Sunday, April 29, 2012

Cluny Compensation

...for all the time and energy not to mention metres of wasted thread!  I had to put down that Sunflower pattern as it was twisting all over the place. Maybe I should use another type of thread. I am still working away at it, but sometimes it works to put it down for a few days...

In the meantime, I finished the cluny piece. Clunies used to be my tatting boogeyman, before the Blomqvist Blues took over! They do not seem to be so confronting now that there is something way more difficult for me to kvetch about.

#8/100      Pattern: “Rose de Noel" by Elisadusud    
#40 HDT ‘Garden Afternoon’ by Yarnplayer

Well, they are not perfect by any means, but these clunies - and there are a lot of them - are a lot better looking than most of the ones I tatted a few months ago. Maybe they are a mite misshapen, but after all there are 24 of them!

I suppose the trick is to bite off more than you can chew and then go back and see what was so difficult about the precious Mount Everest.

♯♯♯♯♯♯♯♯♭♭♯♯♯♯♯♯♯♯

Needles
I have referred to needles a lot it seems in recent posts, so I thought I would post a photo  of what I usually use to sew in the ends.  For me, sewing them in rather than tatting over them is much less obvious.  

22 comments:

  1. Your Clunies just keep getting better and better! I really like the color combination you used.

    I like to sew in my ends also. I can't decide which of the two needles you are showing I prefer. The Chenille needle is nice and smooth, but the Calyx threads so easily. I guess if forced to give an answer, I'd go with the Chenille.

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  2. Your clunies are amazing. It's beautiful.

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  3. I honestly think that most of your clunies are amazing!! I haven't tried one yet, I find them intimidating. I think your color combo is so nice! You did a great job Fox!!!!! Thanks for posting about the needles too. I have yet to master hiding my ends.

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  4. I admired those beautiful clunies in your last post, and the thread color is SO pretty! I'm amused that you're doing them as a 'stress' reliever! I tried making a couple of clunies and found them too labor-intensive; and here you've done 24!!! I've always liked the way they give tatting a unique look. I'm sure you'll 'conquer' the Sunflower pattern, too!

    I use a flat metal needle threader (not the wire one) for those chenille needles. It makes threading them very easy!

    I have to admit I laughed at Gian's big y-a-w-n. Wow!! But I'm kind of curious how you got the thread out of your finger. Ouch!!

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    1. Hi, Kathy,
      Not wanting to stop and unwind the bobbin to pull the thread out, I just pulled! So impatient am I, but there are so many tatting callouses on my fingers that there was no damage - looked way worse that it was!

      I have tried some threaders, but the ones I have had in the past were always too bulky for the needle eyes, except for the flimsy metal ones which break after one use! So now I just have to squint!
      Fox ; )

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  5. really good looking clunies Fox. and your colors turned out just great.

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  6. +Great job on your clunies. Looking better each time you tat them. Practice does make perfect. So glad you are feeling more comfortable tatting them. The color combo make the clunies stand out.

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  7. Your clunies look wonderful and I do like the colours. Like Carol, I find the idea intimidating, but one day I'll have a go. I like to thread the ends in too. When I first learnt to tat, the instructions were to oversew the ends with a split thread. That really has to be done on a 'wrong' side, regardless of the front-side, back-side idea. The trick was to make sure you sewed all the ends on the same side! I have a needle that is fairly fine but has a long eye without the eye being too 'fat'.

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  8. Thank you Everyone, for the clapping for clunies!

    I do appreciate the support. One day perhaps they will be consistent in shape. Ha!
    Fox ; ))

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  9. Love the clunies. And love them in that variegated thread!

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  10. Ahhhh, clunies. I aspire to them, but I've only tried a couple of times and got cramps in my hands. Those particular muscles need to do them over and over until they remember how to move and stop cramping up, I suppose. This particular motif is just delicious -- it looks like Summer.

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  11. Your motif looks absolutely fabulous!!! And you chose an awesome color combo!!! :)

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  12. Hi Fox, I put a reply to your comment re copyright on my blog, have a look. I'm not a great believer in protecting copyright because carried to extremes it would mean we all have to learn everything from scratch - how would the world progress? So I think we're probably on the same page. Funnily enough, I studied communications law, which covers copyright.

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    1. Thanks, Jane,
      It is certainly a tricky thing - and something to be aware of without getting into too many conversations!
      ; )) Fox

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  13. Totally beautiful, well done, it's a beautiful piece of work
    Margaret

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  14. Wonderful work! I love clunies, you are a genius!

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    1. *blushing* I love that word ‘genius,’ but I am afraid I do need to work on these a bit - they are pretty funny looking! But thanks, Carla for the comment and the support.
      Fox : )

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  15. I think they look great! I've not yet taken the time to even try clunies. Maybe one day. I'm going to have to look into getting some of those Chenille needles. I get a few I really like using, use them until they break and then can't remember what they were called so I can buy new.

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    1. tattrldy,
      That’s my problem too! So, last time I bought the Chenilles, I made a note of the name and looked them up online and actually learned a lot about sewing needles. I also looked carefully at the store and the street where I bought the needles as places seem to move around a lot when I go looking for them the second time!!!
      Fox : ))

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