Except for the color -- which I like -- what an absolute waste of two nights and a morning pretending to block this awful thing. I say pretending, because there aren't enough pins in this whole house to pin everything that needed pinning on the darn thing -- and we've got LOTS of pins. I made this years ago with cheap ecru crochet thread from DMC's
Tatting for Today (1980), Motif 5. The motif looks really pretty as a starched snowflake; fastening them together was a mistake. I dug it out of a bag when my sister was in a mood to tie-dye. "Fix it up!" says I. She should have said (but didn't), "Are you out of your mind? That thing's hopeless!" She dyed it a nice solid plum. Nope, it still looked like a major undertaking to block. It sat crumpled in my bag for another two months. Finally, I decided since I was only good for blocking that's what I'd do. Ewww. Too many picots, the thread was too soft to hold them and they just curled and twisted. The outsides couldn't be stretched enough to let the inner rings lie flat. All in all, what a waste of time and effort. I don't know that it's even worth wrapping in acid-free paper for storage. My sister thought perhaps it could be a gift for the next wedding invitation I receive. I don't think I dislike anyone that much! I wonder if it would make a good mop rag?
This is how I learned to tat. I bought this brand-new book for 50 cents (in 1974), a metal Boye shuttle with a bobbin, and used some of my old crochet thread. It took a while for me to get things to work, because I wasn't using very good quality thread. I've kept the book all these years because it's still got patterns in it that I think are really pretty. I do wish they were diagrammed, though. After working with diagrams I find it hard to going back to reading all this long-hand! Hmmm...I suppose I could diagram them myself, right?
