Hanging by a thin thread

The struggle with the size 80 thread continues. Or at least I think it is the size 80 thread. I did make a small cross from Patti Duff’s Minitats. Having actually started tatting again is wonderful, but I feel so much the beginner. Bare threads, gaps at the bases of rings, but mostly it is just surprising how many different shapes and sizes a 4-4 ring can be.

I know part of this is the thinner thread but I must also contend with the loss of much of what was once second nature and now almost forgotten. I have started another cross, a very different pattern and though I find I am finally getting control of the thread I am making so many of the mistakes I made as a beginner; wait I only tatted for six months back then. To be honest I have probably started this cross a dozen times.

Even tonight I almost finished the first onion ring when I realized that I had skipped one little element; a picot. Oh well, though I am going through a lot of thread and not producing much, I am starting to get my technique back under control and I am starting to think about those little things one just knows to do when starting and working up a pattern.

I did buy another ball of the thread I am using ($1.07 before taxes with the 40% discount). When I finish all the practice pieces I need to do to feel up to starting the small doily I want to do, I will still have enough thread.

I thought about starting a second project using size 30 just to have something a little easier to work with, but I really do think that I am getting enough control of the size 80 that most of my errors are from a lack of practice and not the lack of experience with the thin thread. I do want to try out my new shuttles though.

My wife gave me two GR-8 tatting shuttles for our anniversary, but I will get the size 80 under control before I start the size 30 project. The size 30 project is one I have wanted to do for over a year now, as are most of my desires, but this one is nice since it consist of one small motif. Each repetition of the motif is joined during construction to the previous work until a doily, centerpiece, table runner, or table cloth is made. So this can become one of those projects that one just works on between projects. Unfortunately I am already starting to visualize an edging to go around a large doily made from this motif, and that adds a whole new element to the project. But this is part of the fun of any craft; the want to do more. I think.

Well I will have to take a break from tatting for a couple of days. I need to get the patches on my six-year-old son’s Scout uniform. I also have to make sure I am ready for school to start next Monday. I have no clue what to send for lunches this year.