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

Rounds 4 and 5 of Renulek's Spring 2014 Napkin done…

Here are a few pictures of Rounds 4 and 5 for Renulek's Spring 2014 Napkin (the post giving the pattern for the first round is here, and you just look in the posts after it for the succeeding rounds).

After the bright colours of Round 3, I pulled back and used cooler colours for Round 4, and cooler yet for Round 5. Here is Round 4 complete:

Renulek's Spring 2014 Napkin, Round 4 complete

In Round 5, it easy to make a mistake and omit a ring or chain. See where I tatted three blue rings (the group at left) when I should have tatted four (like the group at right)?

Renulek's Spring 2014 Napkin - mistake in Round 5

Thanks to this blog post by Fox, I knew that this would lead to disaster in Round 8. So I untatted back to those rings and redid them, and went very carefully for the rest of the round.

Renulek's Spring 2014 Napkin - Round 5

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 3 of Renulek's Spring 2014 Napkin done; on to Round 4…

Round 3 took me some time, but here it is at last.

Renulek's Spring 2014 Napkin, Round 3 complete

 So, now for Round 4. Time for a round that doesn't pop out at you so much. I decided to reintroduce Butterfly Breeze, but with Spring Green. I think it does recede somewhat compared to Round 3:

Renulek's Spring 2014 Napkin, Round 4 begun

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