Three-On-The-Go: A Lot For Me!

1)

The Iris pattern is now understood. Finally. This is a complete element of the 6-repeat design. It lies flat with no blocking.

I cannot stand the colour, so after much muttering and internal debate and external blasphemy, I have decided to ditch this beginning and go with a new thread.

What is the point in going ahead if I dislike the colour? I realize I was just going to do so because it was tatted correctly. Bad reasoning. : )

2)

T.I.A.S.  Day 10

I still think it resembles an Amish-type carriage.

3)

ALMOST finished the 4th round of the Mystery Doily. I have learned the hard way not to tat this too late into the night, even if I am watching a movie. Too many slip-ups. This photo shows more buckling than there actually is. It lies pretty flat. I am happy.

Getting big - 8 inches.

This really is an amazing piece. Simple and repetitive, but at first baffling.

I am delighted that I struggled through the first bit, as this and the Victorian Trellis Doily are my all-time favourite pieces since I began the tatting life. : ))

Flat is Fantastic

In this case it is indeed!

Mademoiselle Doily is not buckling or cupping, both of which would be annoying or even disastrous. So far, all is good on Row 4. Funnily enough, I am still really enjoying this one!

Perfect Quilter is the best for Iris. This is the only thread that will 

allow me to tat this design without twisting and curling like crazy!
(Sulky was not bad, but this is even better.)

                                   

Snip!

I was reading about Jon’s mishap with the Mystery Doily and commiserating, thinking I was so lucky I hadn’t had to cut off any of the doily in the third round and I was well into the fourth, when I noticed something was amiss. Really wrong. You might say a complete disaster!

Following instructions in tatting and in life - not my forte. Here was yet another example of how this often leads me to unemployment or wasted thread.

Not only had I done the pattern wrongly in the fourth round, but when I started to snip away at the fourth row... yup, into the third row I cut - and cut.....  Ohhhhh, the language.

I had myself convinced that tatting was a dumb thing to do and I should just chuck the motif and all my thread and shuttles and everything. I felt I should just never tat again! What a mood!

Mr. G calmed me down. He gallantly shared his toys with me and we played for a bit till I was a better person. Quite maturely, (for a change) I  put the piece away till today, coming to whatever senses I might still possess and sat quietly fortified with very strong coffee and got to fixing the mess.

The good news is that I cannot even find the part I fixed! And I was truly dreading fixing it as I am so intimidated by the joining at the end of the row. Always. But since I am getting lots of practice, I was able to do it after only two un-tats!

Seeing where I had gone astray, I promised myself that I will READ the pattern before plunging ahead. I am not rushing.

I am tatting zen:

Round 4, Mystery Doily

Lizbeth Lament

Well, once again I had to abandon the Lizbeth#40 - WAY too twisty and knotty. Very naughty. Honestly, I have NO luck with this thread. The pattern is by Iris Niebach: Milena, from her "Tatted Doilies" book.

Here it is in Sulky:

Stephanie sent me this sample of Sulky, which InTatter’s Rachael says is about a #100!

How peculiar that the one round pattern in a #40 was impossible, so I tatted it in a #100 instead! Of course - makes perfect sense, Fox-style.

There was no need to press this ttting though I did wet it a bit to make the colours more vivid. The thread is very pastel when dry.

Here it is in Lizbeth:

Much pressing was done before this photo was taken.

Before the Lizbeth, I tried it in Perfect Quilter, but the pattern was too confusing in the variegated thread, both in the resulting tatting and in my ability to understand the directions. I could not see the flow...

The Perfect Quilter followed my first attempt, which I posted earlier, in a DMC #80 thread sent by Ninetta:

There you have it. I am finished with the pattern. As pretty as it is, long chain patterns are definitely not to my liking, and this one falls into the tortuous tatting category for me. 

Good to know I could now tat it, if I had the inclination, now that I finally seem to understand how this pattern works!

MYSTERY DOILY UPDATE 

Moving on to Row #4!

Lastly - this is fun to tat, from Nancy Tracy, in the Be-stitched Newsletter pattern: