The Problem With Handbag Tatting

 

I have at last finished the ball of Coats variegated size 40 thread and so finished the edging I have been carrying about for many months. The pattern came from the Knotting Nurse Sharon's blog, here.  I love the edging and have enjoyed the tatting, but I have to say that after months of being carried about and worked on in dusty places, it was rather grubby. 

I considered putting it in a washing bag with my weekly wash, but forgot to carry out the idea! I soaked it for some time in water with a liquid detergent added and then laid it out on a towel, pulling the chains into shape. I should really have straightened out all the picots, but thought it would be better to just sort them out when I sew the braid onto something. 

I don't think it would pass muster for a competition, but I think it's clean enough for normal use. I've started another take along tat, in spite of my reservations about keeping it clean. The leaf braid is ideal as handbag tatting because it's easy and has no joining. (And I like it!)

You can read about the origin of the pattern  here and here. There are alternating split rings of 2-6/4 and 4/2-6. 

I think I have managed to get my photos to a better size. I use a resizing app, but even the smallest size  still looked very large with the new blogger. I found a custom option on the app and made the photos smaller than small. 600 pixels by 400 pixels, for the record.