It's not too bad looking at it from a distance but if you look up close, you'll see what I mean. There are a couple of things I'd like to point out (if you're interested!) :-)
First is what I said about all the rings join at the base of the onion ring. It's a bit messy when you look at it up close, isn't it. You make the small ring, reverse, make the large inner ring, reverse, make the chain that goes around the inner large ring, join, make the last small ring, reverse, make the chain that will go to the next motif. The particular example I'm showing you even suffer from "gaposis" - shock, horror!! Anyway, I wasn't sure how else to complete this particular series of elements so that's how I ended up doing it. If anyone can suggest a better solution, I'd love to hear it.
The second thing I'd like to mention is the little ring at the tip. There should be two stitches either side of it. But when I tatted the first one like that, the gap looked bigger on the left of the tiny ring than on the right. To make it look balanced, I ended up making 1½ stitches on the left and 2½ on the right (actually starting with the 2nd half of a stitch first to pull the ring in and give it stability and then two full double stitches).
I think that way, it looks visually balanced.
Ok, enough of my ramblings?
Best wishes,
Frivole
I do see what you mean. I also notice that it's not so bad on some of the repeats, so it can be avoided. I don't know what the solution is, except to be aware of the problem and be extra careful.
ReplyDeleteBardzo piękny motyw.
ReplyDeleteEstá muy lindo a pesar de que entiendo lo que dices y las correcciones realizadas.Besos.
ReplyDeleteI think this is very beautiful and love how you took care of the problem I do have this book and now I think I will give it a try!
ReplyDeleteThis looks beautiful. Your 'ramblings' (as you call it) have helped me figure out what is going on - why my chains never seem long enough when working some vintage patterns....and why other things don't always 'work,' also. Thank you for sharing your insight with us.
ReplyDeleteOh good! Thank you. Sometimes I wonder if I go on too much for my readers! :-)
DeleteBut yes, in this case, I had to add 4 stitches to the chains to make it fit (that's quite a lot extra, isn't it?). And I find that to be a frequent problem with some old patterns.
Obviously, the writers of these booklets did not care. I care, but I don't know how to help you. And I don't have the book.
ReplyDeleteCould the gap be solved by a half ds, second half, being made before the chain and pulled very tight before the first ds? I use that method sometimes when there is going to be a gal after a ring...
ReplyDeleteI was thinking about it some more, and I was wondering if switching shuttles instead of reversing would help. Not having seen the pattern, I can't say for sure, but it seems worth trying.
ReplyDeleteI am enjoying your ramblings, very interesting how you. Wrote about this pattern, I can see what you meant about the little ring at the top, I think I might have left it off and just put a picot.
ReplyDeleteI do like the pattern but I do like onion rings, I don't have this book so it's interesting to read what you thought of the pattern.
Margaret
Your motif looks very elegant!! :)
ReplyDeleteI'm a little late to the party, but it's always amazing to see your attention to detail, and it's wonderful to see the perfection of your tatting, This motif looks so beautiful in this color, and you've improved the 'look' of the design! I also love the 'star' pattern, which is one of my favorites. Fox added some colored beads (with blue being prominent) to the star back in 2010, and made it look really elegant!
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad you're featuring a few of the patterns from this book! Marion T. Leyds, who is the designer for both 'Festive Tatting' and 'Tatting for Today', somehow managed to get the books published by DMC, but her name isn't prominently displayed. Unfortunately, we don't seem to know anything about her, and I'm very curious about her tatting history. These publications were available in the craft stores in the 1980s, at a time when tatting really was a 'dying art', and they helped to keep tatting 'visible' to the public. They certainly helped inspire me when I learned to tat in 1990 and saw the books in the stores! The projects seemed small enough and 'do-able', although I did wonder if I could ever follow the instructions! Several of the patterns were among the first items I made and still have today, hanging on my tree!
I see what you mean, but I have no suggestions. I do have that book. Maybe I'll get around to tatting from it some day!
ReplyDelete