Help Me Out Here...

This is Karey Solomon's heart pattern, 

from her booklet, 'Hearts Belong To Tatting.'

I love Jess's thread and thought this would be a perfect heart. The centre went well, but I cannot , CANNOT tat those outer chains, by following the directions.  And I get hopelessly confused trying to tat it without the written words because of the directional changes.  Can't do them.

So, after a few hours I gave up and thought I'd plead for the answer. I am wondering if the pattern is incorrect. Anybody?  

It is a pretty heart that I would love to finish.

Putting My Heart Into It...

This is the second last effort: (#40)

This is the last one in a slightly larger thread: (#50)

*sigh*

Irresistible Iris

...Iris Niebach 

that is.  

This one is for you, Suneeti!

Design: "Erica," by Iris Niebach from Tatting Fantasia                     #77

This was challenging, but really not too difficult - for once!  I am going to tackle it again, however.

One thing about thread...  This was a gift from my friend S that I had saved it for a while, and I do not know how long she had it.  I know it is Tatskoo's hand-dyed thread, which I have tatted with many, many times.  

This particular thread was very brittle and split a lot, which is NOT a usual characteristic of Tatskool's threads, so I am wondering if it is quite old.

I have noticed this before when using other HDT that I had tucked away and not used for maybe two years.  

So, my conclusion is that one should use threads as one acquires them or there might be a risk of using a thread past its prime, resulting in inferior tatting.  Just a thought.

Guardian of Things Tatted

Hmm.  A new place to sit.  Oh, I see. 

 Looking after it so no harm comes to the stitching...

Thanks, Gian.

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#76

No improvement. I cannot seem to get rid of those bumps on the side.  I wish I could feel Frivole's tatting ( especially on her new Niebach motif, which is fabulous) to see what her tension is like. I think I may be tatting too tightly and not comfortably, as I am always admonishing myself to pull harder.  

Is tatting supposed to be tight?  What is a "correct" tension anyway?

Is it like knitting, where I always used to advise knitters to be consistent, but to knit with a tension that felt 'natural." I am so frustrated with the tension thing.  Grrrrr.

For comparison, here are the last two heart together:

I tried something new with the brown one - I forget where I saw the post about the alternative method of tatting a Josephine Ring, but I went to Jane's Technique page and followed her directions.

I like the resulting ring.  You tat on the back of the thread, rather than the front to twist the it.

Thanks, Jane!

After the fact:  Jane says this did NOT come from Brain Cell #3, and she got the idea elsewhere.  No mater - I found the explanation in all its clarity on her site.  : ))

*********

Another unsuccessful beginning...

I have to start again, especially after a visit to Frivole's blog...

(Gnashing of teeth heard in the background...)