Gifts from Linda

Earlier this year, I received a message from Linda Williams asking about the doily I had been working on. We got to talking and she emailed me some pictures of Ice Drops that she had made, some with a sparkly light blue thread (I mistakenly thought it was blocked with glitter glue at first). The thread is Altin Basak, and unfortunately it is being discontinued. Linda surprised me by saying she could still get a hold of the thread, and generously offered to send me a ball. Well, I wasn't expecting all of the other goodies that came along with it!

She sent a ball of the sparkly blue Altin Basak, and some spools of gold and silver Oren Bayan thread:

I also got a couple of Ice Drops which I will be hanging on my Christmas tree this year, and two pretty bracelets:

The silver bracelet has a magnetic clasp which I love. It snaps on and off so easily. If I ever start tatting jewelry, I'll have to look into those magnetic clasps. I didn't know they existed!

Lastly, she sent me a few cards, both of which say "Happy Birthday" on the front. Coincidence, or did she know it was my birthday a few days ago? Thank you Linda, for all of the wonderful gifts.

It was great timing as I had just come back from a birthday trip to Breaks Interstate Park to find Linda's package in the mail. The park has wonderful scenic overlooks of the Appalachian Mountains, but photos fail to capture the feeling of actually being there:

While at the park cottage, I got a little more tatting done on the table runner. Here's what it looks like now:

You can see more of the pattern emerging, though the finished runner is still a bit of a mystery.

50 Trefoils

The table runner is getting bulky and awkward to work with, even though I'm only 10% of the way done. It's going to be much larger than this:

Here it is on the table. I've completed 50 trefoils, and the finished runner will need around 500:

The start of a very long project

I adjusted the stitch counts for the midline of my table runner, and I think I found something that will work. It's very close, so I should be able to block it into place if needed. I've now started on the actual runner. I had to coil the long end to take a close up photo (looks like coiling a tatted edging could make a flower too):

It's going to be a very long project, and I need to make around 500 of the trefoils. So far I have 25 of them. I began in the middle of the table and then worked my way to the edge before turning. If the table didn't have a line down the middle, I would have started from one end and worked my way to the other end.

I want the runner to drape so that's why the sample hangs over the edge. This end will taper into a point instead of running straight across. More on that as I continue with the project:

Adjustments needed

I got my shipment from Lacis yesterday, containing the cone of size 20 Lizbeth thread. Looks like this will be plenty for several large projects:

However, I can't get started on the table runner just yet. As suspected, the midline of the runner is difficult to get right. My tatted sample (pictured above) curves inward in the middle instead of forming straight lines down each side. I have a few adjustments in mind, but will have to tat a subsection to see if it works. I hope to have that figured out by next week.

Table runner design progress

Here's where I'm at with the table runner design. First, I needed to make a tatted draft where I could experiment with different stitch counts, edge options, etc. I took this photo while sitting on the couch and you can see all of the tatted scraps on the corner table.

After this draft comes a final sample, so I can make sure everything fits together before embarking on the larger project. It's still a work in progress, and I need to come down the right side and then tat the bottom half. I'm using gray thread because it shows up well in a scan which will be useful to include in the finished pattern.

Of particular importance is the bottom edge of the tatted sample in the photo above. It will become the midline of the table runner and needs to line up with the center of the trefoil in the lower left of the sample. Here is the line that I'm talking about:

I won't be certain that it works until I loop back around and finish the sample. Even if it doesn't work it will be close enough to gauge the adjustments needed for the actual table runner.

It might be a couple more weeks before I get this sample finished, and collect enough white thread of the same dye lot to begin the table runner. Handy Hands is all out of the size 20 Lizbeth cones, so I've ordered from Lacis and am hoping it will ship (rather than be cancelled due to lack of stock). If not, I might have to order the individual balls from Handy Hands and see if they can send me 6 in the same dye lot. I'll keep the blog updated as I progress with things.