Endings And Beginnings

Yes, I did want to finish The Boss’s mat before I moved and I have managed it - just... The truck will arrive in 12 hours and I have a few things left to pack, but Gian and I are going to sleep early, or at least he is. I am going to attempt an early lights out..

It was a long day and my hands hurt; moving is a right pain! Grumble grumble.

But I am happy I finished the piece. The Boss got very excited, her mom told me, when she saw a photo of it in an email I sent her today.

 Tatting does make the big chores easier!

Another thing... I had to rewind the bobbin many times with the #10 thread - it does make a huge difference in coping with ends when one tats with gigantic rope. NEVER again.

#32/100 MC

Inspired by Jan Stawasz Pattern for Cap          

Tatted in #10 (yucky) Cebelia

Never Again #10

WHERE was the warning label? WHERE? Where is it, the label on the ball of Cebelia #10, where it tells you there will be danger to your hands and to not tat with it if you are packing up to move; where it comes with a tube of soothing salve and bandages, which will come in handy when you have packed all yours for the move and your hands are RAW and HURT and STILL you keep on tatting... through the night, box after box, stitch after stitch till you think you will go mad... unpicking the knot in the T.I.A.S., tatting in your underwear before you have even showered... tatting to beat the band... ta-da..

Can you see the Josephine Knots?

I thought they would give the piece some ballast.

Day 7

T.I.A.S

And, really. My hands are a mess. That heavy thread is murder on the skin - dries it out like crazy and then I cannot use cream when I tat - too greasy! Never again, number ten!

So, why am I tatting and not packing? 

What a very foolish question!

My Way

I have no patience for this mat anymore...the move is surely getting to me, though there is not much to pack. Becoming disturbed by the unsettled feeling in our tiny space, caused by the growing pile of boxes, Gian is not  his usual chipper self either - he knows something is up.

Ah well, it shall be over on Friday and really, I cannot complain, as there really is not a whole lot to do. Plus, I am so well-organized that I have done all necessary re-location things - address changes and so forth.

But - going back to patience: I HAVE NONE! So, Mr. Stawasz patterns are not sitting well with me in this particular state. That final row on the cap demands a lot of attention and I am not willing at the moment, so I have taken another edging in the book and will tat it around the mat.

Actually, I am not fond of those petal-like edges, like the ones on the cap and the Renulek pattern.

So, I shall apply a simpler edging, also from Jan’s book. The Boss will not care and it will be finished far earlier. Most importantly, I will like it better. : )

No more large doilies for me. I want to get back to small, contained motifs - even to  design a couple of things that are brewing in my brain -  but first I want to finish all incomplete tatting. And move!

Last, but definitely not least, the 

best fun of the tatting week:

Day Six  -  T.I.A.S.

Mat - Not Hat

I have no idea how Jan Stawasz made this pattern into the cap that you can see in his new book. Nice photo, but I really don't get it. This is very flat - except for this second purple row, in which I increased the ds count to keep it from cupping. Also I am using #8 Finca Perle for the purple and it is a lot thinner than the #10 Cebelia that I bought especially for the hat.

In hindsight, I never needed #10 thread which is very hard on the hands. This pattern could have been tatted in any size for a mat, and I do have pink thread, so I do resent having bought this heavy stuff because the pattern calls for it.  Grumble grumble....

Not the colours I would have chosen, but The Boss most definitely knows her own mind. Really.  : )