One Side Done...

.... Five to go!  There are three separate rounds with cutting and tying at each as unfortunately it's not possible to use split rings or chains to avoid doing so.  I'm therefore making use of my magic loops to do the least amount of sewing in as that's not my favourite job!

I can't believe I managed to make a mistake on the very first ring of the last round.  I only noticed it just now:  I joined at a wrong picot.  I am debating whether to correct it - and what would be the best way of doing that - or to improvise by pulling myself a new picot to join to when comes the time to join there.  I will carry on with the other sides and decide afterwards.

As I have often found to be the case, Jan Stawasz's patterns are not the easiest to decipher and this one is no exception with some discrepancies and some numbers missing altogether.  You have to work it out as you go and hope for the best!  But the results are always worth it...  I do like Jan's designs.

Best wishes,

Frivole

360 Split Rings Later...

Thank you so much for your comments on the previous post... you really inspired me you see!  I had a mad rush of activity on this and completed the third and last round of split rings in record time!

I can now move on to working on the shapely sides.

Yipee!

Best wishes,

Frivole

Split Rings... lots of split rings!

I hope you won't get bored with this piece as you will be seeing it many times before I get to the end! I have finally completed the second round of split rings.  I actually don't mind split rings at all... but I must admit that there is a definite lack of variety when you have to do so many in a row!!

And guess what comes next in the pattern?  Yes, another round of split rings!  But it will get more interesting after that.  I can't wait to get started on the round after the third row of split rings where there will be lots more going on.  I really like the shape of the six sides.  It will be a bit fiddly to start off as there will be quite a bit of cutting and tying for the smaller, inside parts until you get to go back to full rounds that go all the way around the whole piece.

Best wishes,

Frivole

Two-colour Mirabelle and more socks

A customer asked me a question about Mirabelle's construction.  To make sure I gave her the right answer, I decided to tat it as I hadn't made one for a long time.  I don't think I'd ever made it with two colours before.  I just picked up two shuttles that happened to have those colours left over on them and tatted away.

I'm afraid that's the only bit of tatting I have to show for this blogpost.  I've not made much more progress on the green doily yet.  But that's because I'm still enjoying knitting socks!

I made this two-tone pair with the left-over green wool from the pair I made for my friend's birthday. When I ran out of green, I just carried on with other left-over sock wool I had.

This is "Herringbone Lace Socks" by Leslie Verts again but I changed the open lace work panel for a small cable instead.  I also knitted these from the toe-up instead of from cuff down as per the pattern. I wanted to try a picot cast-off.  I did try it but did not like it!  So instead, I used a crochet to cast-off. And I found that works very well.  Looks really pretty, is very stretchy, and is easy to do.  Winner.

I then decided I really need to make a pair for my sister next.  Her favourite colour is mustard yellow.  This pattern is by Wendy Johnson from her book "Socks from the Toe Up".

I really like the lace work on these.  Really pretty.  And I've fallen in love with a new sock wool I tried:  Heritage Cascade Yarns Sock Yarn (because it was the only sock wool I could find that came in mustard yellow!).  It is so soft and lovely to work with.  I'm going to have to try it in another colour next.  It comes in a 100g skein which I rolled into two balls so I could knit both socks at once (definitely my favourite way).

On another note, I'm debating whether to move my shop from Etsy.  I would be sad to leave and I'm not sure yet where I'd be going but I'm not happy with the changes they are implementing.  It feels like a big upheaval to move and I still don't know what to do.  I'm looking into alternatives/solutions but need to make a decision pretty soon.  I'll keep you updated of changes.  Thank you so much to all of you who have supported me there over the last seven years.

Best wishes,

Frivole

Irene Woo's Butterfly Heart

To remember Irene Woo who passed away recently, I was delighted to work with Georgia Seitz to produce an updated pattern of her wonderful Butterfly Heart.  I had mentioned to Georgia that I had made a diagram of Irene's pattern several years ago (back in 2012 when I first tatted her heart) and that I'd be happy to update the pattern and add the diagram.  Georgia, who was a friend of Irene's, had permission so that we could share the pattern.  Here it is.  Georgia has also uploaded it to her website.

Clicking on the heart will take you to the pattern.

The pattern has been available to tatters since 1999 so I know many of you have tatted this lovely heart already but for those who haven't, I hope you'll enjoy making it.

Best wishes,

Frivole

Socks & Doily - A Green Post

I finished another pair of socks.  They are for a friend's birthday and I'm really pleased with them.  The pattern is lovely and I particularly liked the zig-zag cast-on edge which I thought was unusual and pretty.  It also means there is a lot of stretch at the top which makes them easy to put on and comfortable to wear.  The pattern is "Herringbone Lace Socks" by Leslie Verts.

It made me smile that I knitted these socks in green wool and the designer is called "Verts".  My friend loves green!

I had some leftover wool and have already started a second pair, from the toe up this time and two-at-a-time so I can use up all the leftover wool evenly between the two socks.  Also because I found a picot cast-off method which I want to try next!

For the sock knitters out there:  I don't know about you but I find that when I finish top-down socks with Kitchener stitches to close the toe, I always end up with the last couple of stitches too loose and I have to fiddle with them and sometimes tack them down with my needle so it looks tidy.  I find that unsatisfactory.  Knitting toe-up solves that problem for me as I find the toe really easy to make (using Judy's Magic Cast-on Method).

I'm also wondering about trying a rounder toe shape...

have you tried one you like?

I'd love to hear your suggestions.

I may change the pattern ever so slightly on this second pair and it will have to be two coloured as I will be using up other left-over wool to go with the green of which I won't have enough.

I'm making slow progress on the doily - more green! - because I'm spending too much time knitting at the minute.  I'm more than half-way through the second round of split rings.  

There is third row of split rings coming next.

So just more of the same!

Best wishes,

Frivole

Crochet Garland & Shorts

When I'm not making progress with tatting it's because I'm knitting, crocheting, sewing...  I made these for one of my daughters:  a colourful flower garland to decorate her room and a pair of lacy shorts.

The flower garland is based on a pattern found in a

Mollie Makes Special Crochet Magazine

with some flowers crocheted from Lucy's pattern from Attic24.

The shorts are a pattern by Vicky Chan.

And now I'm finishing a pair of lacy socks for a friend whose birthday was just recently.  I should have them finished very soon and will show you in the next blogpost.

Best wishes,

Frivole