Spring Napkin / Doily Finished

Finished Size 21inches or 54 cm

Buyer Beware

This past week I had to make a quick trip to Victoria BC to attend a funeral. Saturday afternoon was free and I found myself at a "Vintage Fair".  Arriving just before closing I found one plastic shuttle for $8.00 which I did not buy and then came across these two below.

 

They were listed as a pair of French Ivory Sewing Pieces for $20.00.  The top one is bone or antler with a great weight. The lower one appears to be Bakelite, much lighter than the bone. Lucky for me all the tips are still touching and I only paid $10.00 for both. Neither are Ivory as advertised, well perhaps ivory colored. French, I doubt that too.

Dealing with a Hank

Of course I chose Corsage as the first color to try but I needed to get it from the hank to the shuttle.  Jane E suggested first winding it to an EZ-Bob bobbin.  These bobbins have one hard flat plastic side and a pliable cone shape on the other.  Depending on how full you fill them the cone will fold back over the thread and hold the thread so you can untwist the thread as you go. Just like we hang our shuttles before making a ring.

In the past mostly with yarn or crochet cotton hanks, I have used the top of a chair that has two pinnacles (H) or a volunteer.  With neither of these nearby I grabbed two large glasses and had them hold the hank while I walked around with the EZ-Bob. There happen to be a pencil nearby so I stuck that through my EZ-Bob to assist in the winding.

I attached the label that came with my HDT and ready to go.

Hand Dyed Thread

 I have been careful when purchasing my tatting supplies to do a little research to get good quality at a great price and so far have been quite satisfied with my shuttles and threads.

Today I received my first batch of Hand Dyed Thread (HDT).  I purchased a bit of Parakeet, Stardate and Corsage from Yarnplayer.  I have been admiring from afar and now have some to tat.  Any advice to move it from the hank to my shuttles?

Spring Napkin / Doily Row 11

Finally it feels like I can see the end of this project. Sorry for the poor photograph but I leave that expertise to others. This is getting quite large and I am learning a lot from it especially how to open a ring, how not to tat when you are tired and my new friend the weavers knot.  I ran into a snag when the previous row came undone. Fortunately I hadn't cut the ends yet and there was just enough to add a bit of thread and fix it.  Oh that's another thing I have been getting good at, adding a new thread. 

Spring Napkin / Doily Row 8

Row 8 was similar to row 3 but it took a very long time to get aound. No more new colors but I don't like the pink, its a bit light for me and it does not show up well in the photo.  Completed this row on May 23 and gave it a bit of a spray with water and very gentle and lightly with the iron.  Didn't want to erase the stitches.

Spring Napkin /Doily Row 3

Row three completed, as I am unsure how much thread I will need so I plan to use a bit of each of the vintage pastels mom gifted to me. It has been suggested that I use the weavers knot and tat over ends which is working quite well. This post is late I actually was finished Row 3 on April 25, 2014.