning

 - 41/2 inches across -  

of Renulek's 2011 'Honey Napkin.'

It is tatted in this thread - a 2-ply Finca #8:

This is the thread I could not resist purchasing because; 1) it is in a local shop 2) it is very shiny 3) the colours are saturated and lovely. So I bought two balls. Then I made the red earrings, which are still sitting in the shop!  

Now, I am on #3 row, with 16 rows remaining - it is going to be HUGE! 

The question is: should I complete it all in the one colour or add in some strategically placed fabulous red?  I am torn.  So far I have not felt the urge to add the red, but it may strike me along the way.  Any thoughts on this?

While I tat, I am constantly amused by Monsieur Gian.  His antics sure keep me laughing...