A BRAGGING post

A post which has NOTHING to do with craft work whatsoever although I suppose it could be classed as ‘crafty’!!!

Last weekend the dishwasher died.  It wouldn’t start properly but it did fill with water.  It did get going once but again left a large puddle in the bottom.  Time to get out the destructions (instructions!).  The dishwasher is almost nine years old so there were several options to consider.  Either get the repair man out or get a new machine.  As we only run it about 3 times a week we also talked about whether we really needed another one. 

Then I remembered my lovely friend Joan who takes computers to bits and re-builds them when necessary so I got out my phone, got onto Youtube (just like Joan does) and found a video on how to fix the machine.

Now I’ve always been really good at taking things apart (thanks to my brother who once took MY clockwork train to bits to see how it worked) but I’m not so good at putting them back together!!!  BC3 can never remember where the bits go back!!

Knowing this bad trait of mine I did take it apart carefully although I struggled with the little white ‘cover bit’ that had to come out as it was in an awkward place behind another ‘black bit’.  With the aid of a toothbrush (no, I didn’t steal Nick’s) and after wiggling a little round thing a bit I decided to put it all back together and try it out.  

The result?  Well it’s working better now than it has done for a few years.  There must’ve been something in that little round wiggly thing, I think.  So, £s saved and another thing to add to my list of skills!!!

Second glove done!

Here it is!!  What you’ve all been waiting for - or not!!!  The second glove done and now they're a pair!

So, what's on the agenda next?  I think another pair of gloves!!!

Feeling sad

Well it seems that 65 years worth of experience is of no use to some people.  

If you ask for help then PLEASE accept it with graciousness and not bite the hand that's trying to feed you advice.

Monday moan

Today’s little grumble is about the effort some people seem to think needs to be put into tatting.  By that I mean making a huge mountain out of a mole hill.

I've one to moan about today.  Posting the shuttle before closing a ring.

I tried that idea for several months (posting the shuttle through the ring before closing) and after a while stopped to seriously think about it.  BC3 doesn't 'do' thinking seriously very often.  

So then I tried going back to my old ways (and a LOT faster too) of not bothering and came to a eureka moment when I realised that (for me) it wasn't about posting the shuttle but just about holding the final ds of the ring firmly so it didn't twist.  It also didn't make a BIT of difference to being able open a ring after closing!

A picture to cheer you up after my moan!

One glove done

Finally got the one glove done.  

You'll be sad to hear that I've ordered more yarn for more gloves so no more tatting to show for a while.  Which doesn't mean that I'm NOT tatting but more that I've nothing to show you as it's all design work which will be submitted for lessons next year.  So far I've only got three done and I really need 6.  I'm working on number four which is causing me some headaches!!!

Back to glove talk - the second of the pair shouldn’t take long as the fingers and thumb are already done.  Watch this space!!!

Glove progression

After the fingers have been made it's time to join them and start the long journey down the hand.  NOT forgetting the thumb, of course.

As the pinky finger is lower down the hand than the other three fingers you need to work a few rows before joining that one in.  You can see that in this picture.

Also it's easier to change from the original dpn's (double pointed needles) to two circular ones (the same size, of course).  This is weird as you work with them but not in the round.  Actually it's really easy but my first attempt last year was a puzzle!!!  The pattern needs to be read carefully.  I'll give you the link again here.

I'm so proud

To show you a picture of Judith Connors with her Order of Australia Medal which she received on Tuesday from the Governor. 

Well deserved, Judith - tat on.

Thanks, Ruth, for the photo.  Much appreciated.

More fingers

There’s something about knitting gloves that is so satisfying - particularly doing them from the fingers down to the cuffs.  

Not sure why that’s so but it might be just ‘me’ who enjoys this challenge.  

Can you see the markers on these fingers?  Joanie gave me those when I last stayed with her in Florida.  They’re so, so useful.  I’ve noted which colour represents which finger in my notes app so that I can keep my BC3 happy!  

These gloves need dpn’s (double pointed needles) and TWO circular needles of the same size.  Well you don’t really need the circular ones but I found it so much easier  to use those for the part below the fingers/thumb when I last knitted gloves using this pattern.

So, onwards and upwards!!!

Hitting the doldrums

I may be a bit quiet this week.  

Now stop cheering all those reading this post!!!  

The fact is that I’ve got many things in the pipeline that I can’t share with you as they’re not ready and are waiting for Covid to sort itself out!!!  

So whilst on a roll with another design for a teaching project I suddenly decided I simply HAD to knit.  I get these whims from time to time!!!  Gloves are the current project as one of my daughters mentioned she could do with another pair!!!  

A start has been made!!!  These will be fingers to cuffs again as I like the way of working.  Here’s a link.

Dorset buttons

Well having seen Diane’s Dorset buttons I had to have a go myself.  I remember doing some many years ago but had forgotten how easy they are but how they are quite a problem to get looking good.  Diane’s leading the way with making them while I think that I’ve now given up - at least for many more years!!!

I declare it finished!!!

It's finished with the trimming on the back too!

I took a trip to visit my daughter and family a week or so ago and my son in law took some photos of me wearing the silk top.  I can 'see' this over a black top with black trousers so I may eventually wear it but I'm not sure I'll ever attend an occasion where I can!!!  

If not I'll wear it to scrub the kitchen floor!!!  I'll miss it as it was an enjoyable upcycle.  Now to look in the charity shops for another project.  I'm realising after almost 78 years on this planet that it's not as hard as I thought it would be to mess around with altering clothes.  Mind this was a big alteration from an oversized man's shirt to a wearable top!!!

Beads assembly continues

The best laid plans of mice and Jane never seem to work out!!!  If you'd have seen the mess I got into with trying to assemble this with the invisible thread you'd have laughed your socks off.  It was so, so frustrating and in the end I gave up.  It was fine (well ish) adding the invisible to the beads and then onto the piece of dowling I found BUT when I picked the wood up the whole thing instantly tangled and it was impossible to sort out!!!  

The air was blue around me as I spent a good few hours trying NOT to give in to the problem but in the end I had to declare it 'NOT a good idea' and abandon it.  Now the problem with invisible thread is that it is truly invisible but when tatted with it does become sort of 'not' invisible and doesn't produce a pretty result.  Well,  not in my opinion.  

This was 'after the invisible' and before another decision was made but more about that later!!!!

This looks so much better

Now that I’ve added the ‘shadow hiding’ edging this looks a lot better.  I’m really beginning to like this project a lot.

The back is a bit plain though so I may do an edging along the yoke at the back.  I’ll ‘wait and see’ about that, though!!!  

Starting to pull it all together.

Back to the beads again.  Now I’ve got almost 20 covered beads it’s time to decide exactly what I’m going to do with them!!!  

I’ve got it in my mind that they’ll dangle in the living room window as a sort of decoration.  They need to be sparkly so I’ve added lotsa beads to the bottom of the big covered beads - well to dangle from them.  The original pattern which can be seen here also shows how to add beads to the actual tatting around the bead - well, on the largest one but it does take a phenomenal amount of beads to do that.  None stringed onto the thread before starting, though.

In this photo you can see some of the beads assembled but I don’t like the thread showing.  I need to get into the tatting cupboard to find my invisible thread.  

Top of the day to you!

Just thought I’d use a silly title today!

BUT I do have a closeup of the top of the silk top I’m working on today.  

These two buttons are really pretty and complement the top really well.  What I’ve done since is use a short length of round elastic and have anchored that to one of the buttons.  A loop of the elastic can now be taken over the other button to fasten the blouse/top together.  I’ve tried it on but need somebody to take pictures of it.  Now which neighbour is in at the moment?!?!?

Shirt progress again

In the photo below you can see why I was concerned about the ‘shadow’ of the facing but having done one edging I decided to sew it onto the edges of the top to see what it looked like!  You can see that I took it right round the neck too and also you can see that I definitely need another strip to hide the shadow although I think that when it’s being worn it won’t ‘show’.  

Anyway I thought I’d pin on the buttons too just to get an idea of what it’ll look like!!  I also found some VERY pretty buttons that I was given years ago that I’ve added to the top as fastenings - yet to be decided on, though!!!  

If you look VERY closely you’ll also see some black showing at the centre of the back.  That’s the label saying ‘Thai silk’ which I’ve sewn back in.  

Yet more!!

Beads!!!

I’ve only done the top two - the other smaller ones were found when I tidied the tatting cupboard up last week!!!  I’d obviously done them with a project in mind but that must’ve fallen by the wayside as these were in a project box all on their own!!!

I’ve been ‘avoiding’ yet another project that I’ve been working on for weeks and weeks so I think I may go back to it soon.  I’m not happy with how it was working out so I think it might be yet another design that never gets into the public domain!!!  Maybe going back to it with a fresh mind will help but I’m not very optimistic!!!  To give you a clue - it’s a square pattern.

Carrying on with the shirt

Well the facing for the neck and front of the shirt went really well.  I am taking things very slowly as I don’t want to spoil the silk in any way.  

I’ve machined it to the body of the shirt and then ‘stuck’ it down on the inside (rather than stitching it) with some of the ‘wonder tape’ hemming stuff.  I’ve seen it called all sorts of names so here’s a link so you know what I’m talking about!!!    It’s one of my favourite sewing ‘accessories’ and seems to last forever too!!!  I've used miles and miles of it over the years!!

Now to hide the ‘line’ where the edging sort of shadows through to the front I’ve decided the top needs some more tatting so I’m doing a very, very simple edging for it using the same thread as the buttons.  I’ll probably do another strip on the edges of the fronts too.  Here’s the start of the edging which I took a picture of a week or more ago.  I can work on the sewing part of the top in the daytime (well, afternoon) and the edging in the evening so progress should be fast - unless I fall asleep, of course!!!

Monday moan

Before I start my usual curmudgeonly Monday moan I’d like to add to last week’s post.  I totally forgot to mention the bible of tatting written by Judith Connors.  Here’s a link to this book which should be in every designer’s possession.  If only it was then last Monday’s moan may never have happened.

Today’s moan is something I picked up from a comment by another tatter somewhere else.  Probably during a flying visit to Facebook which I avoid as far as possible.

Signing and dating patterns and also adding contact details are today’s moan.  When I started putting my patterns out on the internet in the very, very early days of it’s existence I didn’t date mine but did add my name!!!  It was pointed out to me that it would be a ‘good idea’ to add the date so I started doing that immediately.  Nowadays there are a lot of designers who aren’t dating or sometimes not even putting their names on either.  This can prove very frustrating if there ever becomes a copyright question on the pattern and could be an impossible thing to prove who’s came first.  

It’s also important to put a contact email address on each pattern simply so that the person who wants to work it can get in touch to ask questions.  Sometimes I get questions about patterns I did almost 20 years ago - that really does ‘strain the brain’ (poor old BC3) sometimes!!!

Although I played with Dorset buttons many years ago this is the first I’ve done since then!!!

Just two more!

There's something so relaxing about making these large bead covers!  Must be because BC3 can work mainly on 'autopilot'!!!

I have two other design projects which have now been abandoned for a while and which I really ought to get back to now I've forgotten them so I can tweak and 'get rid' of them out of my aged brain.  BUT the appeal of the beads continues!!!  My apologies.