Coronavirus doily part 6

This is another long round, made longer (for me) by a pause to sew 16 cloth masks, 15 of them donated to the hospital, one for me so I don't go out wearing a bandana like a 19th century bank robber; then finding a mistake I had to cut back to…  and also, as the doily gets larger, everything is going to take longer anyway, right?  For this one, you’ll need two shuttles wound CTM.  You’ll notice it’s not finished.  What you see here represents at least 4 hours’ work, including fixing errors.  At least, the ones I’ve noticed.

R: 12-9-3.

••R: 3+9-12.

RW.  CH: 5-5-5-5-5 (four picots).  RW

Drop a loop and begin mock ring: CH 5

    Using ball thread shuttle, R: 10+ (to last p of last R) 5+ (to p on CH of previous round, 14.

   Continue CH: 5-5

   Using ball thread shuttle, R: 14+ (to next p on CH of previous round) 5-10

   Finish mock R CH: 5

Post shuttle through dropped loop, close mock R, tie, RW.

CH: 5-5-5-5-5 (four picots).  RW

R: 12+ (to last p on last R off mock R) 9-3.

Repeat from •• around, joining last CH into base of first paired Rs.  Tie, cut and sew in ends.

This sewing-in of ends is important because you’re sparing yourself doing the whole job later and the ends won’t get in your way as you move on to tat the next round.  In size 50 tatting cotton, this round, when finished, will be a whopping 7 inches across.  (this is me being ironic.)

Coronavirus doily part 5

I thought about this section for a long time.  I wanted to make it easier than it turned out as – actually, it’s not hard, it just takes a long time.  Long enough that I didn’t finish this round because I got diverted to making masks for the two closest hospitals.  Got six done today BUT there is absolutely no elastic to be had in our county.  It’s disappeared from the local Walmart almost as quickly as the paper products, dried beans and American cheese.   Which meant before I could start sewing, I spent nearly two hours crocheting ties for the masks of heavy cotton.

  Everyone is lately fond of pointing out oh, this won’t last forever.  So I keep trying to think this is just a sort of ellipsis in life …  Just looked up the official definition of an ellipsis – it’s a “suspension point” indicating that something is missing, generally indicated by three dots in a row.  At this time when quite a lot is missing, there are going to be 22 dots around, which are done as “wandering wheels.” 

You might want to practice the technique with some spare thread.  What you’ll do is make a ring, then a chain, then leaving a small space (in size 50 thread it was about ¼ inch), tat R: 1-1-1-1-1-1 (tiny ring with 5 picots), close tight.

At this point, you bring the ball thread up tight to the shuttle thread – meaning you’re leaving the exact same space - and CH 2, lock join to the next p five times.  CH 2, and you’re back where those two bare threads extend from the previous element to the tiny R.  Pass the shuttle thread over it, the ball thread underneath it (this is called an alligator join).

and CH 3, lock join to the next p below five times.  There should be a picot-like space over each lock join in the round below.  CH 3, and do that alligator join over and under the two threads. 

Next, CH 4, join to the next p below five times.  CH 4, alligator to the other side.

When you’re practicing, CH 6, join, around.  When you’re tatting these wandering wheels around the doily, CH 6, join to picot below THREE times.  Then using the ball thread, join to the next p above the wheel, made in the previous doily round. CH 6, join to the next  wheel p twice more.  Finally, CH 6, move the crochet hook between the two threads that were bare threads when the wheel started, and lock join here.    Tat a chain and make at least one more wandering wheel to practice.

For the doily, begin the round with a ball wound and left attached to the shuttle.

] R: 10+ (to p of previous round) 10.

CH: 9-9

Tat a wandering wheel as described above, attaching it to the next p of the previous round, as also described above.

CH: 9-9

Repeat from ] around.  Last CH will join to the base of the first R. 

Like getting through this time…  this might take a while.  More soon!

Coronavirus doily part 4

For contrast, I photographed this on the cover of the notebook I use for our tatting conference, now rescheduled for April 9-11 2021…  This round is really quick and easy – I’m saving my thunder for round five, which will be just a little more challenging!

For this round, you’ll be tatting

CH: 8-8+ (in p of previous round) all around.  At end of round, tie, cut and sew in ends.