Hopefully my post-it note doesn't come across as too insane. After my first few projects I decided that while I'm taking the time to work out how much thread I need to wind on the shuttle, I might aswell save that info. After completion I can amend the amount if I have too much left over. See, it makes sense really.
I hate to say it but I'm not so happy with the book Tatting Theory & Patterns by Jan Stawasz. First off, I wasn't banking on having to learn a new method of tatting so I gave that section of the book a miss for the time being.
Secondly, I've been repeatedly trying to complete the centre section of this doily with little success. I had to do the pink bit twice which was in a way my own fault, I didn't realise there were different stitch counts for regular tatting and "Jan's method" so I didn't have enough room to close the circle and have it lay flat. Now I'm finding that the chains on the second round are causing me strife. If I pull them tight they look wrinkled when I join them, if I leave them looser they look too floppy. I've cut off and restarted the white several times and now I give up!
Wednesday, 2 December 2009
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7 comments:
Yes, you're not the first to discover that you have to rewrite the pattern in terms you use yourself. Jan does directional tatting but if you don't (and I don't and have no need to) then it becomes cumbersome. He's got some beautiful patterns in there though so maybe do one of the snowflakes instead. You do just about HAVE to read his method just to know what to change.
Heehee! I was just talking to Sherry about that *exact thing* last night. I made the center of one of his snowflakes ignoring the fact that the stitch counts aren't the same due to the little dots - I left out an entire stitch on those sections as a result of the omission. Hence, my poor snowflake bowls so much it would make a lovely tatted hat for Barbie.
I feel your pain. ;-) Shall we both begin again?
Yep, that's why I don't have any of his patterns. His stuff is beautiful but they don't come with a translation into regular tatting. You're much more brave than me! Good luck!
I've done a few of his patterns but I only pay attention to the diagram. Luckily, I've been able to 'guesstamate' it.
I love Jan's patterns, I have tatted quite a few of his designs. Follow the numbers in black. the red is for his technique. If you are wanting to learn front side tatting, I found Jan's method quite confusing. The simplest method is to remember when reversing your work start with the 2nd half of the ds instead of the 1st half. When you reverse your work back to the front you will notice you now have a front and back to your tatting.
His method seems very cumbersome to me as well. I just made all the little half stitches whole stitches, and it seems to work fine for me. What bugged me the most is all the bits and pieces he uses to make something. I much prefer Iris Niebach's method of making a whole doily without having to break the thread at all!
Thanks for all the responses, it's really very reassuring to know that I'm not the only one who noticed the different way these patterns work. I still like how the finished items look and will possibly try again now that I have a couple of days off work.
I've tried the front side tatting on a couple of pieces and I like how all the picots sit on the same side. I found it confusing when I started a pattern with rings made using both shuttle one and shuttle two. I was doing all my rings the regular way and all my chains with 2nd half/1st half.
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