Monday, January 17, 2011

I downloaded these last night but it was late and I thought I'd get to this sooner today than I did. This is the same as the white one, also in half-stitch.

I used a pink size 20 thread along with a white/gold metallic, also about the same size. I like the sparkle it creates in the finished bookmark. I don't really like to tat with the metallic because the gold thread tends to break when I close a ring so this is a good use for it.

I also waited until I had done one half stitch on the right side before I added the bead in hopes that it would look more like the left eye. It does but is a tad bit (1 stitch) lower. I guess it's doing to be a bit off, regardless of which way I do it.






This is the first Torchon bookmark. The stitch is the same throughout, but there is a pin between every stitch so it's time-consuming in that respect. I can tell I got a pair twisted somewhere. You can see at the bottom of that first white inner square, actually a diamond shape, how the white trails off in both directions at the bottom point. That must be where I mixed it up and you can see the same pattern all the way through. I should have 3 white diamonds and 2 brown diamonds in the center.

The directions don't tell me that but the picture in the book does and it makes sense that it would. So I will try it again Tuesday night and see if I can't keep track of the path better. This one is done in size 8 perle cotton, using a brown and a cream color. I think it looks very masculine and would be a nice gift for a male.

I had a little trouble understanding the way the bottom was finished off. Once I finished the left side, I understood better so the right side is much tighter and cleaner.

After repeating this exercise tomorrow, the next one is the same except it will have "spiders" in place of the diamonds. I feel like I'm making good progress and understanding more every time. This one started at a point so that part was new as well as the flow of the stitches. I really need a bobbin winder.

3 comments:

Lace-lovin' Librarian ~ Diane said...

Both look so nice! I can see my lace pillow now... soon I'll be able to reach it. ; )

deanna7trees said...

your doing great. nobody will see your mistakes if you don't point them out. i'm working on a bobbin lace pear and hope to do some needle lace in the center. i've tried the more complicated bobbin lace stitches but just can't catch on so i'm staying with the simple.

Gina said...

Diane, if you come to Lace Day in April, you could bring your pillow then...or shuttles!

Deanna - You're right. I thought I'd done the 2nd one perfectly until I studied it closely. I will be happy with getting the basics down and being able to make small simple pieces. I'm enjoying the learning process right now though so I'm not really beating myself up on what I've done wrong. I do want to move beyond edgings and bookmarks though. Do you recommend any books with simple motifs?