Monday, August 15, 2011

You might remember a few posts ago when I mentioned Lace News and the Lace News YouTube Channel. Well, I was looking through some of the tatting videos and happened upon this one.



I was intrigued by the way she made rings through the picots. I know in many of the antique patterns that they pulled the thread from picot to picot to get from one place to another but I've never seen a reference to this technique.

Out of curiosity, I decided to try it myself. My first experiment is on the right. I think my picots were too close together on the base ring as the final rings sort of bunched up on each other. That could be a design element but I was really trying to achieve what the author was doing.

So I tatted another ring with big and little picots and with 2 ds between the picots. That one is on the left. The picots were still too dense and I didn't even use every one of them. I haven't had a chance to play with it more, but doesn't it conjure up all kinds of potential designs??? It's possible I put too many picots in the ring. Maybe I should have only had like 3 big and 3 little?

I finally got back to tatting Bri's doily with 2 solid colors. I was this far and tried to finish it in spite of the garish colors I'd chosen. It didn't seem like such a bad idea when the two colors were sitting on the table in front of me but the more I tatted, the more I hated it! Then when I returned to it and hid one of my ends, that chain distorted and I could NOT get it to lay smooth like it had before. Even so, I attached the thread and started the last round. The directions are fine. I just couldn't get the thread to cooperate and I had no idea what I was going to do with an ugly purple and orange doily when I was done so I snipped off what I'd started and left it as a center. I need to pick colors I like better if I'm going to do this again! Hmmm...maybe I should make that last round white. It may be salvaged yet!

Here's a little more test tatting. I finally used some thread I bought from Lady Shuttlemaker a long time ago. I'm trying to stop hoarding what little HDT I have. I believe this is Rainbow Sherbert.

I got a new flat screen TV at the weekend so that was set up which involved some cleaning and sorting. I got several storage cubes into a room out of the living room but there are still some that are too heavy for me to move. They're going to the basement anyway and my son will haul them down there. I really love opening up spaces.

Unfortunately, the stand the TV sits on really will not hold all our DVD's and videotapes so now I need to shop for a cabinet to put them in. I want it to have doors (hence a cabinet and not a bookshelf) so I can hide them. Since the University is starting the fall semester soon, this is a good time to find a deal. Every place has all kinds of deals to attract returning and new students. Here's hoping I come across the perfect one!

12 comments:

  1. Thanks for sharing the video, Gina! I think the ring on the picot is fascinating. You're right, it opens up all sorts of possibilities!

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  2. Shame you didn't do the doily in green and orange I know someone who would have taken off your hands . lol I want to try it in some of Yarnplayer's Rhubarb Pie. Email me sascribner@sbcglobal.net with your address and I'll happily send you some. I also have Sugar Maple , perfect for fall.
    Thanks for the video I have never seen it though I remember reading it in one of my older tatting books. Just goes to show you there is more than one way to do everything!
    Ah fall, hard to believe summer has left us so soon. Hope work goes smoothly. You should try an older heavy style dresser or buffet for storage. I have seen where people take and paint them black and they hold a lot of things and look pretty cool. You should be able to find them cheap.

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  3. How cool! This is quite thought provoking. I'm amazed how brilliant and ingenious tatters can be! Speaking of brilliant... I enjoy see ing your work!
    j.

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  4. thank for sharring this video, I have to try it!

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  5. you always find the most interesting things.
    I think your picots needed to be longer, since what she has there is 2ds between picots. it definitely opens up some ideas doesn't it. have fun on your cabinet hunt.

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  6. Love that pink and green test-tatting! Very pretty.

    If I were to tat the picot flowers, I would not do so many as you did, as you do not see the element when they are all scrunched together. It is indeed an interesting technique. Thanks, once again!
    Fox : )

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  7. Thanks for sharing and finding this, I must have try at it as I do a lot of flowers and it might be good for the basket of tated flowers I want to do.
    I think I agree with you over the colour of Bris Doily, and the other testing tatting looks lovely well done
    Margaret

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  8. Wow, you're right, this is potentially very interesting! I like your second effort, it looks like a basket of flowers.
    What is the pattern for your test tatting- it's very pretty.

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  9. I viewed the video a few days before I tried it and did not review it before tatting. I'd forgotten she brought the shuttle up through the ring first which I think might fix it to the tip of the picot better. Also, she only uses 6 picots on the small rings, as Fox pointed out, whereas I went picot crazy! But that's what experiments are for, right?

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  10. As usual, you do all this wonderful research for us! Thanks for the video and also your examples. This technique definitely has design possibilities.

    The bookmark you're test tatting is very unique! Still don't know how you find the time!

    I have VHS tapes and DVDs stored all over the place, (on shelves that hang on doors, in cabinets and end tables with doors, hassocks with lids) and I've kind of lost track of what we have! I recently found an old VHS of one of our group's tatting events from 1993! Made me emotional! Now have to transfer it to a DVD!

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  11. Thanks for showing the video. At first, it made me think of the pattern style where you make rings around a center ring with making lock joins into the picots of the center. But doing it the lock join way, the rings tend to lie between picots, but it looks like these rings would stay directly on top of the picots. Very interesting.

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  12. I really love the post. I would have scrapped the snowflake too, the test pattern in pink and green is beautiful, very very pretty. nice and flat, and I can't wait to see the whole thing and who it is from.

    This video is great, I learned something from it, your test pieces and all the comments. I am going to try this technique in the future, but not sure when.

    Thank you for yet another wonderful post :)

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