A Different Breed Of Tat

Day 201: I have to admit that when I purchased Hye-oon Lee's two-volume set, "Lovely Tatting," I thought I might have come up against a challenge I couldn't meet. I knew before I bought them that the patterns were written for shuttle tatters, and that I would want to convert them to needle-tatting which is my preferred method, but I didn't expect any difficulty there. Nor did I find it. However, the designs were so intricate and were such a very "different breed of tat" with many long chains and Josephine knots that I put the books on the shelf wondering if I would ever open them with a mind to actually doing the work. There is a lot of measuring here to keep the chains equal in length, so in addition to the tiny crochet hook on the chatelaine I wear when tatting, I must keep a plastic gauge handy, marked with tape showing the length of the chains in any particular row. At the end of each chain, I measure and adjust before making the ring which follows it. In this pattern, Josephine knots (the blue "bumps" at the middles of the chains) are made every other row, and require a second needle. I still have three rows to complete before this doily is done, but I have fallen in love with the author's non-traditional designs. In between work sessions, I delight in looking at the photographs in her books, many of which were taken in the Paradise area of Mount Rainier National Park!