Here is another item I couldn’t finish on the plane, but not because I ran out of thread, but in need of a button. (I actually worked on this before my critical thread shortage on my mini doily posted yesterday, and considered taking it apart for the thread, but opted to keep it intact.)
Photo description: rainbow variegated thread knotted into a lace bracelet, unfinished on one end
I found a small, probably vintage, black shank button in my button stash at home, and fashioned the end into the bracelet clasp. The inner circle below the button was too small for the tatting shuttle, but I was able to do the square knots with a needle to cover the threads and add structure around the button.
Photo description: finished end of the tatted bracelet with button Photo description: tatted bracelet attached with a button on my wrist
I am getting better at estimating how many knots will get me the shape I want when I’m tatting. How tight I pull the center thread also makes a difference in shape and size. This bracelet is made of two opposing rows of basic Josephine knots.
We recently took a flight for the first time (for me) in years. I was hoping to get some knitting done, but once I sat down in the seat, I could tell I didn’t have room for my paper pattern, yarn bag, and knitting with two circular needles. Nuts. I pulled put my emergency craft from my purse, which this trip was tatting shuttles and extra wound bobbins. This I could do within the confines of my seat. I pulled up my Pinterest Tatting list, and started on a round pattern. On the second round, I could tell I had a problem.
Photo description: tatting with white #10 cotton thread, the second round of Josephine knots is open
The way the pattern was laid out did not fit what I was doing; my second round could not lay flat and still connect to the beginning of the round. I could undo the second round and try something different, or clip out the center. Hm. I opted to clip out the center, literally, because I couldn’t have scissors on the plane so only had nail clippers.
Photo description: same work with the center clipped out, the picot loops teased out, and additional Josephine knots added until the project lay flat
After getting the second round to lay flat, I replaced the center with six loops done in rainbow thread, which worked out nicely and stayed flat.
Photo description: same work, but with a red, purple, blue, green, and orange variegated thread knotted into six loops and attached at every other picot to the outer round
I started on the third round with the colored thread to balance the center color. To my horror, I ran out of thread. During travel. Luckily, Walmart carries cotton crochet thread, and there are Walmarts nearly everywhere in the states. They did not have the colored yarn, but they did have something I could craft with (that will be another post). The little coaster had to wait until I returned home.
Photo description: partially finished cotton tatted mini doily
At home, I loaded up a bobbin with the same colored cotton thread and was able to finish the third round and weave in the ends.
Photo description: finished tatted mini doily on a calico cat that is very happy to be back on my lapPhoto description: small tatted doily made from #10 cotton thread in white and variegated thread alternating three rounds, blocked by wetting and laying it flat to dry
The finished lace is a nice coaster size, and it amuses me to see a bit of lace peeking out from under my cup. Apparently I am a lace person down deep (but not a frilly person). I am finding the tatting to be soothing now that my skills are developing.
I’ve been wanting to attempt making sprang fabric for awhile now. I even made a small sprang loom from a trimmed elm branch. Sprang is a type of weaving where all the threads are warp threads (vertical), with no weft (horizontal). The threads are twisted around each other and the fabric is worked from the top or bottom simultaneously (what is done with threads at the top happens in opposite to the threads at the bottom). AI tells me that sprang dates back to the bronze age, although it seems like the summary was gleaned from Wikipedia, which at least gives me a list of references that confirm this art is ancient.
I had some #10 crochet cotton next to my chair (crochet is probably my youngest craft), so decided to use that after watching a video from Sally Pointer, who is an accomplished heritage educator.
Photo description: starting to weave sprang, I was warned that sprang holds special fascination for cats, and Izzy the cat was quite enthralled with the many stringsPhoto description: sprang in progress with the loom on the floor and several rows completed
I achieved several rows without too much panic, but then the fabric started to make a hard bias twist that made it difficult to sort where the threads needed to go. I gave up and removed it from the loom, took a picture, and consulted a Sprang group on FB.
Photo description: partially woven sprang made from cotton thread, removed from the loom to show the twist
I was assured that twisting is what sprang does, and to try wool which blocks very well. While scanning the group posts, I also noticed that some weavers secure the edges to the loom periodically, which would also help manage the twist. I was told that narrow bands are particularly susceptible, and another way to manage the phenomenon is to switch twist direction, which is a more advanced technique. I have my marching orders.
Once again I was down to the last set of cotton loops for a potholder loom. I actually started several patterns gleaned from Pinterest, didn’t like them, and took them apart. Once woven, the knitted cotton loops are quite robust, but if woven and unwoven repeatedly, they have a tendency to unravel. I needed to make a choice and stick to it. I love spirals so decided to tackle a spiral pattern potholder. This was easier decided than done. I did find a picture of a spiral potholder, but couldn’t wrap my head around the sequence of under overs working straight across. I ended up working from the center, slowly adding loops on each side and meticulously tracing the spiral, fixing the woven path as I went.
Photo description: potholder pro loom with horizontal loops set and five vertical loops woven together only in the centerPhoto description: more loops added, the spiral growing out from the center of the loomPhoto description: spiral is largerPhoto description: weaving complete, the spiral disintegrates toward the outside because I ran out of purple loops
The key to the spiral is that sometimes loops go over two, rather than one opposing loop. These floats happen at the corners when the color needs to be continuous. The order of loop color is the same for the vertical and horizontal.
Photo description: finished potholder with chain edge and corner loopPhoto description: back side of the same potholder showing an equally interesting V pattern
I managed the make this whole week a throwback with this series of potholder experiments! The loops are now all gone and the looms have been absorbed into my weaving tool box. I plan to use the pin looms with yarn next. Tomorrow will be an actual throwback post.
When I bought the potholder loom kits for my kids, I bought one regular size and one Pro. The Pro box still had intact seals. I fixed that, and thought I might make a small bag because the Pro potholders are larger and there were only enough loops for two projects. The loom also has an odd number of pins, rather than the even number for the regular loom. It opens up different design possibilities. I wanted to experiment more with twisting with my first project with a Pro loom. I counted all my loops and divided them in half, then came up with a design based on the number I had of each color.
Photo description: first pass, the center horizontal loop going through twisted adjacent strandsPhoto description: second pass on either side of the center horizontal loop, hook tool showing how the strands are picked up in pairsPhoto description: closeup of the third pass in process, showing how the horizontal loop returns the twisted strands to the original positionPhoto description: potholder loom with the center pass with two passes below the center, returning the loops to the original position, and four passes above the center, showing the twisted loops
The overall pattern when weaving is three fold: twisted path, plain weave, plain weave.
Photo description: weaving finished with the last four passes in plain weave on the top and bottomPhoto description: finished potholder with chained edge and corner loopPhoto description: opposite side of the same potholder
I was going to make a coordinating but opposite twist design, but it turns out when the strands are twisted the opposite way, the pattern is just being worked upside down, it doesn’t look different. Hm. I don’t want twins, so I’ll try something completely different for the next potholder.
Critters and Craft 