Happy Me!

A Prettier Preference

J'adore Sulky Blendables I have only four spools of it so far, and am certain I shall add to the small collection now that I have found it to be consistently wonderful to work with.

For a long while I believed this thread was similar to a #80, but in fact it is much closer to a #40.

Here is the Linda  Davies Oval pattern, begun using Sulky, after banishing the #40 Lizbeth and Karey Solomon piece:

Compared to each other:

In my opinion, the new one is by far more elegant tat. By far. Really, pretty obvious!

The hanky edging goes well, but the thread...ah, you know how o go on about Lizbeth! In all honesty, this time the #40 is working fine send no twisting, knots or slubs have interrupted my progress! Quelle surprise!

Behold this delightful hanky, sent to me by umintsuru last year or perhaps a few years ago - time goes quickly by if one wields a tattong shuttle!

Her work is exceptional,  consistent throughout and the attachment to the cotton hankie neat beyond belief. I am humbled and see I have much work to do on my skill-building.

Tatting by umintsuru

Lazy Luck

From yesterday:

Brabant by Adelheid Dangala

Compared to the last one:

Look at the long chains in the centre.

See?

I ditched the doily. 

Yes. I have become proficient in the past weeks at stopping that which I do not like! This is good, as my aim is to improve my tatting, not to tat as fast as I can.  'Switch of focus’ is my new challenge.

Also I could not stand to waste any more of Karey’s limited and wonderful HDT on a piece that I was beginning to loathe! The colours of the threads were so ugly to me that I had to stop.

So, this time, as I repeated Brabant, which is not as easy as it looks. For me it is necesary to really pay attention to keeping all the elements the same size and shape. Compare this aspect as well with the two motifs and you can see what I am referring to.

Stephanie had alerted me to the dds, which I wanted to use on the chains but I was too lazy to check and see how to tat them and so I just plowed ahead with what I thought was the right method. It wasn’t!

I tatted 2 first-half ds, followed by two second-half ds instead, and shortened the stitch count. I really like what happened!

The lovely pattern Oval Pattern by Linda Davies will be tatted in another thread - a finer one. It will look much prettier. 

Thanks so much, Stephanie! Your thoughts are so helpful!

You Saw What?

I saw THIS!

Of course, it is obviously an advertisement foriPhone, but at first glance, I almost walked into the person ahead of me on the sidewalk! I was so happy that tatting had become so ubiquitous! 

After I realized my misinterpretation, I felt a slight tinge of embarrassment. Just a soupçon. : ))

It is fortunate that I am trying not to run out of Karey's thread, because it would look so much better solely in her HDT. Because it is a straightforward pattern and the thread is #40, I am finding this a relaxing tat.

The pattern is The Oval Doily in Ecru by Linda Davies, and can be found here. It is free. Thank you, Linda!

It seems that the Stawasz piece I am so wanting to tat is available only in an old Polish magazine. Grrrr. I had thought it was in the two Jan Stawasz books that I own. So, I might just have to pick another pattern from one of the books. I'll keep you posted!