Craftree Forum Tree > Tat-Alongs > 2015 Beginner's Mystery Tat-A-Long
I've taken a leap of faith here .... From afar, Rnd 1-4, in my chosen colours, seemed like the center of a sunflower. That was the reason I chose an all-yellow round to resemble base of petals. Now waiting eagerly to see what the next round (s) bring !
Am enjoying the lovely colours chosen by participants ! So glad I decided to join in ....
Post removed by laceladie.
Finished row 5, pity it finished so fast! :) Can not wait till next one! I'm using Rico essential Cotton in Purple, love this thread brand! It's a bit thinner than Lizbeth size 10.
I have finally found time to get started on this one... and made it through the first 3 rows.
in reply to IdahoCanuck's post:
Ooh I love the pops of colour there
I was able to end the last round before I had to cut and rewind my shuttle. I am struggling a bit with this next clue. I also am not really happy with some of my places where there was 8 joined to 8. They don't seem to lay flat. Maybe blocking will help. Do most of you steam or wet block your pieces. I have been trying to make my chain tension the same, not sure if that is part of my problem,....pulling the chain DS too tight before joining. Will that make them twist? What a great learning opportunity. I am still not navigating my way around the project and photo pages very well.
For anyone who is up to date with the tatting I would recommend blocking. It's not necessary so don't panic but if you're waiting for then next instalment then take the opportunity :)
You can search the forums to see previous threads on the topic of blocking if you'd like to learn more or you can always start a new thread :)
Ugh, I'm behind on the tat-a-long, while doing round three I messed up and ended up messing up round two also so had to cut that row off. So gotta start back at round two, while still doing school work.
@kersti Will one ball of Lisbeth be enough to finish the project (start to finish) or should I pick up another?
What knots do people use for joining thread? Mine keep coming undone
Hi Heledd
You could try the Weaver's Knot (( Google "weaver's knot in tatting" for a tatman video, as well as other tuts.))
This is extremely secure & tiny.
But there are many Knotless Methods to start & end tatting, as well. I shuttle tat, & prefer these. You can start with a Knotless start to tatting. There are many tuts & videos online. Once you get comfortable, you can learn the ways to finish off tatting without knots.
I prefer starting a round/row with a ring where I find it easier to hide thread ends. But this can be done in chains, too.
The only precaution I take is to leave a shot length of the ends till some tatting has been accomplished. Only after a couple of rings & chains or whatever, do I snip them short.
Another measure is to put a teeny tiny dot of white fabric glue at the snipped end to make it doubly secure.
Hope this helps. :-)
When shuttle tatting I try to work my ends into the core of a ring. You can hide ends in chains, but the ring will really lock the end in so that it can't come out later.
When needle tatting I do an upside-down surgeon's knot. That is a reef knot with an extra loop through at the end.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surgeon%27s_knot
I was doing a reef knot and then burying the ends with a needle, but my stitching is tight enough to make that very annoying.
Grmpf.... can anyone help a newbee out a little? I had no problems with needle tatting another type of yarn, but somehow Lizbeth 20 and me are not yet friends. I use size 5 needle as described in the project, som what is wrong with my doily??? I also tried a smaller needle, but that got all very tight and ugly...
Almost absolute beginner......
Almost absolute beginner......
It looks like your tension is a little loose. Going down a needle size should have helped. Have you tried another Lizbeth #20 thread? I sometimes find that one Lizbeth thread doesn't tat as nicely as others.
This round is estimated to take 4.5hrs (would love to hear how close I am with these estimates for you) and so to allow for those with less tatting time to catch up the next instalment will be Saturday June 13th
I'm really enjoying seeing all of the different pieces, they look amazing - I especially love the pictures from our total newbies, you're all doing so well!
@kersti ... just reading thru round 6. (advanced pattern)
For ring, in diagram it says 4ds between joins to previous round . But it says 5 ds in written pattern.
Please specify ?
Even the chains are different in written & diagrammed versions ?
I've just uploaded an update for today's with clearer diagram - and I noticed while I was there that I forgot to mark the decorative picots on the previous round's chain. I've fixed that now.
