When motif 28 didn't lie flat at my first attempt, I thought it was because I'd made the picots in the centre part too long. I flattened the motif with an iron, but it's not good. So I had another go, with tiny picots. Hmm. Even worse! Any ideas what the problem is?
I think you guessed right in the first one, picots were to be longer... the third will be perfect! Lovely snowflake.
ReplyDeleteYes, I've counted the inside rings, in case you had left one out, but they are all correct; so I think Ninetta is quite right and the design needs super-long joining picots.
ReplyDeleteIt seems like round 1 in first was fine, lying flat. Rnd 2 seems to be the culprit. And this round has chains that join to each other.
ReplyDeleteI have noticed in similar patterns (eg Craftree Mystery Doily), that I need to count the LJ as half st. Thus the new chain will start with 2nd half st. This will keep the chains close and compact.
Second point (not sure how to explain this) - when making the LJ, don't snug it too close to the base. While making the join, leave a tiniest bit of bare thread, such that the join will not occupy the base space .... Instead it will kind of sit above that point, taking less amount of space.
The pattern is very nice & I feel fairly certain these will work (based on personal experience ;-P)
Hope this helps, fingers crossed
I was wondering about the joins, I think you're onto something there. I didn't actually use a LJ, I did the join given in the book - you pull the green through, put the pink shuttle through and then draw the green tight again, which gives no colour blip. I'll try again with a 'long LJ'.
DeleteAh, Jane, that join has an inherent "twist". I have used it very often as it hides colour blips so easily, but it makes the chain twirl a bit - not lie flat. Besides it adds bulk. So it is great for 3D or 'open' joining points, but in cramped spaces, it's side-effect will become pronounced.
DeleteThat'll be it then, thanks very much. I"ll have another go and use a different join.
DeleteI would guess longer picots would help, but I'm still in the experimental stage with picot length.
ReplyDeleteDoes it lie flat before you add the outer round? If so, I think the extra amount of chain in the joins is causing it to spread. You could try packing the green chains a little tighter in both rounds so they have less curve.
ReplyDeleteI cannot give any advice, but I will say that it looks pretty and like a great design!! :)
ReplyDeleteWhat about pinning it down to block it?
ReplyDeleteI probably will to make this one usable, but I'd like to do one that wasn't so far from flat.
DeleteIt's difficult to tell without the tatting in hand, but I think Ninetta is right. Usually ruffling in the outer round means that the circumference of the inner round is too small. Making larger picots in the inner round would increase the circumference.
ReplyDeleteWhat you can do is take your first attempt and pull the picots even further apart with your fingers, to see if the outer round flattens at all. If it does, you'll know you are on the right track and larger picots will fix the problem.
It looks like you have good advice to help with the ruffling. It's a pretty design.
ReplyDeleteThis is odd... I have tatted this a number of times and I do not recall this one as being a problem... Stymied!
ReplyDelete