Stitching Burst

At least, it definitely felt like one. I didn't cover inches worth of pattern, but considering the medium I'm happy I finished one of those little circles before my eyes gave out.

I was originally planning on trying a type of weaving stitch on all the circles except for the corners, but... 

let's just say it didn't work out.

On top of that, when I redid the circle with the stranded buttonhole, I had this little thread that kept getting in the way--and of course it ended up as a big thing of fluff that just got everywhere.

On another note, I also worked on the buttonholing.

I feel like it should've been slightly more therapeutic... but at the time I was fighting off a lack of feeling in my caboose for sitting too long, and a tenseness in my back from being hunched over.

-_-

But on the bright side, it's that much closer to being done! 

Le Masterpiece moving forward!

While I would've loved to say that Le Masterpiece was finished when I finally got through that big fat border, there was, unfortunately... more to go.

Those round thingamabobs around the edge still had to be tackled. 

After a brief hiatus, I returned to the task.

This is my progress thus far: 

A closeup on the corner: 

It took longer than I expected, which made me a little weary... but I'm thinking I'm gonna mix it up and try something new for the rest of the circles... let's just see if it works.

In the mean time, I wanted to work on Le Masterpiece, but I didn't feel like doing anything super tricky.

So I started on buttonholing some more of the inner elements. You can see it on the inside edge of the thing border, and that round thing

In case you can't really see, here's another shot.

I do realize that I forgot the extra threads that were supposed to pad the outline... but I'm thinking I'll just save the thicker outlines for the outer border.

^_^

-Drum Roll-

I now give you the longest running project (that I'm aware of) currently in progress at Lace (making) Adventures! 

LE MASTERPIECE!!!

(So it's not completely finished, but do you know how much work that is!?)

I must say that I feel like I've reached a very significant landmark. I am almost done!!!

Note to any one out there who might wish to take a crack at needle lace: If you use colored thread, make sure you don't let it near sunlight... if you look closely, you can see a difference in the shade of the thread between the top and the bottom --> improper storage is to blame. >_<

But it's almost done!

^_^

Reality is relative and deceiving.

Have you ever had a really work intensive stitching session, but then look back on it and say: hey! I did more than that! 

But you really hadn't? 

That happened to me with what is, as you well know, one of the longest running projects on Lace (Making) Adventures.

Le Masterpiece.

Shall we compare with the previous update?

It'd say it's about an inch or so that I managed to carve out... but it felt like so much more.
>_<

Either way, I'm that much closer.

^_^

Sudden Urge

Though buried under mountains of school (soon to be nothing more than pebbles, muahaha), I was surprised to receive--and even more surprised that I was able to act on--a sudden urge for needle lace. 

In a brief burst of l'aguile, I gained what I guestimate to be an inch on that thick border: 

I'm also happy to report that I've been feeling a slight tatting itch.

At this rate, Evelyn's doily might just be finished before Christmas 2015.

Yes, 15. 

^_^

Productive Couple Weeks

I shall never forget my needle lace! 

... at least, not permanently >_<

I've finally figured out why I could never get a decent picture of Le Masterpiece. 

As it turns out, as a piece, le Masterpiece is too large for the micro setting on my camera to focus right, and too small for the macro setting. 

>_<

So, please, bear with me if I can't get a good full shot.

However, I think I'm getting better at taking closeups.

I'm really happy with how the shading is turning out. At first I was worried because the stitches seemed to bunch up and look rounded and bulky, but it cleared up as I kept going.

Here, you can kind of see what I'm talking about, but the fact that I'm not using a hoop is definitely not helping. 

Aaaand I'm almost done with this corner! 

^_^

I haven't forgotten!!

Le Masterpiece is still in the works!

I have to admit that I have the hardest time photographing Le Masterpiece. I don't know if it's the size or the color of the thread, but let me just say that the thread is a much prettier green than you see there! 

Considering that I've been working on Le Masterpiece since... oh about April of 2012, I'm hoping that I might be done by 2016. >_<

^_^

I reiterate: Oh, to be perfectly organized!

The good thing is that I finally seem to be waking up a little. Here in Cancun, we've been having a lot of rainstorms and heavy cloud cover vs. the bright scalding sunshine we normally have and I'm pretty sure that it's having at least a small effect on my energy levels. 

Anywho, the good thing was that over the weekend I took advantage of the fact that I had an excuse not to do anything else and actually did something! 

First of all, I did get a little bit of work done on Le Masterpiece.

At first, I was enjoying the relief that came from doing the wheels instead of constant corded brussels (this was before I got the magnifier ^_^), but now I can't wait to go one to the next step--muahahaha!

And then I went a little crazy on Doodleplex.

Now I'm seriously happy that I decided not to try to make it symmetrical in true doodle fashion...because I'd be blowing a gasket right now.

Here (hopefully) you can see what I was trying to go for. I used different colors for the french knots to see if I could get a sort of gradient affect...but I decided that it was approaching overkill (if not already there) and went on to the next thing--a questionable satin stitch archy thing. 

The thing is that... apparently... it's recommended to go about doing padded satin stitch a slightly different way... but then again, how boring would life be if you didn't do things the hard way and give yourself a migraine? 

My point is that last night, while waiting for some caffeine to wear off at a certain hour of the night, I watched Mary Corbet's video on how to do a padded satin stitch.

I'll admit that things might've gone a little better if I'd watched it before... >_>

Anywho, during the same bout of insomnia, I decided to take a shot at some interlocking rings and chains with my brand spanking new tatting needles. 

I must say, I think it went along swimmingly before I got completely frustrated and decided to try it again when it wasn't closer to sunrise than sunset.

^_^

More progress!

I finally got started on the wheels! For me, this is more than fantastic because (aside from the fact that I'm farther along than I'd thought I'd be) it's sooooo much easier on my eyes! 

 Doodleplex is also coming along nicely. I'm hoping to start phasing in some softer colors, though. 

Microscopic progress on Trumpet, but progress nonetheless!

^_^

Hee Hee ^_^

Slow and steady, but I'm getting there!! 

I expect that I might be done some time before 2020--but that has yet to be seen. 

Also, more doodleplex!!

You may not be able to see, but I've decided to branch out from the chain stitch and have now tried both french knots (the light blue dots)  and satin stitch (the red archy things). 

For the archy things on the left side, I tried them normally without padding. Thanks to one of Mary Corbet's recent posts about splitting floss, I got the idea to combine several strands of sewing thread to "make" embroidery floss. I used two strands for the one on the bottom left, and four for the rest. 

On the left-hand side, I took a shot at "padding" and found it way easier.

What I like about Doodlplex is, since it's just a massive embroidery doodle, I don't have to worry about it being too perfect or symmetrical as that would defeat the purpose.

I like that. A lot.

^_^

So far, so good

^_^

My progress thus far

Essentially, my plan had been to either tat/study all day today.

Neither got done--and I'll tell you why.

About a week ago, my iTunes decided that it would be a fantastic idea to go absolutely ballistic and:

1. Switch around the names of all of my songs
2. Refuse to organize them by any category other than genre

So, me, being a fabulous mix of: worry wart, chicken, mildly more computer proficient than average, stubborn as he** and seriously pissed off, decided that I'd figure out how to fix it and be on my merry way. 

Long story short, I reinstalled iTunes--twice, moved about 70% of my songs to my cloud drive (sans cloud control panel since my poor little first gen iphone is too old to have it), leaving the rest because I decided last minute that it would be better to just backup the library and so on. Finally, after the second reinstall, I decided to try to create a new library.

That worked, but the problem is that while it gave me access to those songs on my cloud drive, I now had to sift through my back up to figure out which songs I had missing. 

I just finished, and it's almost 1:30 in the morning. 

-_-

Good thing is that as far as I know, all is merry and well!  

^_^

Return of the needle lace?

So, a while ago I found that big piece of canvas that I used to practice my needle lace stitches on. (Yay!). At first, I was like "eh" -- I'd given up needle lace, right?

Enter a topic of my last few posts: needle lace with tatting thread 0.o

Before embarking on any sort of project, I decided to give the ol' stitch sample routine a try.

Not too bad, huh? 

As you guys know, my eyes aren't exactly the best on the market--which means that I was very happy to see how much larger the stitches are with tatting thread. 

I can actually see them! 

To give you guys an example of what I mean, observe: 

There's a little bit of a difference, if I do say so myself. 

The second sample (on the left) is in Gutermann #50 thread, and it has the same number of rows as my #30 Omega tatting thread.

O.O

Bolstered by these results, I decided to whip out one of my old (and barely started) needle lace projects. It only had the outline, so it wasn't too hard to rip out and redo. 

I'd like to point out that I'm using the scraps from my previous tatting projects, so this will probably end up looking like a hungover rainbow. 

^_^

A little more than nothing =)

So, I realized yesterday that I did in fact have something to post about ^_^

First of all, I think I'm gonna call this one "lotusness". It reminds me of these bizarre backgrounds I'd downloaded back when I was learning HTML, and even though they looked nothing like lotuses (lotusi?), they were called that. 

Behold! 

Aaaaand, remember this ol' guy? 

I remembered that despite having worked on it in little bits here and there, I hadn't actually posted an updated picture in forever and a day--and le masterpiece has actually changed a lot! 

Also, before I moved I managed to squeeze in one thread dyeing project that I completely forgot about. The thing is, that I keep forgetting that my yellow dye isn't completely dissolved and add waaaaaay more than I'm supposed to. 

It was supposed to be blue and gold. 

You can't really tell in the picture, but there are splashes of red and green in there that make it look like ketchup, mustard, and relish look like when you spread them onto a burger/hot dog. 

Ergo, "ketchup and mustard".

It actually looks kind of cool in person. 

^_^

I've been thinking...

Remember that piece of green needle lace I was working on a few months ago? And remember how I said I'd have to put needle lace on the back burner because of my eyes?

So I started thinking about it the other day. See, I'm generally the kind of person that thinks of unfinished projects as scabs staring up at me waiting to be picked, an itch I can't scratch, or a box that  says "DO NOT OPEN".

I know that everyone has their physical limitations, but I got to thinking that it wouldn't be so terribly bad if I only did like three rows of stitches a day (which, since I'm still working on the first part of the border around the center is like... 24 stitches max).

Well, I tried it today, and maybe three rows is pushing it. My eyes started aching right away =(. I might try two tomorrow.

-_-

Reality Checks are a B****

Soooo... this one's been a long time coming, as you may have noticed, progress on a certain masterpiece has been a bit... let's say "delayed".

I know I've been really freaking busy with school, but these past few weeks I've come to understand that there was also another aspect to take into consideration.

For those of you who have read "the backstory" <--- (subtle hint to go read it if you haven't), you will know what I mean when I say that I am really freaking blind--not legally blind, but I couldn't see biscuits on fire at night if you had a spotlight on 'em. (fyi, I'm trying not to swear, so from now on, if I say "biscuits" or "friggidy frack" it stands for something else.... 0.o)

Anywho, my point is that I am really friggidy frackin' blind, and I only just turned 18!

Now, here's the thing, I kinda need my eyes to work for a little while longer until I can afford to get them fixed, so... I've decided not to focus primarily on needle lace anymore--maybe not even do it at all.

I've been avoiding working on my projects because I get headaches under artificial light because of the detail and don't have a lot of daylight to lace away because of school =(. I'll still do a little every once in a while--but I wanna major in CompSci, so there's already gonna be a lot of strain on my peepers!

It's with a heavy heart that I say all this--but the good news is that tatting is friggidy frackin awesome, and so's bobbin lace!

^_^

Here's the last piece of needle lace I made. It's small, about 3cm across, and it was a practice with wheels so I kept the design simple:

So me's made a boo-boo =8)--but I won't tell you were it is =P muahahahahahahaha

Anywho, it's this really pretty blue/purple color that doesn't show that well on the camera, and I used gutermann size 50 polyester--insert cringe by pro-lacemaker people.

I also must announce that I have a new favorite thread brand. I used to favor gutermann because they had the thinnest size around these here parts (yes, I just said that. I'm feeling a little western, so sue me.) buuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuut I ran into a little brand called Duets--ring any bells anyone??? It's still polyester, though, but it's not as wiry and it's the right thickness.

However, as I am no longer a needle lace major, I shall use it with my bobbinery and such.

I also must let you in on a little secret... I have a problem (yes, another one), one that involves me liking to make my life miserable by trying to run before I can walk. Soooo... I may have started designing my own tatting patterns and trying to make enormous doilies... I must say, you tatters out there have a lot of patience. I cringe every time I make a mistake and have to undo my stitches, and I nearly cried the last time.

I have pics though! and I'll post patterns as soon as I test tat them =D =D

^_^

Bleh (continued)

So, the offending stitch is listed here in The Encyclopedia of Needlwork (Thérèse de Dillmont) as the sixteenth lace stitch. Let the boos resound.

Here were my first attempts:

As you can see, the bars (damn them) are vertical and not at the angle that I would so like them to be.

So, after very much frustration and very many headaches, I decided to look again at the picture of the stitch--several times-- to no avail.

At last, after much struggle and torment, I caught sight of text below the image and thought "Oh, what could this be?"

Note to self: It's a good idea to read the instructions

Though still not perfect, I've managed to wrangle the little devils into better-ish shape: 

It turns out that I was making the knot at the top of the loose buttonhole and working down when I should've been making it at the bottom-middle-ish of the buttonhole and working up. 

Oh, btw, the way I've been practices stitches is with a piece of canvas. What you do, is you essentially sew the edges into the canvas and work the stitches over the top. I like canvas because of the open weave which makes it easy to measure the distance between stitches --> which is good if you're semi anal-retentive like me. 

Phase 5

So, as I said before, I am in Phase 5 of le masterpiece:

As you can see, I've already done the ground (Phase 4) in Point d'Espagne and am now working on the filling stitch for the weird flower/umbrella/octopus type thing. So far, I'm keeping it simple and just using a really close corded buttonhole, but I'm thinking that in the big flower/umbrella/octopus type thing that I'll branch out into maybe some knotted stitches or something...


Any suggestions?

My Masterpiece =D =D

Soooo..... I have decided to join all of my vast (not really) skills into one beautiful (amateur) work of art!
I started it like four days ago, and it's a piece of a significant size, so I've decided to publish posts of the "phases" (or "phases" of phases):

Phases 1, 2, and 3: Drawing the pattern, sewing it onto the backing, and pricking!:

Those red squares in the background (the big ones, not the little itsy bitsy ones) are centimeters--which makes this bad boy a whopping: 10cm x 15cm!

Whoa...

pretty pretty flower

Hiya there, so, I've been working on a little project that took waaaaaaaaaaaay longer than it should of, what with school and all. It was smaller than the palm of my hand, but then again priorities are priorities =)

   So, on your left you see the pattern. It's been sewn onto the backing (two pieces of fabric) and pricked to make the couching easier. Also, though you can't see it, I sewed another piece of paper (normal notebook paper) onto the back so I could see the pricking on that side also.
The great thing about needle lace is that you can make just about anything. It's great for free form shapes.

   Here, I've already finished the filling stitches. (I forgot to take the picture of the plain outline, whoops).  The dense part is a corded Brussels stitch, with a single Brussels stitch along the edge of the outline to give it that sort of suspended effect. I learned it from here. You can see the same effect on the left hand side of the picture, where the stitching is dense. The lighter area in this picture is a questionable pea stitch. it was definitely an educational experience.

 Tada!! In the final stages of production, I have finished the buttonholing and now need to remove it from the backing and fix up a few details here and there.
Also, that loopy thing on the right hand side is not a pitiful excuse for a picot, but a loop for a clasp. I was thinking of selling this, but I screwed up a couple things and I honestly couldn't turn it over unless it was as well made as possible.

She lives!!! =D
What felt like a month later, and it's done. Muahahahahahahahaha =D