I started another motif. The pattern stated "small" picots (marked by -) in places and "medium" picots in others (marked by --) which is a notation I also use. Working this pattern has made me realise how problematic this notation can be! The first round of this motif has 14 repeats. As you can see from my first attempt, after 10 repeats, I realised there was no way I was going to close the circle even after I made 14.
This was due to the picots on my large rings being too small. I started again with longer picots and this time it works.
Small, medium, large is a subjective definition, isn't it? What's small to one will be someone else's medium, and so on. It's made me wonder whether I should be more specific when stating picot sizes, as in giving an actual measurement. What do you think? Is it a problem? I guess I'll often just look at the picture and gauge what size the picot should be although in this case, the picots on the picture in the pattern didn't look as big as I ended up having to do mine to make this fit.
Best wishes,
Frivole
I think it would be very helpful. I bet some would ignore that but many would appreciate that info!
ReplyDeleteThere certainly are some patterns where the exact picot size is important, but nobody wants to get out the picot gauge for every single thing we tat. Most of the time I just guesstimate, and occasionally I do have to try again, but it's usually not too big a deal.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you said that Miranda. Although I'm asking the question, I don't like using a picot gauge much. Only when it's absolutely necessary otherwise, eye-balling is my preferred option!
DeleteIt's just on some patterns, like this one, it does make quite a big difference… I suppose it's just a little bit but when there's 14 repeats, a millimetre here and there adds up to more.
I like to know exact picot size and I will measure the first one that I make, but after that I eyeball them. It's disappointing to spend time tatting and then realize that it isn't going to work because my picots were smaller or larger than the designer had used.
ReplyDeleteI know what you mean especially with the older patterns they don't have diagrams and this leaves you with guessing! I love the picture you have to demonstrate this! I do love this particular pattern in tatting can be so versatile. this is beautiful tatting :)
ReplyDeleteWhen a clear photo is available, I study it beforehand to get an idea of picot size. When designing, I make all joining picots very small to save frustration and guess work. The bare threads in the above pattern would make this a difficult one to gauge. As the bare threads get longer so must the picots to accommodate the increase in circumference. I haven't tatted many bare thread motifs because I hate measuring :)
ReplyDeleteI agree with you and in my designs I also always make joining picots very small and instead adjust the size of the rings to fit. In fact I have realised that the problem was not only the joining picots in this particular pattern but the fact that although they stated ¼" bare threads which I duly made with a gauge, if you look at the photo in the book, their bare threads are shorter than ¼" so that also contributed to the elements not fitting together.
DeleteAs you say it depends what definitions different tatters use, how small is small, could it be so small you can hardly see it or is what some of us would call small or regular size. Large are the ones I get slightly wrong how large do they mean, I normally eye ball my size and hate using a gauge, unless they give a gauge size which is a big help
ReplyDeleteYou have made a good question for tatters
Margaret
Thanks Margaret! You're right, it's hard to tell how "large" large is! :-) It doesn't matter much for decorative picots but it does for joining ones.
DeleteIf you want to add picot sizing, I think it would be best to indicate the size by how many ds widths to leave for the picot. That way, people can eyeball the size, but you still have an idea how big to make them. It also makes it a better sizing matter when using a different thread from the pattern. Just make sure that you indicate if the sizing is for the height of the picot, or the empty space left for the picot.
ReplyDeleteI love your random posts section! This post just explained a problem I'm currently experiencing. I've tatted the first round of a doily three times before I finally got one that would lay flat. Good luck with your studies!
ReplyDelete