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I have done how many 25motif challenge motifs so far? 8, right? Yes. And it is now that I realise that I still haven’t mastered the ‘flip’!!

Can you believe that? I have made motifs using both rings and chain but I didn’t learn to flip the shuttle. How is that possible, you ask? I have no idea! I really don’t know how to make a ring with just one shuttle and no ball. I taught myself to tat and although all videos and articles mentioned the flip, I just didn’t understand what they were talking about. I was using Lyn Morton’s book and she mentions ball and shuttle. I naturally thought that I first make a ring with the ball thread and then work over it with the shuttle thread. I always pulled the ball thread to close the ring and it worked out fine. For the next ring, I would again use the ball thread and then work over it and pull the ball thread again. It worked fine until I joined the Pretty Doily Tat-along project.

I am glad I joined this Tat-along on etatters because if it wasn’t for this Pretty, pretty doily I wouldn’t have learnt so many new things.

1. I learn that two shuttles are not just for split rings.
2. I learn that mistakes can be really fun. I am learning patience.
3. I am learning floating/thrown rings.
4. I am learning to actually work a doily.
5. I am leanring that ladies who tat are the bestest ladies in the world!

So far, I think I have restarted on the doily atleast six or seven times ( I don’t remember). I have cut off and started the second round 3-4 times and I am still stuck on round two. Melissa from Honey_bees_bliss made a video to show how floating rings are done and after the second time I viewed it I understood why my doily looked so different from what it should really look like. I was using two shuttles as TattingChic told me. I wasn’t reversing it either. I was following her instructions to the dot but… what I was doing wrong was:

1. I was making a ring with Shuttle 1 and working with shuttle 2 on it and
2. I wasn’t flipping the shuttle when I worked again with just shuttle two and hence the ring wouldn’t close.

I still can’t beliveve I wasn’t flipping the shuttle. I still can’t believe I did 8 motifs and I didn’t know that I didn’t know how to make a ring! Can you believe that? What a joke!!

Anyway, I have atlast learnt to get that flip right and this time hopefully round two will complete or else… I need to take sleeping pills to make myself sleep tonight!

Here are some of my mistakes:

That was working with two shuttles.
That was the first time. The start to round two was bad from the beginning. I made a wrong join and I was working with two shuttles and a ball.
That was two shuttles and a ball too except that I was using the ball thread with each shuttle.
That is what happened when it was re-done very slowly. Nothing changed, see? It still looks the same

This was done yesterday. That was yesterday before I saw Melissa’s video! Now I am working again and I have fragments of thread all over my house. I have been practicing the flip even while cooking! Two double stitches while sauting the onions; one more ds, garlic goes in; one more ds, a little basil; two more ds the vegies go in; A picot and saute the vegies; add a little water and work on the ring and complete it before checking in on the vegies again. I am going crazy. Tat crazy!

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