Magic Squares and a Korean Book

I have to say, it feels awesome not having to work on the Monster Doily. Yeah, I am so happy to have it finished. Don't get me wrong I am pleased and proud of myself for finishing tatting it. It was just so....big. Thank you to everyone for the comments. I appreciate each and every one of them. Keep'em coming! I will post a better photo of the Monster after it's been blocked, along with other info-finished size, thread information, etc.

I started tatting one of Robin Perfetti's Magic Squares (Triangles Variation). You can find the pattern in her Etsy Shop here. I started tatting the pattern back during the beginning of the year while I was avoiding the Monster Doily, er, taking a break. I initially was going to tat the "Option 1", or a small square version, but once I had tatted half the square, I decided to turn it into the "Option 2" square.

I think it turned out quite well. Once you learn the pattern, it tats up pretty quickly.  I did make a few mistakes though. I forgot to join several picots. Instead of retro tatting or cutting off the errors, I just tied the picots together after. This is just a test piece anyway, as I really didn't care for the thread I was using. It is DMC Babylo, size 20. It's not a bad thread, I just found it pretty soft to tat with. It will be great for some crochet projects I plan on working on soon. The square measures about 5.5 inches, um, square. I'm working on anther one right now.

Finally, I got a new tatting book! It is one I've wanted for awhile, though, I haven't seen much blogged about it. It is a Korean book called Tatting Lace With Your Life by Ha Mi- Kyeong. Thanks Mary Victoria for the author's name.

I chose a small motif to tat from this book. This motif is called "One of the pleasures". It was nice and quick to tat. I started tatting it Sunday morning, and finished it Sunday evening. After the Monster Doily, it was nice to start and finish a tatting project in the same day. As you can the see, the motif is on the front cover of the book. I need to tat it again, as the picots in the centre are too big, and causes the motif to lose it's round shape. After tatting with the DMC Babylo for the previous project, I found the Lizbeth thread stiff. The motif is rather stiff too. I guess I need to loosen my tension a bit. The motif is about 2.75 inches across. Thread stats: Lizbeth size 20, colour #?. I put the ball of thread away, and don't want to look for it right now.

That's about it for now. I have to get to bed. I'll try to post again soon. Till next time. 

The Monsterpiece Doily: Fini!

I honestly thought I'd never be able to announce the end of the Monsterpiece doily. I was sure I'd run out of the green thread, and couldn't finish round 18. I wound all the thread from the ball onto all the clover bobbins I had since I would need to use two shuttles to tat the final round. I was keeping track of how many repeats I could tat for each shuttle, and my estimates said I would probably run out. I finished tatting the doily this afternoon and didn't run out. I had about 14 inches of thread left. It's shown in the first picture below.

I thought about posting earlier. But I kept tatting. I actually started getting bored with the doily last weekend, and was constantly getting distracted with other things I was finding online. Anyway, I don't want to make this a really long post, just a quick update. Here is the finished doily!

Well,  I guess I should say I'm finished tatting it. I have a lot of ends that need to be trimmed (from joining thread, and ends hidden with magic threads). There is also at least one thread that needs to be sewn in, the result of a forgotten or failed magic thread-not sure which. It should be washed then blocked as well. I can get an accurate measurement then too. I think I have a place for it as well so it won't have to be hidden away. For the most part, I enjoyed tatting this doily. Yes, I had some issues with it. Mostly stupid errors I made and had to fix. I know I made a few mistakes in the final round but due to the thread shortage chose to leave. I would definitely tat another one of Jan's patterns. Probably not this one again.

That's about it for now. I will be moving on to other projects. I started one of Robin's Magic Squares earlier in the year that I need to finish. I would love to try her new Onion Ring Magic Square pattern too. I have a bunch of crochet and knitting patterns queued up. I won't miss working on the Monster Doily!