Open Canvas

A motif is like a fresh new canvas to me. It's in black and white on paper. The vintage ones are always black and white since they didn't use color ink or color photography all that much. It allows me to imagine more fully, in color, with embellishments, accessories, and little changes that sometimes have a huge impact.

I wanted to try a few more things with the Ground #1 motif before I moved on.

I added some beads to this one but in the end, they felt a bit overwhelming or out of balance in the places I put them. I should have used only 1 bead or smaller beads. These are size 11, I think, maybe size 10. Overall, I think I prefer it without beads. It is ornate enough on its own. I also forgot the stitch count on the first ring, inadvertantly tatting the first ring 6-6-6-6 so I continued with the same mistake all around and then in the second round, I had to make the chains a few stitches longer to accommodate the larger ring.

On this one, I used two colors. I also changed the outer small ring to a "puff picot" that I learned from Bina Madden's article in The Bulletin. I need to find a current email for her to ask if I can do an online tutorial for it. Again, I felt it distracted from the original ornateness so I probably would not tat it this way again. That little blip of navy blue in the center is because I started out with the two colors knotted together but realized I didn't need the second color until the next round and it would get all fiddly with the split ring if I kept it. I even considered doing a SSSR but it wasn't necessary and why make something harder than it is? I had already closed the ring so I just cut the blue off.

It's a sample piece, an experiment. If I were going further with it, I would tat it right. (smile)

So now it's back to the little squares I was working on and next week I'll do the next motif in the DMC Ground series.

More on Ground #1

One of the things I love about vintage patterns is the potential. The first thing I do is compare the written text with the picture and hope they match up. I look for places to climb out and continue without disrupting the flow of the pattern. And I look for ways to improve the pattern or extend its life into something else. I also look for the ways tatting was done differently and how that affects the overall pattern.

I noticed my tatting of Ground #1 was more compact than what I saw in the printout. Also directions sometimes refer to the size of the picot, but they didn't use a smaller joining picot compared to a regular sized picot. Most of the drawings and photos show quite visible picots in the joins. I wasn't sure if it was for clarity or if they meant to have them that long. My own habit is to make joining picots very small but I noticed that seems to compact or crowd the stitches in this pattern so I studied the picture and decided to try longer picots at the joins.

This is the center group of rings with the longer picots. It opens the piece up and it lays flat more easily. It will leave a bit more space too, when I tat the second round. This happens to be size 70 thread which I mistakenly loaded thinking it was size 40. As soon as I tatted the first stitch I knew better but since it was on the shuttles, I went ahead and tatted it. Thinner threads tend to open up space too so I can't be certain the longer picots made that much difference. I did need to use a mock picot to match the other longer picots.

This is another motif tatted in size 40 DMC and paired with my first three motifs in size 20. I tatted the small rings with chains instead of rings. As in the original instructions, I chained 3-1--1-3 and joined right back in the picot I started with. I had't blocked any of the motifs at this point but it seemed like the small rings tended to lean towards the left. They look better now, but I still think throwing a ring off the chain works better.

So keep in mind when you use older patterns how the original was tatted in relation to picot size. Chains that were tatted for mock rings often look better when they are a true ring. Look for ways to bridge from one segment to another. Sometimes you have to tat the whole piece according to instructions to find the best path. In my first attempt at Ground #1, I made the split ring split at the last join since that was where the JK would be but it was awkward and worked much better to split at the top of the center ring and make the regular small ring to start the next round.

I love the overall look of this Ground so I tatted a small grouping which is about the size of a coaster in size 40 thread. The center is Chocolate Sauce by Tatskool and the outside motifs are from some variegated I had dyed. I'm not willing to tat on another round but if I did, you would see the triangle pattern that emerges better in the negative space. This stops at a hexagon but I like it. After tatting this many motifs, I know it takes me about a half hour for each one, including winding the shuttles, tatting, and hiding the ends. This one is small and delicate looking. I really want to find a way to showcase this piece now. I also have to admit that comparing this to the original print of the pattern makes me envious of the tatter who made the original. The spacing and tension is perfect on that one.

#1 in 25 Motif Challenge

This is my first motif for the 25 Motif Challenge involving vintage patterns. I am currently using the DMC Library - Tatting - Editions TH. de Dillmont. I've already tatted some motifs that I haven't shown and probably won't for awhile. I've skipped to Plate IV, which is "Grounds". There's really not an explanation of what grounds are in tatting, other than motifs joined together. I always think of "grounds" being the background of a piece or the less detailed stitch work that fills in space behind the featured motifs. From what I can see, however, the motifs are simply joined together. This could be a way to bridge larger elements together in a tablecloth or shawl. The tatting is simple for the most part. Only three examples are shown in Plate IV, but the shapes vary so you get the idea.

This is Ground #1, figure 22. It's the more elaborate of the three. I've tatted it in size 20 DMC Special Cordonnet. I will be tatting all of the motifs in DMC white. They may very well go in the dye pot later but for now, I wanted a common thread throughout. I will also try this motif in size 30 and 50 thread to compare how they look but I won't count them as motifs in the challenge.

This is with the second motif attached. I reworked the pattern so that I could climb out of the first round without a cut and tie. I still have to cut and tie when the motif is done but it's still only the tails to hide rather than 4 threads.

I made the motifs slightly differently by ending my split ring in the first round at different places. I think the second version was easier to execute and will give directions for that. I changed the way I did the josephine knot between the 2nd and 3rd motif (below) but I'm not sure it really made a difference. You can make a JK (josephine knot) by continuously tatting either the first half of the double stitch or the second half. I generally tat the second half as it seems easier and faster than the first half, but in my third motif, I tatted the first half and it seemed to lay better. That may be a result of it being my 3rd tatting in a row of the motif where I'm comfortable with the rhythm of tatting.

The original instructions had you tat the center with a shuttle only and fasten off. Then you used two shuttles and attached the thread to the motif to tat the second round. In the second round, you made a false ring with the chain but I changed it to a ring thrown off the chain. I think it lays nicer but I should tat one with the chain just to see what the difference is.

Please excuse my crude diagram. It took me over an hour to come up with something acceptable and then my scanner wouldn't work. I had to reconfigure the wireless connection.

I used size 20 thread, 2 shuttles wound CTM (continuous thread method) and put 1 1/2 yards on each shuttle. It was a close call on the second motif so you might want to add another foot to that estimate.



1st round:
R 6 - 3 - 3 - 6, clr
right next to the last ring,
[R 6 + last p prev r, 3 - 3 - 6, clr] 4 X
last ring is a split ring
SR 6 + last p prev r, 3/6 + 1st p on 1st r, 3, clr

2nd round:
I didn't bother to make a mock picot but you want to leave a tiny space as you'll be ending in this spot.
Using the chain shuttle, *R 3-1--1-3, clr
SS and Ch 4, + (join) in the join between rings
SS and using the chain shuttle, make josephine knot of 8 stitches, your choice if it's first half or second half.
SS & chain 4, + p on next R
SS & repeat from * around, ending last ch 4 in base of 1st small ring.

You're using the chain shuttle for the chains and rings both and I indicate that by SS which means switch working shuttle.

The original directions say to make that middle picot on the small ring a longer picot and that's where you join to other motifs.

Once you get into the swing of it, it's fairly quick to tat. You could tat a small mat or doily in an evening.