Finally starting a doily by Jan Stawasz — and it's a big one!

I've been in love with patterns by Jan Stawasz since my early days of tatting (not that long ago — I only started in December 2011 :-) ). You can have a look at his patterns here. I've bought both his books, and helped others to buy them, too. But the pattern for a certain huge and gorgeous doily wasn't included. You can see that doily here — it's Photo 34. This doily was published in Moje Robótki 8/2007. After a fair amount of trouble, and help from others, I got an original copy!

But I still didn't feel ready to start the doily. It has 18 rounds! Did I have the stamina to finish it? Well, in June, I went for a visit to Kuching, and there I met up with another tatter. She took me to a shop that stocks Coats Mercer Crochet Size 20. The price was so good that I bought 12 20g balls of it, in three colours. Then I came back to Singapore, and looked at my 16 balls of Coats Mercer Crochet Size 20, in four colours. I said, "What shall I do with all this thread?"

Meanwhile, there was talk on InTatters about tatting really big doilies. I thought, "I can use all my Coats thread for a really big, noble doily." — and this doily from Moje Robótki was the obvious candidate. So, I started trying to figure out whether I had enough thread. I posted an inquiry in InTatters about that, and discovered that many other people also wanted to tat this doily!

So, I've been encouraged to make a start. I decided that I needed to count stitches and make my own calculations. I used Karen Cabrera's method (see Lesson 73 on this page) to get the initial measurements on my thread. I now have all the calculations in an Excel sheet. I was able to calculate that I needed 4 20g balls of my main colour, and 1.7 balls of two other colours — or 7.5 20g balls, if everything was in one colour. I am also able to predict exactly how much thread to wind on the shuttle for each round.

So, now that I'm reassured that I won't run out of thread, I have made a start! Here are my Rounds 1 and 2:

Jan Stawasz Moje Robótki 8/2007 doily, Round 1

Jan Stawasz Moje Robótki 8/2007 doily, Round 2

And here's Round 3, still in progress:

Jan Stawasz Moje Robótki 8/2007 doily, Round 3 in progress

I am not very successful at showing you the colours I am using. The main colour for the doily is a pale golden-brown, like wheat. Round 3 is cream-coloured. Since I have only five balls of the wheat-coloured thread, I'll also be using another pale brown colour for the plain ring-and-chain rounds.

And, I still haven't finished my Renulek Spring doily! I'm now half-way through Round 11. It's a good contrast, tatting these two doilies with their two different threads. Also, doing the Renulek doily was certainly essential in building my confidence for tackling this much bigger and more difficult doily.

Round 10 of the Renulek Spring Doily is done…

A few days ago, I finished Round 10 of Renulek's Spring 2014 Napkin (see here for all of Renulek's posts with the instructions). Here it is:

Renulek's Spring 2014 Napkin, Round 10 complete

Section view of Renulek's Spring 2014 Napkin to Round 10

I'm already about a third of the way through Round 11. This is a fast round. Then, Rounds 12 and 13 will take longer.

For Round 10, I used Spring Green and Fruit Fizz (but swopping the colours compared to how I used them in Round 7). For Round 11, I'm using Spring Green again, but with Arctic Waters. And then, for Round 12, I will for the first time be using the same colourway for both ring and chain. And, I'm still cogitating on Round 13…

Meanwhile, I've started on a new project. More on that in my next post.

Threads: all Lizbeth Size 40.

Round 1: Pineapple Parfait and Butterfly Breeze

Round 2: Pineapple Parfait and Arctic Waters

Round 3: Pineapple Parfait and Fruit Fizz
Round 4: Spring Green and Butterfly Breeze
Round 5: Leafy Greens and Arctic Waters
Round 6: Leafy Greens and Butterfly Breeze
Round 7: Spring Green and Fruit Fizz
Round 8: Pineapple Parfait and Arctic Waters
Round 9: Leafy Greens and Butterfly Breeze
Round 10: Spring Green and Fruit Fizz

Round 9 of Renulek's Spring 2014 Napkin is done

Yes, I've just finished Round 9 of Renulek's Spring 2014 Napkin (see here for all of Renulek's posts with the instructions). So, here it is:

Renulek's Spring 2014 Napkin, Round 9 complete

Renulek's Spring 2014 Napkin, detail with Round 9

As you can see, I decided to try photographing it against a dark velvety purple instead of the usual black background. Not too bad; should I use this from now onwards?

In the earlier rounds, I was wondering how many different Lizbeth colourways I could get away with in one doily. Eventually, I decided to cap it at six: Pineapple Parfait, Butterfly Breeze, Fruit Fizz, Spring Green, Arctic Waters, and Leafy Greens.

So, for the last few rounds, I've been using different combinations of these six colours. For Round 9, I used Leafy Greens and Butterfly Breeze (the same as Round 6, but I swopped the colours I used for rings and chains). For Round 10, I'll return to Spring Green and Fruit Fizz (but swopping the colours). And similarly for Round 11. However, when I finally get to Round 13, I'm very tempted to introduce a seventh colourway, which has just arrived in the post… :-)

Threads: all Lizbeth Size 40.

Round 1: Pineapple Parfait and Butterfly Breeze

Round 2: Pineapple Parfait and Arctic Waters

Round 3: Pineapple Parfait and Fruit Fizz
Round 4: Spring Green and Butterfly Breeze
Round 5: Leafy Greens and Arctic Waters
Round 6: Leafy Greens and Butterfly Breeze
Round 7: Spring Green and Fruit Fizz
Round 8: Pineapple Parfait and Arctic Waters
Round 9: Leafy Greens and Butterfly Breeze

Round 8 of Renulek's Spring 2014 Napkin is finally done...

Yes, Round 8 of Renulek's Spring 2014 Napkin is finally done, and here it is:

Round 8 of Renulek's Spring 2014 Napkin

This took a long while, not only because it's a deep round, but because my mother, Dr. Dixie Tan, became ill with pneumonia, then passed away, and then we had a huge wake and funeral. Many people came and shared how my mother (and also my father) had touched their lives. So, my cousin created a memorial blog to capture some of these stories, here. I am proud of my mother. She faced much adversity, and always she made lemonade with the lemons she was handed, and it became a means by which she could bless others. She's gone now, and we miss her. But her legacy lives on…

Anyway, so, Round 8 is done. I was very tempted to stop here, but I think I'll carry on. What colours for Round 9? :-)

Threads: all Lizbeth Size 40.

Round 1: Pineapple Parfait and Butterfly Breeze

Round 2: Pineapple Parfait and Arctic Waters

Round 3: Pineapple Parfait and Fruit Fizz
Round 4: Spring Green and Butterfly Breeze
Round 5: Leafy Greens and Arctic Waters
Round 6: Leafy Greens and Butterfly Breeze
Round 7: Spring Green and Fruit Fizz
Round 8: Pineapple Parfait and Arctic Waters

Tropical flowers

I recently wrote to one of my online friends about how I love spring flowers, and we don't get them in the tropics. She was very surprised. Surely we have lots of colourful flowers here? Ah, I said, but we also have a lot of foliage as well, 100 to 1000 times as much! So the flowers don't make the same impact.

Soon afterwards, a tree near my condo burst into flower. It happens with this particular species – it might be a flowering trumpet tree or a pink mempat; it's not a cherry tree! But it's not a common sight. So a few of us took pictures of it. After that, I took a few more pictures of flowers around my condo.

Lovely tree – it might be a flowering trumpet tree (thanks, Umi & Tsuru!) or a pink mempat (thanks, Muskaan!)

Periwinkle

Ixora bush

Ixora flowers

Bougainvillea

Bird of Paradise flower

See what I mean about the foliage in the tropics? Much more plentiful than flowers.

Round 7 of Renulek's Spring 2014 Napkin done, on to Round 8…

I'm now done with Round 7 on the Renulek Spring 2014 Napkin (you can see Renulek's post for the completed doily here).

Renulek Spring 2014 Napkin, Round 7

 So now I'm doing Round 8. I'm using Pineapple Parfait and Arctic Waters – the same colours that I used for Round 2. It's interesting to see how that yellow brightens up the blue. I expect this round will take me a good while…

Renulek Spring 2014 Napkin, Round 8 in progress

Threads: all Lizbeth Size 40.

Round 1: Pineapple Parfait and Butterfly Breeze

Round 2: Pineapple Parfait and Arctic Waters

Round 3: Pineapple Parfait and Fruit Fizz
Round 4: Spring Green and Butterfly Breeze
Round 5: Leafy Greens and Arctic Waters
Round 6: Leafy Greens and Butterfly Breeze
Round 7: Spring Green and Fruit Fizz
Round 8: Pineapple Parfait and Arctic Waters

Round 6 of Renulek's Spring 2014 Napkin done; on to Round 7…

I've been puttering along on Renulek's Spring 2014 Napkin. I've finished Round 6 now.

Renulek's Spring 2014 Napkin, Round 6 complete

So now I'm on Round 7. I decided to use slightly brighter colours: Spring Green and Fruit Fizz. I'm reserving the powerful yellow Pineapple Parfait for Round 8…

Renulek's Spring 2014 Napkin, Round 7 in progress

Threads: all Lizbeth Size 40.

Round 1: Pineapple Parfait and Butterfly Breeze

Round 2: Pineapple Parfait and Arctic Waters

Round 3: Pineapple Parfait and Fruit Fizz
Round 4: Spring Green and Butterfly Breeze
Round 5: Leafy Greens and Arctic Waters
Round 6: Leafy Greens and Butterfly Breeze
Round 7: Spring Green and Fruit Fizz