Working On Round 15

 

Round 15 is the same as round 14. Worked in one colour, they combine to interesting effect. So far I've been working my quota, 5 repeats a day. 

Ready

 Round 15 of the Spring doily has been released already, I'm all set to begin. Nothing to see there, so here's a couple of pictures of young doves in one of Jack's banana trees:

The Blog As Record

 Jack said that my sheets hanging on the line were a bit see-through. So I looked up on my blog to see when I made them. Here's the entry here. It's dated January 2013, so no wonder the sheets are getting a little thin! The other two pairs were made two years later, as I can also see from my blog.   Years ago, Black Rose sheets used to proclaim in large letters across the packaging that they were guaranteed for ten years. I've often wondered what would happen if you went back after eight years and demanded your money back! Mine have no such guarantee, but I think they could well hold out for ten years. 

On Track

 

I did a lot of tatting on Thursday and none at all on Saturday, but overall I'm on track to finish round 14 before the next round comes out. 

Round 13

 

I was so excited about finishing round 13 on schedule that I joined the last ring to the wrong picot on the first repeat. Oh woe. Luckily I noticed before I cut the ends and sewed them in. I undid the last chain no problem, but really struggled to open the ring. Eventually I cut the shuttle off, leaving a long enough thread to finish the round, and undid the stitches one by one. Anyway, round 13 is now done. I'm leaving my thread markers in place so I can pace round 14 too. The doily measures 38 cm, 15 inches, across. I'm a little tempted to leave it like that because round 13 makes a good edging, but no, I'll go on. 

Nine And Ten

 

I bought exactly the right amount of fabric for the ten shirts. That's more good luck than good judgement, I have to say. Luckily most of the shirts were small sizes so I could fit the back and front pattern pieces next to each other across the fabric.  These last two shirts are large, so I had to put the pieces sequentially, which uses up the roll of fabric very rapidly! I still have to iron these two, but really the job is done. Oh, and after 45 buttonholes, I think I have that process down pat, if nothing else. 

On Track

 

 I've been getting my five-a-day - tatting repeats, that is. So I'm still on track to finish this round before the next one comes out. It should be five today and two tomorrow, but today is rapidly disappearing so I may aim for two today and five tomorrow. 

Working On Number 10

 

I'm working on the last shirt for the order, the end is in sight, hooray. I may not want to sew a shirt for a while....

Breaking It Down

 

Round 13 is a little daunting at first glance - that's a lot of tatting to do in a week. I counted the number of flower repeats on Renulek's photo; there are 32. So if I tat five repeats a day, plus two on the last day, I'll be there. Right. That sounds manageable. I've reached the target for Thursday and Friday - so far, so good. 

I usually just work from my iPad screen or draw myself a little sketch with the stitch count, but this row is complicated, with a lot of different numbers, so I printed it out. Still, it's straight forward enough and after a few repeats I had grasped those numbers. 

Spot The Difference

 

These are shirts seven and eight. The last two sets of shirts needed to be  slightly different to the others to signify the wearers have a different role in the organisation. Right. Originally I thought I'd make them in a different colour, but the restrictions of the wholesale fabric shop meant that I'd have to buy an awful lot of extra material to do that. Plan B was to make them in a single colour, without the contrasting pocket flaps and collars. 

Unexpected Progress

 

 I was resigned to not finishing round 12 before round 13 came out, because I was busy sewing shirts. But yesterday, just as I was about to start the buttonholes on shirt 7, pfft, the power went off. Tatting, of course, doesn't require electricity, so I got on with round 12. By the time the power came on again, five hours later, I'd lost my sewing oomph and was intent on finishing round 12! So it's done in time. Now I must get on with shirt 8. 

Buttons

 

I raided a friend's button box. There were a lot of shirt buttons there, but it was surprisingly difficult to find sets of four or five. Luckily I found these wooden buttons in a shop:

I bought two packets which is not quite enough for all the shirts. But it has certainly saved me a lot of scratching like a hen looking for grain! 

Five And Six

 

It was a quiet weekend, so I was able to put in the time to finish shirts five and six. They do seem very long to me. If it's a mistake, I will be able to shorten them later. 

Delivered

 I delivered the first four shirts yesterday. The lady who ordered them was delighted. I hope her staff are too. I'm working on the next one, which has much the same dimensions as the last one, except that it's 30 cm (a foot!) longer. Either the man is very tall or he likes his shirts long. Or both perhaps. 

I've made a start on round 12. Little cats with whiskers. Or bilbies perhaps with ears so large. 

We had our first covid vaccinations this morning. Have to go back in 28 days for the second one. 

Round 11

 

Round 12 comes out today. I'm ready for it; my round 11 is complete. 

Proportions

 

The first set of shirts I made was a lot smaller than Jack's pattern, but uniformly so. The second set of measurements has shoulders the same as the pattern but chest a lot smaller. Hmmm. For the first one, I reduced the pattern at the centre and adjusted the neckline. For the second, I took off at the side seams and then redrew the armholes. For the second set, I have to move the pockets towards the centre, opposite to the previous size.  At least after the first shirt, I'm aware that the pockets might need to be shifted. Onward, onward, I hope to get the fourth shirt finished today. 

One, Two

 

I've finished the first two shirts in the smallest size. The pockets are a bit close together on the first one. I moved them across a bit on the second one. I didn't want to make the pockets smaller because they're big enough to hold a 'phone, but they possibly look a bit overpowering now. But there are no major problems; I think the shirts will pass muster. On to the next size. 

Tatting Day

 

Happy international tatting day to all the tatters out there! I've made a start on round 11 of the Spring doily. More picoty flowers, facing outwards this time.