Tat's Heaven

I am starting to prepare for an adult craft evening near the end of April.  Every Wednesday after school I help to run a craft club for children which is a huge success.  It is also very challenging thinking of crafts, especially as the children are quite young mainly 3 - 7 yr olds and have a low attention span.  The parents like to do the crafts as well or just finish off what their children have started to make. Today I made the first craft for the adult session, I am only planning to hold these sessions every three months.  As you can see I have added tatting (pinned them on) to this one dragonflies and butterflies but not sure they will be an option in April, will have to see.  But nevertheless really pleased with the result as it is something that can be made in just over an hour, or less if you are good at sewing.   Now to think and make more crafts for the evening.

I am beginning to wonder if making two dollies at the same time is a wise move! However, they are completely different and so far I am enjoying working both of them. Renulek's 2018 doily is so dainty and I am really pleased with the way it is progressing.  I have made one slight modification though.  My big sister Jane has taught me that when you have a ring off a chain it is best to put a small picot on the chain before working the ring and attaching the ring to it and likewise before the ring is closed adding a small picot so the other side of the chain can be attached to it.  The rings are then a little more firmer and don't move about so much.   Looking forward to the next round and seeing the progress others are making working this doily.

Amazingly I am continuing this pattern of Jane's which is Fandango Rectangle.   I did make the centre a bit longer than the suggested one in the pattern, only because the last doily I made grew so large that it ended up becoming a square!   So enjoying tatting this and have realised that at the moment tatting anything small is not very rewarding.  Perhaps this is because I have boxes of tatting hidden away doing nothing. Whereas tatting something larger means that it is on show as it grows and in the future, well hopefully it will be used and admired.  I wonder if anyone can guess what colour I will be using next? 

I really enjoy taking part in these 'tat-a-long' doilies that Renulek designs every year.  She is such a talented designer and tatter.  Although the last doily of hers that I actually managed to take part was four years ago, when over time I completed three of that particular design. Strange in the past I had no interest in dollies, somehow though with the discipline of tatting a round at a time and waiting for instructions for subsequent rounds, seems far easier and less daunting.   Although it has taken me almost two weeks to decide on the thread size and the colour for this particular doily.  I have chosen burgundy, but who knows what will happen as the doily progresses, oh and the thread is size 20. Tomorrow Renulek is going to post the third round, so hello to those of you who are also tatting this beautiful doily.