What the Royal wedding did

This is what the Royal wedding did for tatting!!!  

It gave me the wonderful excuse to sit and tat most of the day!!!!  I got sucked into the wedding before it started and sat through the lot - even the boring bits of hymns and stuff!!!   We even watched the highlights last thing at night on the news!!!

Anyway this is the progress from before that and since.  I'm about a third of the way round this round now but I'm flagging!!!!  SO pleased I've 'hidden' the threads I'm going to use in the shoe box.  I won't allow myself to peep until I need the next batch of threads!!!  Does that sound silly?  Maybe, but it works for me!!!!

The psychology of a large project!!

OR am I in need of a psychiatrist?  Send for the men in white coats!!!


Now the diamond mat isn't my first large project by any means!!!  If I remember rightly the sewing thread weight sleeveless jacket I made when the kids were little was probably the first.

Lately I've got sick of the quick to do projects as each time they're done I have to think of something new to do.  Then there's the problem of what to do with them all!!


Now the way I deal with these larger projects is quite simply down to self trickery.  


First of all I NEVER set myself an end target - that's fatal for me as the end would be too far away and totally unacheivable.  I therefore start to vaguely 'think' I'll start on something but never tell brain cell 3!!!

I start with smallness in mind.  The 'project' sets out (at the back of my mind) to be a small item.  The waistcoat was originally going to be a glassmat.  Then it's easy to make another small mat 'to match'!!  These can then be joined up with a third (if still in the mood) and sometimes a whole set can be made before joining them up and getting an 'instant' large project.  Another 'trick me' strategy I use too is to make lots of 'middles' and put them by.  Then when the outer edges are done and joined a 'large project' emerges.  Real brain trick is that!!!

The diamonds have been a lot more interesting as there are colours involved.  If it had been two plain colours I would probably have given up ages ago.  This time I have found another way (see Thursday's post) of keeping the excitement and anticipation going!!!   Again trickery is the answer and NEVER let brain cell 3 know!!


With this project I had decided it was going to be the size of the previous one before I started but then I thought I'd fill in the spaces between the points - just to see what it would look like!!!  


One day when most of the way through that last stage - which I called round two I had the brilliant idea of making a wall hanging for our bedroom.  I showed it to Nick who then said he thought it would be a bit small.  Eureka - another round (and a larger project!!!) was 'birthed' in my brain!!!  Problem is now - do I show him it again when this round is complete?!?!?

So?

Were you really expecting a post about TATTING today?  I'll continue my ramblings tomorrow!!!

I'm not a follower of our Royal family and their antics but I do get 'sucked in' when it's a wedding!!!  I'm proud of my heritage and acknowledge what the Royal family do for our tourism industry.  I love the pageantry and doubt any other country could do it as well - there's a challenge!!!!

My kettle's full of water, the teabags are ready, the telly is tuned in so bring on the celebrations!!


Oh, I'll be working on diamonds too!!!!  Darn it - tatting had to creep into this post!!!!

The answer!!!!

The first guess in was right - from Maureen!!!!  

This was the start of round 3 of the diamond 'mat'.  What I did was lay out the completed centre two rounds and then 'raid' the tatting cupboard!!!  It's easier to do it this way for me.  


I start with the HDT and variegated threads and match them up to appropriate 'plains'.  The next stage is to place them next to where I think they're going to be best in the next round.  OK, this sounds simple but there are lots and lots of changes of mind over placement and 'guesses' as to what the finished motifs will look like but an hour or two of messing around and brain ache gets it done.

Then I tie the balls/ezbobs together (or put them in bags together) and 'mark' with a safety pin and a piece of card where numbers 1 and 2 start.  All the balls are then numbered and put in a shoe box with the highest numbers at the bottom (there are 18 on this round!!).  It's then part of the fun picking out the next paired number over the following weeks to see 'what comes next'.  


Tomorrow I will 'discuss' (or mutter about) the psychology of such a large project!!!  It may consist mainly of excuses for my mental instability!!!!

What IS the old bat up to now?

Don't worry - I'm talking about myself - the MOG or the daft old bat (DOB).

Here you are - a conundrum, puzzle, quiz, tease or whatever you want to call it.   Maybe just a bit of fun!!!!  No prizes here but can you guess what this is all about?  Two pictures below.

Yes, it's a shoe box (I bought some new sandals a few weeks ago).  First picture closed (well, almost!) and the second open.

Go on, humour me - have a guess!!!  What am I doing and WHY?

Abbi's blanket

First of all thanks to those who missed my blog post yesterday and who wrote to see if I was OK - I missed it too!!!!  I thought it was Sunday!!!  DUH!!!!!  Today's post brings back supposed 'normality' in my corner of tat land!!!


I have one little granddaughter aged 3 (and a bit) who loves pink.  Don't all little girls?  Oh, and OG's like me too!

My daughter spent hours cutting up her old baby clothes into small four inch squares.  She showed me them last year when we visited and she was about to put them altogether.  Well the other weekend we were visiting them and she mentioned she'd got a favour to ask me and brought them all out.  'Mum, could you put these together for me, please?' she said.  I didn't dare tell her how my fingers had itched  to do it last year so of course I said 'yes'!!!!

Here's the result!!  

If you look closely you'll see a heart and a butterfly on there too - tatted, of course.  When Abbi and Nathan visit they love to go home with a piece of tatting and I usually keep something for them.  They go into their 'treasure' boxes, I think but they do play with them which I think is GREAT.  Tatting should be played with!!

156 down - how many to go?

OK, this is where I got to on the original mat before 'calling it a day'.  There are now 156 diamonds here.

This time, however, I've decided to 'fill in the spaces' between the pointy bits so will be trudging along with those.  

Meantime here are two pictures of 'where we're at' so to speak!!!!

The other ancient doily!!

This is the other doily I promised to show you.

Again worked in silk sewing thread simply because of my frustrations at not being able to find coloured number 20 threads back when dinosaurs roamed the earth!

Sadly I can't tell you the pattern source as it was so long ago and I've no idea where it came from except probably from a scrap of paper given to me waaaay back then.  But I can tell you that it measures 9" by almost 7".  Ah, maybe somebody will recognise it?  


Do you remember those days when to make a photocopy of something cost shed loads of money and was frowned on because of that?  I remember when we had the first ever photocopier in school and how guilty we were made to feel each time we used it!!!  To do worksheets for the tiddlers then was a costly procedure so most of us didn't bother!!!

Thanks so much for all your comments on yesterday's post - all were appreciated. I hope to show more progress on the diamonds tomorrow but we'll see if I remember to take a photo!!!