flower in flesh in thread

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This post has been waiting to be written for almost a fortnight .... I just couldn't form the words. While I miss chatting through my blog and through comments on other blogs, I was just not in that phase. While I read up most of the blogs during this time, sometimes I simply scrolled through the pics. I hope you will excuse and forgive me for being a lurker.

One morning my hubby brought me this portulaca flower from his garden. Can't say how it looks online, nevertheless it is a beautiful soft pink with dense layers - almost like a carnation! We usually allow these blooms to remain on the plant since they wither very quickly if not in water (unlike the jasmines I posted recently which remained in bloom even after 14 hours without any water). Of the two plants he has, one has already died away 'for no rhyme or reason' but this other one is flourishing quite nicely. We're hoping the number of blooms will keep increasing.

Pic was taken on 30th August 2025 as was the one below.

I had been engaged in doing up a block tatting pictorial in answer to a specific doubt. It spiralled into a virtual ready reckoner of various effects, methods, etc., etc. Had to shelve it for a while but will be back on it in a couple of days. Anyways, my dear friend surprised me with this pattern of Dora Young's Round Pinwheel Doily from her 'All New Knotless Tatting Designs' (2nd ed)! I just had to tat it!

Worked with Anchor Pearl Cotton size 8, ball and shuttle. I had started with grey in shuttle and a yellow ball. It dawned on me that a variegated or tinted thread should work well in such a pattern so I switched to this. 

This pic, taken on the 5th of this month has 17 picot-round completed. Since then I have added more rounds - I'm probably on the 21 picot round (amidst other Endrucks-related behind the scene stuff). 

The green scrap thread is a marker for the start of the round. It's not really required since the pattern is extremely simple and spirals around almost mindlessly. Haven't had to retro-tat even once. 

Not using a picot gauge - I prefer to eye ball picots as much as possible and while I know they are not all even here, it still seems to turn out fine.

The doily is so well-constructed, so well-designed, that it lays flat throughout. The frequent joins in the dense portions give it a nice texture. And it is exactly the type of patterns I enjoy working on -- tatted all from the front!

variant tatting

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At the end of May I received this lovely cheerful version of my Just So Coaster tatted by Vani Kattoju. She designed a variation on the last round based on my original. 

Notice how she used Lousie Uteg' stacked rings but shifted their placement for a less dense round than mine. Alternating with these clusters is lower motif with a thrown Josephine knot/ring for a cute point.

At my request, she quickly and graciously shared her pattern ...

Round 6 counts are inked on the model above. It is best to use 2 shuttles, ctm, to throw off the JK neatly. 

Find the complete pattern here - 

https://tipsaroundthehome.blogspot.com/2025/04/just-so-tatting.html

https://tipsaroundthehome.blogspot.com/2025/05/comfort-tatting.html

https://tipsaroundthehome.blogspot.com/2025/05/stop-tatting.html

And Padma's version here - https://tipsaroundthehome.blogspot.com/2025/05/identity-tatting.html

Many many thanks, Vani, for being a real trooper!

stop tatting

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Not literally, of course! But do read on for the full story ...

I didn't want to bore you with the continuing saga of my Just So Coaster, but it is one of the few pieces of tatting I can show at present; one of the very few that doesn't need too much effort to present. 

After round 5 the only thing I was sure about was to bring back the cream shade from round 3. After rejecting several design ideas, when I finally zeroed in on what felt good, I started second-guessing my choice of the shade. Asked hubby (all cream or cream rings with pink chains) and he said go ahead with all cream cautioning me that I would need to add another round with the dark pink shade outlining the piece. No problem, it was intended!

This is another scroll round with a slight difference. That is Not gapsosis you see between the triad rings. It is a deliberate design element and a version of stacked rings. Last year Anita Barry reworked a doily from the 1970s (by L. Uteg) which had 7 or more such contiguous rings with bare thread deliberately left at the base to maintain the curvature of the round and also act as a picot for joining future elements/rounds.

I only used three rings per set so it is essentially a trefoil here with overlapping rings.

ROUND 6: A scroll with stacked ring sets.

Start with the 1st ring and move counterclockwise.

Each ring has 14 stitches and is joined in the middle to a picot on Round 5.

Chain counts are inked in the model above, with a lock join to Round 5.

TIP: For the mirror-image sets, each subsequent ring is worked or positioned 'above' the other. In the right set, leave a bit of bare thread space (yes, gapsosis!) between each ring and while joining to the previous round, position it behind the previous ring.

In size 10 Anchor Knitting Cotton, and after 6 rounds, the coaster now measures 15.5cms in diameter.

Sadly the pics don't do justice to how beautiful it really looks on my glass dining table. Anyways, when I showed hubby the coaster, he said stop tatting! It looks complete and beautiful just as it is, Just So! 

Yes, I agreed. I will certainly stop with this piece since I wouldn't know what to do with this thick 'hot pad?' when it grows larger.

However, I'm not done designing. I still feel the urge to continue with more rounds. The only way out is to start afresh with size 20 or 40 crochet cottons. Let's see ....

Related Posts
https://tipsaroundthehome.blogspot.com/2025/04/just-so-tatting.html
https://tipsaroundthehome.blogspot.com/2025/05/comfort-tatting.html
https://tipsaroundthehome.blogspot.com/2025/05/identity-tatting.html

done

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 Done for now, to be clear. And not because I've tired of it. Au contraire, it is just too enticing, distracting, and addictive. I want to simply sit and tat this, and ignore all other tasks, including a couple with deadlines. So, done for now, threads unwound from shuttles and back in their respective boxes. And my apologies to my tatting buddy Anita, for leaving it here. I do hope to pick it up again some time next year.

In Anchor Pearl cotton size 8, it measures about 7cms across.

This was completed several days back. It's taken me this long to take pics and prepare a post.

At this stage I am calling it my Sunflower version. Going forward, it might become a dahlia or chrysanthemum with more colours being added.

I followed Patty's diagram again, alternating the 2nd join between the inner scallops. Later realised that the original doily throughout had a single join between the inner scallops, not alternate. By then I had already completed 2 whole repeats (4 scallops each), hence went ahead as before. Not that it shows either way at least in my version. 

How does it Always happen?! The one slice I chose for the close-up is the one where I missed a join in round 1, LOL. I missed a join in round 2, too, and also a 2ds chain segment. However, it was easy to ignore the first and for the second, I inserted a fine hook through the 'hidden picot' (viz, through the stitch) for a join. Can't even locate where this all happened. Dr Downplay zindabad!

  

I wish there was more of the chrome yellow rather than the yellow ochre in this model, but I was going from a light to dark shade using whatever I had in my stash. And the brown could've been a a couple of shades lighter if only I had enough.

My intention is to use two shades of orange then two shades of red for the remaining four rounds. I could repeat the same yellows, but that would become kind of boring ;-P

What do you think of the colour scheme?

Oh and I had updated my previous post with the completed round 1, but here's the pic again in case you missed it - 

Many thanks to Jon Yusoff for hosting the TAL. Don't know when I'll be back to complete this.

This mini-doily or coaster is my October submission to splocik's Small Decorations game. Only two months left and I still have so many ideas/projects I could submit! It's been a fun game for sure and will definitely look forward to joining again if splocik hosts it in 2025.

Check out the range of creativity and crafts for September here -https://splocik2.blogspot.com/2024/10/male-dekoracje-2024-galeria-wrzesniowa.html

off the deep end

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 Well, kind of! I'm certainly mad to have succumbed to temptation when there are already so many huge pies baking in my tiny oven. The heat quotient is out of the world! Yet it has been a decade-old wish to tat the beautiful Mystery Doily. I've actually been compiling resources and versions for a decade whenever I came across something .... And so can you blame me if I joined Jon Yusoff's tat-along on FB intending to tat just 2 or 3 rounds for now.

Pattern Links to the Mystery Doily Project first shared by Georgia Seitz -https://www.theonlinetattingclass.com/doilies-mug-rug-etc

I roped in my tatting buddy, Anita Barry, and she readily agreed. To date, she has Never refused me anything!!! We've been exchanging note, thoughts, angst, and progress these last few days. While I was thinking of size 80, she suggested size 40 since she wanted to use up some of her stash. It was absolutely fine by me, or so I thought!

Yes, angst. My story starts with several discards. Don't remember why I cut off the one in orange. Was it a change of colour decision? I think I decided to use it for the next round and start the first with yellow.

The rings are tiny - only 8 stitches. And while closing that last ring the tread snapped! Better to discard since the thread (Gopal) is not mercerized.

 

Wound new shuttle with Anchor size 40. Now the inner scallop of first repeat looks very different since it is unattached. I got all muddled up thinking I had made a mistake and snipped it off. Turns out it was correct, sigh.

4th start with lighter shade of Anchor yellow. While I was struggling with the chain directions (since I was shuttling between diagram and original doily pic) I thought I'd got it right. Till I uploaded the pic to a larger screen and found an error in one segment. Not a huge mistake, but still the dark brown wasn't helping my limited vision. Even managed to snag the thread at one stage and joined again. 

Overall, though, I wasn't enjoying the tat and decided it was time for course correction and snip off the size 40 altogether. 

Finally settles on Anchor Pearl Cotton size 8 (equivalent to Lizbeth size 20) and this is how far I reached after dinner last night. Tatting went smoothly and quickly, I enjoyed the thread (the shade appears darker here), and I have more of a choice of colours, too. Would've preferred a lighter brown, but turns out I am running out of greens and browns in perle cotton! Looks like some buying in on the cards ;-D

What also helped was that I sketched my own diagram and although I wrote my text version, too, I didn't need to consult it.

My visualization is to change the colour of the rings in each subsequent round, using darker shades or even different colours, to resemble a chrysanthemum or a blossoming flower. Brown remains constant throughout.

Okay, so that's the backstory. If it hadn't been for the FB tat-along and especially with my buddy, I might've discontinued the endeavour for the present. Somehow tatting with others felt like a commitment and something I needed to accomplish for myself, too. 

Now for my notes -

1. Pattern - I referred mainly to Patty Dowden's instructions, starting with an outer ring, and also followed her count.
2. FS/BS tatting here is in 'blocks' like in Mary Konior's Spinning Wheel Glass Mat where a set of motifs/repeats changes en bloc. So the outer scallop has frontside rings while the inner scallop has backside rings.
3. I followed the original doily pic and Patty's Row 2 diagram for the 'S-chain' instead of her diagram for Row 1. Ultimately I drew my own sketch instead of shuttling back and forth.
4. Direct Tatting - In such serpentine patterns (including magic squares), it is very practical to direct tat the chains instead of frequent reverse work. This also keeps the work mostly on the front side. Hence reverse stitch the chains, ensuring that you make adjustments for the sequence of the hitches when tatting backside chains.
5. Joins - For symmetrical/mirror-image chains, including colour and direction, I used a reverse join on the right S chain and a downward picot (picot on core thread) on the left chains.
6. Reposition - And before the picot on core thread (I wanted it to be yellow to mirror a ring picot), I used a TwW (a 2nd half-stitch which it turned to face the other way), reversed work, and then placed the paperclip on core (yellow) thread. 
7. Colour - My first instinct was to follow Jon's variegated and solid combo scheme. However, seeing the tiny rings and my own stash, it just felt that a variegate would make the already dense design too busy. Hence I chose solid colours.
8. Thread - Remember to use mercerized cotton for easy closure of the tiny rings.

As I mentioned above, here are some additional links - 

• moondrops has tatted several versions of this doily, sometimes in tandem! She makes it look so effortless. I think it is a good exercise to check her versions for colour placement, etc.
• Frivole gave it a try - https://leblogdefrivole.blogspot.com/2013/09/mystery-doily-whos-copy-cat-now-and-new.html & https://leblogdefrivole.blogspot.com/2013/09/mystery-doily-round-two.html
• Ninetta completed her doily, sharing her journey, and even derived a square motif (quad 24) from it, and then converted it into a magic square, including an inverted version! 

Can't say how far this doily will go at present reckoning, but I am committed to at least two rounds to get a good feel of this beauty! Jon has created a dedicated private group for this TAL, called Georgia's Mystery Doily Tat-Along. Join us if you can!

 

UPDATE: 

Reposition Methods (either after a lock join, a picot join, or free) to change the thread, shuttle, direction, or colour --- For convex/concave chains - https://drive.google.com/file/d/1JxcO-ubKP1KXb_CVAAfOMX6uBPkCy_gO/view 

and more - https://drive.google.com/file/d/17zsM3JaLO7r0ajg8VOnv5IcJ-kLNqEiU/view 

And my completed Round 1 -

It's enticing And it's addictive!!!!!

DRR long time

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 Can't believe its been six years since we worked the Design Round Robin (DRR) doilies in Craftree and I find that I have posted round-wise pics of only one doily! Time to rectify the situation. However, I will have to limit myself to pics, 'coz it is too much work to hunt down my notes for each round I either designed or tatted. Good for you, huh, less to read ... but plenty of pics! ;-D 

Dancing Peacocks

Design Round Robin 2018 (DRR 2018), Craftree

Muskaan, Coretta, Kathleen, Tim, Coretta.

pattern link

Worked in Anchor embroidery threads, 3 strands equivalent to Lizbeth size 20.

Round 1 - Muskaan. I designed the center for this doily. 

The green/blue one was made first but not being happy with my tatting, I started over with the bottom one. This pattern is originally from my enclosed space medallion phase with only minor tweaks to add picots for joining subsequent rounds. It has triple onion rings where the innermost Josephine ring is made using the floating beads method so that it stands a bit apart. 
Dancing Peacocks Medallion design process - https://tipsaroundthehome.blogspot.com/2018/01/mad-or-maddening.html
Dancing Peacock Earrings derived from the medallion -https://tipsaroundthehome.blogspot.com/2018/01/floating-with-tatting.html  Later that year Anita Barry taught this pattern at the Palmetto Tat Days.

Round 2 - CORETTA L.  

I like how she opened up the design!

Round 3 - KATHLEEN M.  

So much to learn in this round. However it started with me having to snip off quite a length and restart because of some mistakes - https://tipsaroundthehome.blogspot.com/2018/06/rotten-core.html

She used her tweak on the Captured onion ring technique, which I have been using since. 

Round 4 - TIM K.  

He designed the round in such a way as to fit any tension.

He used Split SCMR and also shared a video on how to make it in his blog - http://timtatstoo.blogspot.com/p/the-split-self-closing-mock-ring.html

However I remember discovering that the split scmr was not really needed in this case and explaining how to go about it. 

This completed our round robin of four designers. Started in Feb 2018 and finished within the same year. Design round robin entails we each tat all the rounds of each doily sequentially designing and tatting by turns. No need to mail off the doily ....

I felt we could do with another round or two, but was not sure how to go about it. In March 2023, Coretta worked out a 5th round and shared it!!! I tatted it early this month.

Round 5 - CORETTA L.  

After mulling over the colour scheme since I wanted the round to reflect the earlier colours, yet not be too overwhelming or bright, I came up with the following solution... 

The onion rings are tatted in three peacock colours but as separate motifs. Carrying 3 extra threads encapsulated within the chains would add too much bulk and skew the arches.

The tails are hidden or sewn, but left untrimmed. Couldn't risk any tail being pulled out when the outer chain round was tatted and joined! 

Green for border would make the entire composition too greenish which is why I chose to repeat the inner round blue; it also carries forward the peacock impression.

All trimmed and done. However, I used 4 strands of blue after realising that 3 might not allow the doily to lie flat since my chains are usually tight.

Anchor embroidery 3 strands equivalent to Lizbeth size 20.
Orange - 0333 ; Yellow - 0306 ; Green - 0258 ; Purple - 097 ; Blue - 0170 (4 strands in last round).

Final diameter - 17 cms or just under 7 inches.

This additional round has really brought the entire design together and I love how it looks. What do you think? Too many colours or ....

You can find the Dancing Peacocks doily pattern here - https://docs.google.com/document/d/1LBml-8Q0WYbCQyBrSLVKg713T9D3HE9YAPlKmg3wxTo/view

Many many thanks to Coretta, Kathleen, and Tim and a very special thanks to Grace Tan for her forethought in creating the Google docs for each doily!  

I am also entering this doily for both the 2024 games ....

Small Decorations hosted by splocik - This doily is my submission for September.

The August gallery of submissions is posted here - https://splocik2.blogspot.com/2024/09/male-dekoracje-2024-galeria-sierpniowa.html  with such a diverse range of projects!

And this doily also crosses off several blocks in Natalie's PICOT Bingo!

- Tat a Doily

- Josephine Ring

- Onion Ring

which means I have a 2nd BINGO - the 4th column is done!!! My first bingo was posted here - https://www.patreon.com/posts/picot-tatting-we-110762797

Actually I've finished tatting some more but blogging is taking a backseat ....

Thanks for the fun Natalie and splocik!

neovintage beauties

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A few days back this beautiful gift arrived from Bandini Maisheri who I've known for a few years through FB and our collaboration on the Bandhan Butterfly pattern. Her mother, Harsha, is the main tatter (Harsha's Creations). You might've come across her extensive works in some of the FB groups and on Instagram. 

Like these doilies above, her USP is combining and arranging vintage patterns into new beauties. And doing what is necessary to fit the purpose, eg. adding a corner for an edging or mat, and so on. The gift was a commemoration of 40 years of Harsha's tatting journey and an appreciation of some little help I might've provided to them whenever approached. I love the coasters and they immediately made their way to my dining table!

Now I think these coasters are unique. We've all seen tatted lace around or encased within acrylic sheets for coasters, key chains, etc, like the one I received from Anita. This set, however, is customized acrylic with a tatted doily covering only the top surface. The doily fits snugly and can be removed, washed, or replaced. 

Curious, I asked my friendly group - Anita Barry and Ninetta Caruso for an international perspective, and Madhur Dadlani for an Indian perspective. Madhur admins a WhatsApp group of talented Indian tatters who also sell their creations and she said she'd ask them if anyone has made something similar. Neither of the three have come across something quite like this and do consider it to be truly unique!

What about you? Have you come across tatted lace covers for acrylic mats? Or something along the same lines? Do tell.

There's a ton more tatted stuff they do and sell, including complete table linen sets, saree and blouse laces, bags, scarves, etc. etc. Mind you I am not mentioning Harsha's Creations for any kind of returns. It was a way to satisfy my curiousity and appreciate the immense work Harsha has done. Wishing her several more decades of happy tatting and spreading beauty from old to new.

Many many thanks, Bandini and Harsha, for this wonderfully unique handmade gift, and to my friends who responded promptly with their thoughts and observations.

flower party begins

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 I needed a bit of a break from all the compywork, reviewing, etc. - it kind of clogs one's brain. Mind you, I discovered a new technique and the 'inventor' graciously shared a lot. More on that in the future. 

So what better break than picking up ones shuttles and sneaking in a bit of tatting time!

Anetta had shared her Garden Party doily pattern a few months back and it was on my to-tat list. I finally succumbed to the temptation and started out....

Pattern: https://www.jamiolowo.blog/2023/07/frywolitkowy-wzor-garden-party.html

I truly love the soft pastels she uses in her tatting and tried to emulate her. This is a tinted shade from Red Rose size 20. 

The first 2 plus rounds measure 6.5 cms diagonally and 3.5cms along each side of the hexagon.

Isn't this a beautiful shape as is?!

I tweaked the sequence a bit in order to manage colour placement. The thrown rings at the tip are actually normal rings in Round 3 of the original pattern. I climbed out with 2 split rings, moving clockwise in the 2nd round.

I wasn't going to post anything till it was completed. But I just so love this shape and wanted to share my joy!

Anetta has also taken up the task of diagramming patterns from Tina Frauberger's 1919 book,  "Schiffchenspitze". https://www.jamiolowo.blog/2023/10/tina-frauberger-znana-i-nieznana.html. Something more to look forward to. It's always a pleasure to read her posts - there is so much beauty this talented lady creates in different crafts!

awakened

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 The curious student, researcher, and teacher in me was awakened about 4 days back! My shuttles have been lying idle for several weeks, except perhaps a sampler here and there. But last month Ninetta posted a beautiful derivative pattern and some tatters were kind of stumped despite their best intentions and efforts. Some persevered, and some sailed through. Anyways, I was curious why some gave up, and loaded my shuttles for a stepwise pictorial after taking Ninetta's permission. The teacher in me beckoned!

This is Ninetta's Zinnia Flower derived from Endrucks' pattern #10 (from 'Die Schiffchen-Spitzen’,1920, by Frau Eleonore Endrucks-Leichtenstern).

I was privy to the development of this beautiful design back since April. There was cupping initially and through trials and tweaks, she finally had it laying flat. However I did not have any time to test tat.

Anna Tedesco stepped in and even created her own slightly tweaked version without dimpled rings (on the right)! It was Anna who suggested the name Zinnia.

Pattern (for both versions) of E10 Zinnia Flower by Ninetta Caruso ---

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1TmGlBbn1z7khele2a6g-djMlVZ8oRBFw/view

And as so often happens with Endrucks' derivatives, we have tertiary extracts or 'grandchildren' as Anna and Paola B like to joke! These are Anna's Zinnia Petals earrings.

Pattern for E10 Zinnia Petals earrings by Anna Tedesco ---

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1wjm5jpwgu7hCDNopJUxOtHY5xQXSKM-C/view

I worked my model in Red Rose size 20. The variegated was inspired by Lyn Clements' model; not as cheerful as her's, it was the closest I could find in this size. For pictorials, it is best to use thicker thread for clarity.

Pictorial for Ninetta Caruso's E10 Zinnia Flower by Muskaan ---

https://drive.google.com/file/d/13vIapAG6XSvBgOeWJr32PxvpoOIr-I_5/view

I love the way Ninetta joined the ring right at the beginning with a normal picot join! We would probably have made a lock join after the chain, RW, and then start the ring....

However, this method of joining is almost seamless and so smooth! However I fond it easier to do the join. remove slack, and then start the ring by pulling out the loop behind. 

I don't remember doing this before; always something to learn!

UPDATE (Dec2024): This is Patty Dowden's Ring on Picot method ... video- https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=LmMxIBrDpRI

The entire pattern is worked in one pass, moving inwards and outwards. Right up to the stage shown above, the work moves clockwise and remains free. Only this final 6th inner ring starts the process of joining the last repeat to the first.

Another view of my model. It measures 9.5 cms tip-wise and 5 cms as side of hexagon.

A collective of Anna's models worked in metallic threads. 

As Ninetta writes in her pdf, Zinnias symbolize friendship. This motif again reinforces the collaboration between friends and tatters which is the cornerstone of the Endrucks 1920 Project!

Many many thanks to Ninetta, Anna and our enthusiastic Endrucksians ... 

we inspire each other!