Try...
And Try...
And try again...
Well, those are four out of my five or six attempts to do the first round of "Four Point #16" from Ultimate Book of Tatted Doilies. *screams* With the last one, I even tried going back to off the ball instead of working with a strand and a ball. This is just plain craziness!!! How many times can I keep trying the same pattern before I give up?
I think that it's time to step away from it, try a different pattern (or at least tat another heart since I know I can manage those, LOL) and maybe try this one again another day... *rolls eyes*
Well, hopefully, I'll have SOMETHING to show for the day later... :-/ (Oh, let me not fail to mention that, aside from this pattern, me attempting hairpin lace, once again, ended in miserable failure ...as did me trying the shuttle again --even with the darn DVD!). It's been a very frustrating 36-48 hours... GRRRRRRRRR.....
With love and lots o' growls,
Stephanie Grace
3 comments:
Hang in there, Stephanie! There are many patterns that I've had to try repeatedly in order to understand them. Sometimes going back to a familiar, easy pattern gives me new perspective.
I admire your preserverance! I'm sure you'll eventually succeed with this motif.
As far as shuttle tatting, you may not be aware that you can 'pinch' the thread in your left hand between the middle finger and the thumb, leaving the forefinger up and free to maneuver the knots into place. Since you needle tat, I'm guessing you are holding your left forefinger up to form the knots over the needle, so this might be more comfortable for you.
Even though I hold the shuttle differently from Janette Baker (and most other tatters), I like her DVD because she shows how to to form the knot on a chain first; and by using two colors of thread, it's easier to see how the 'flip' causes the thread held in the left hand to form the knots.
I LOVE the fan and the colors you used. I shows up great on the darker backgrounds! It would look nice in a frame to hang on a wall or in a stand-up frame on a dresser. Or it could be attached to a keepsake box. These boxes sometimes have 'puffy' lids, and you could attach it with small beaded pins. I always like to use velvet boxes, and a 'heart' box would be a good shape for the fan motif.
Dropping by again to correct my prior comment. I hold the thread in my left hand differently from Janette, not the shuttle (which is in my right hand, of course). My left hand holds the thread the same way I crochet, and I've seen it referred to by some tatters as the 'crochet hold'. It just so happens that I also knit Continental style, so it's the exact same hold for all three crafts, and has worked out perfectly for me! When I discovered I could hold the thread this way for tatting, I was off and running - and a happy camper.
I have done some needle tatting, and it was natural for me to form the knots with the left hand, and it's very much like crocheting. I do prefer shuttle tatting because I can use finer thread without having to have a thinner needle in my right hand.
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