Gorgeous Galoons

  #1 Motif Challenge

Mine is NOT gorgeous - yet.  This is the first go 'round. Actually, I am exaggerating;  this is about the fourth try at the pattern taken from  D.M.C. Tatting by Therese de Dillmont (free from The Antique Pattern Library.) 

I kept making all kinds of errors, and it was NOT the fault of the old pattern, which is not difficult to read at all.  It's just one of those trying tats.

 Having been inspired yet again by Gina and her work with Grounds lately, I am intrigued with this galoon pattern and have some plans for it after I finish the present piece.  I can only do one at a time. Ah, control issues...

As did Gina, I found it difficult to  keep the rings the right way around as I moved along the chain. There was some twisting that made the tatting a bit of a fiddly, stop and go situation.

This is the current project.  I seem to have a fondness for beige, ecru and a minimum of thread colour these days - must be the snowy, cold influence of  February's winds.

** The D.M.C. spelling for this type of trim is g-a-l-o-o-n, though it seems to be spelled in more recent years with the double consonant.

The French verb 'to braid' is galonner.

There is not much info out there on-line that I can find; I have been looking around for a while... Anyone??

Gong Xi Fa Cai!

Happy New Year to all my Asian friends and family!

Welcome, Year of the Rabbit.
 
More 'Lello'

#25 Motif Challenge

Mom's opalescent ivory beads are perfect in this motif.  I love yellow, when it is a soft, buttery colour like this #20 Cebelia  - one of my favourites of all my threads and I hardly use it because it is so soft, yet I do really like the shade.

This is Teiko Fujito's pattern, tatting only the first round.  Yes, it is all done in only one round. Made for a wee bit of hair-pulling till I got the directions nailed down... Directional tatting = hair loss. 

By the way - I used Jane's method of attaching beads for the button ( which I found at work - isn't it sweet?) and it is a very effective way of doing things - with a safety pin. Thanks Jane!

Amber Beads - Thanks,Mom

#24 Motif Challenge

"Mixed Bouquet," from A Pattern Book of Tatting, by Mary Konior. 

I had tried this once before here, but I had more fun tatting in the larger, #20 thread (though the green is  #40 Milford, probably distorting the pattern somewhat!)

The amber beads are from my mom, who is not overly keen on tatting, though she does get mega points on the praise that she manages to muster, plus she honestly does try to show an active interest in my passion.  She gets a lot of praise for that!

A few days ago she was excited to gave me these beads; she thought I could use them.  They are from an eyeglass lanyard that had broken and she to salvaged the beads.  I am impressed!

So, I had to show my appreciation.  She will not want to keep this piece; she will 'ooh' and 'ahhh' over it before she puts it very solidly  back into my hands - and that is okay!

Next: all shuttles loaded and ready to tat!

The white beads are another bead-rescue.  Mom got these from a gift, a  beaded eyeglass case that had started to shed the beads.  They are white and opalescent.  Small and very pretty.  Ready to put to good use...

Pressing On

#20 Soft Pansy HDT by Yarnplayer
 

 Well, it's done. I have to say I liked it before this round was added,  perhaps because the variegated thread makes it too busy-looking, or maybe I am just not keen on the bare thread joins.  Whatever it is, this is not my favourite pattern.

However, I do love the first round.  Might even do that part again in a completely different colour - maybe adding beads instead of variegated thread...

There was another new technique for me in the second round. Where there are two rings, one on top of another, you are instructed to wrap the thread around the middle of the two rings before moving on to the next ring.  So, I learned two new things in the course of this pattern.  Not bad! I hope I did it correctly!

 It got finished at a coffee shop after work, having been carried there in The Press.  Ann's brilliant tatting idea now travels extensively!