Craftree Forum Tree > Tat-Alongs > 2015 Beginner's Mystery Tat-A-Long
I almost never untat rings. I tat too tightly, even if I can manage to undo the ring the thread is quite beat up. It's live with it, scissors, or a patch such as muskaan suggested. One exception is custom dyed silk thread, which is much easier to undo, and is a bit more precious.
Finally finished! I hope this is where to post to get my badge. lol
I know I'm a bit behind just finished round 7 looking forward to completing 8 and 9.
NICE! Congrats :) It reminds me of those twisted rainbow candies on a stick! Yummy :)
I've stalled out on mine.... 1/2 way through round 8..... Just no time to tat right now or in the near future, but I WILL get back to it. It's inspirational to see all the lovely finished doilies.
Well I am going to attempt this. I have chosen to Lizbeth 20 Ecru. Wish me luck.
Our best wishes are always with you, Val :-) Don't forget to share pics of your progress ... happy tatting :-)
I've been looking at pictures of peoples' completed doilies and have not been able to see anyone joining between the chains after doing the rings on round 5...
?... I'm not sure I understand what you are getting at....
in reply to Heledd 's post:
Here's mine after completing round 6:
The chains of round 6 are joined to the base of the rings in round 5. Is that what you mean @Heledd?
in reply to Heledd 's post:
Actually, Heledd, that is one round you don't really need to cut & tie ! You can start Round 6 Directly from Round 5, by simply making the first half of the long chain & continuing. After Round 6 is completed, you will have arrived at the very same point, & can then tie &cut & hide ends.
However, since each subsequent round was a mystery, I Did in fact cut after Rnd 5 (you can see the thread ends where I did not hide ...) . But like I said before, you don't really need to cut at this stage. Continue on to Rnd 6 if you have enough thread in your shuttle(s).
Hope this helps ?
The instructions for round 5 say:
"Ring- 5ds, 3p sep by 2ds, 5ds, join to p before joining between chains on previous row, 5ds, join to next p (after joining between chains), 5ds, 3ps sep by 2ds, 5ds cl rw"
I can only see people joining to the picots on round 4 but not joining between chains...
Maybe it's just pointing out which picots to join to but it reads as though the rings of round 5 should be joined to the picot then to the join between the chains of round 4 and then to the next picot.
@Heledd I think Kersti meant to indicate which picots to join to: The one before the join between chains in row 4, and the one after the join between chains in row 4. Writing 'joining' instead of 'join' seems a bit odd but then English isn't my native so there might be a nuance there that I'm missing.
Edited to add: If you look at the drawing you can also tell that it is indeed simply pointing out which picots to join to. There's a joining stripe before and after the point where the chains of row 4 meet, but not right where it does. There's also only one number (5) between the two picot joins.
I'm Not sure how else to write it so that it's clearer. On the previous round you've joined chains together and on this round you're joining to the picots on either side of that join - I assumed the picture would help
Finally! After re-tatting all the rows 2-8 with revised stitch counts....slipping it in between work, a little here and a bit there..... it is finally finished.... and laying nicely flat! :)
Finally finished and have learned that using synthetic thread is definately interesting
Flo, this is so striking all in red! Now, I know what I mean when I say something is 'interesting', so I have to ask. Would you (and why) use this same thread again for tatting? What thread is it? And by synthetic, do you mean polyester? Did you have any problems blocking it? Whatever issues you may have had with the thread, you did a good job with it.
in reply to Lynn's post:
The thread is polyester and I don't know the brand as I was given it and it came on an industrial size bobbin so I still have over 2000 meters of it. Due to it being polyester I've yet to try to block it as I've yet to figure how.
I would use the thread again as it was easy to unknot if I made an error and I even managed to undo a couple of rings though I've decided that this was more trouble than it was worth.
Unlike cotton, polyester will not respond to starch. Starch is for natural fibers like cotton or linen or other plant produced fibers. Polyester needs heat and a stiffener which will probably not be removable.
With natural fibers, if I have had a relatively difficult time getting all the elements even, I boil the work first so that the work is smaller than intended. Then I pin on a board while the work is wet with water. After it dries, I have a margin of size that I can pull out the outline to match the pattern. Then any loose bits will probably be contracted enough not to be seen. When everything has been put into place, then I starch it a few times (spray starch is pretty thin!)
Unlike cotton, polyester will not respond to starch. Starch is for natural fibers like cotton or linen or other plant produced fibers. Polyester needs heat and a stiffener which will probably not be removable.
With natural fibers, if I have had a relatively difficult time getting all the elements even, I boil the work first so that the work is smaller than intended. Then I pin on a board while the work is wet with water. After it dries, I have a margin of size that I can pull out the outline to match the pattern. Then any loose bits will probably be contracted enough not to be seen. When everything has been put into place, then I starch it a few times (spray starch is pretty thin!)
I don't remember ever blocking a polyester tatted project. I know that things knitted or crocheted in polyester need to be 'killed'. That is, it is ironed through a pressing cloth with high heat and lots of steam, then left to dry thoroughly. This sounds like it's similar to your boiling the tatting, @PattyD.
