Lost in Translation - Julia E. Sanders errata

This is so beautiful....a true work of art.

Just beautiful!

Yay! It's just inspirational to watch you go, and go, and go...

Although I've learned my lesson to put in my notes: Do the first broken row FIRST, THEN do the circles. Getting the rings to attach down in that hole is a pain.

Okay, because I've forgotten to add these: The first broken row, aka Row 3 of the border, is R2-2-2-2-2-2 (5p, 2ds bet), C2-2-2, RW, repeat. The corner motifs are: R1: 8x(R2-2-2-2-2-2, C 4-4-4) R2: R2-2-2-2, C4+4. Second broken row, Row 4, is the same as Row 3 of the border, only in reverse. Row 5 of the border is the same as Row 2: R2-2+2-2+2-2, C2-2-2-2-2-2. The last rows, Rows 6 and 7, which are unbroken, are both R3-3-3-3, C3-3, which is the same as Row 1 of the border.

I'll take closer photos of the attachment points once I get the next one done, because this corner motif was actually one ring short, so I had to adapt.

Okay, I'm working on the fourth set of the broken rows of the border. It's been crazy between the kid schooling and things being scheduled over my weekend plans of "hiding in my office to tat and watch Law & Order." This weekend, it's a Zoo trip with my mother, and a school thing for my tadpole, but I'm going to steal all the time I can to work and hopefully have a half-done border by Saturday Night Svenghoolie.

I'm also thinking about the move to Craftree. This thread is more than a year and a half old, and has been a source of great encouragement to finish, so I hope that it remains active for a while and then is archived somewhere. Or else, I'm going to print the entire thread and find someone to scrapbook it for me so I can keep it on my coffee table and look at it fondly when I'm old. On second thought, I might do that anyway. Hmmm... Forum scrapbooking....

Kersti says all these forums will be moved over to Craftree at some point. That should be interesting. = )

Oh thank goodness! And thank Kersti! That eases my mind. There's a lot of history on this forum (and I do mean a LOT)!

Yes. Definitely on yours and I would hate for us to loose the wealth of information on the other forums as well.

Hours lost... So I've been checking my joins when I noticed: the last two broken rows of the border had a major mistake. I missed a ring which led to a missed chain and some other stuff that happens when you miss a ring. I just cut out three sections of finished broken rows. I'm actually happy that I at least discovered it NOW before I was half done with the border. Had I discovered it halfway through the two next rows, I would have been a sad panda. Anyway, so I'm thinking I might just start working on it row by row now, because I don't want to think about the rows I just cut out right now.

Like I said, I'm happy that I caught it, it could have been much worse. But it's a wrench having to cut out that much work.

oh nooooooo, thinking about you as you redo those parts

Ooh, ouch! But glad you discovered it before you got further.

Okay, I cut out the mistake, finished tatting the first of the broken rows between the motifs at the corners. I've included a standard art ruler for scale.

Attachment:

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It's beautiful and will be a family heirloom for generations I'm sure. I admire your persistence, I am far too ADD for something this large. It took 5 years for me to finish the 9x13 daily I did.

The giant piece is made up of many many smaller motifs which connect together, and except for the 200 rings, it's pretty varied. People often tell me that they don't have the patience for handicrafts, but then I have to wonder, what do normal people who don't craft do while they're waiting in places? I tat, not because I have the patience for it, but because I don't have the patience to sit around. You know the old adage about idle hands!

It looks magnificent! It must be, what, four feet wide by now? By the time you're done, it will cover a very large table indeed!

I quite agree with you, Wodentoad. Tatting doesn't take patience, it gives me patience! Not to mention, tatting something big (by which I mean a doily larger than 12 inches across ) teaches me endurance and perseverance, to gain the beautiful reward at the end of it.

I always have to smile when I hear that tired old cliche - haven't the patience for it. Good gracious me, what do people think? I can't imagine sitting or standing still for any length of time. If my hands aren't busy, I'm either sick or asleep. Or both. Your tablecloth is looking wonderful. I have the Sanders book and have always admired this, but never had a place to use it. I didn't used to be a fan of fabric with tatting, but as I age, it becomes more appealing. Your work is an inspiration.

Thanks Grace! I don't even know at the moment, I'm debating recalculating the final width, and my sister is going to help me count all the stitches.

Lynn, one of the big problems with this one is that no one has included major eratta for this pattern. I had to design the caterpillars myself, as well as how the corners of the border attach at the narrow insertion petals of the inner flower. Trying to hack my way through this I've ended up re-writing it. My plan is to get good clear pictures of the joins and put them into a PDF of the rewritten pattern in modern notation. Once I'm done, I'd love to put it up onto craftree for others.

In related news, my sweet little tadpole is headed to a new school next year, which means I'll have some tatting time to myself again!

I am so glad you are going to document this for modern tatters. Now, tatting patience is one thing, but wading thru ancient instructions is another. Love watching this develop and grow. Lovely :)

Wodentoad, you are making yourself into a legend. Your work will be greatly admired and appreciated for at least a couple of generations of tatters, but I bet a lot more. The greatest problem with these older patterns is the mistakes in them. If they were edited at all, it was usually by non-tatters. So anything anyone can do to rewrite these patterns so they make sense is a great advantage and boon to all tatters. Thank you for your hard work and persistence. I know what you've been through with it, calculating, measuring, retatting. You are a jewel.

I'm just so honored to have such a great place to share my troubles and triumphs. I've always loved BIG projects, but I truly believe that the only reason that I've been able to get so far is with the encouragement and help from all of you.

This is SO beautiful! Thank you so much for keeping us updated on this project. When I'm away from "InTatters" for awhile, one of the first things I do when I return is look for this "Lost In Translation" thread to see if you've posted any updates. I admire your steady "stick-to-it-tiveness" -- despite rewriting instructions and cutting out mistakes and the sheer size of this project. In this age of everyone demanding instant gratification you provide a fine example for the value of taking on a long term project.

Happy Tatting!

Thank you so much, emkay! I'm right now reworking the row I cut out just a bit ago. Looks a lot better on the second pass.

This is amazing! I'm so excited to see someone else working on this piece! I've started it, but I'm not even up to the first border yet. I'm stuck on the "oblong motifs". I'm going to have to go back through this thread more carefully and see if you have any advice on those. :) I've been liberally messing with the pattern and re-writing it to use modern techniques. I'm doing each section in a single color which means that by using split-rings you can get rid of having to hide most of those annoying ends. I wouldn't have expected it to look so good in two colors like you've done, but it's fantastic.

Also, I agree completely with tatting not being for the patient. When people comment that I must be really patient to do this work I explain that it's actually because I'm impatient.

Thanks for the comment on my blog that sent me here (and told me about Craftree - I'm an accountant by day and I get rather anti-social and out of touch this time of year.)

Snapdragonlace, so good to see you back! I hope you'll be spending a little more time with us now. Do you have photos of your project? We've been following Wodentoads progress, as you can see from the length of this thread, and would love to see how you've interpreted this vintage pattern.