Finished!!!

Yeah, I have finished my Tischband Challange sponsored by Umi & Tsuru.

It isn't all that hard, I just didn't have enough time in chunks to get it done. The flowers are easy, but the leaves took me about an hour each and I had to follow the pattern very carefully to be sure my stitch counts were correct and that I was in the right place.

The Blute 1(Flowers) are done in Marilee's Rhubarb Pie size 40.  Blatt 2 (Leaves) are Jess's Camo-licious in size 40

The scan looks like it sits flat, and maybe it will after wetting and blocking, but it still is a bit wonky.

I only tatted 5 rounds in the flowers as opposed to the 6 listed in the pattern, but the pictures that accompany the pattern only show 5.  I also watched the video made by Frivole, but still feel that my construction is squished a bit.  If I do this again, ( not likely) I would join into 2 of the flower picots that are closer together.  By joining into the middle picot in each set, they flowers are trying to push the leaves.  If I had joined to 2 picots in the same set, or at least 2 picots closer together, it would have positioned the flowers further into the corners, and would have allowed the leaves to sit in a more natural position.

If I use this as a "mug rug" I will need to back it for support.

have a good night all. and happy tatting tomorrow

Tischband Started

I have been wanting to start this ever since Umi & Tsuru posted here. 

and since I can understand a smattering of German, and the word Tisch brought that to mind.  I decided to find out what Google Translate had to say.  Tisch can be translated as Table,  and Band, well that is basically self explanitory.  so Tischband can be translated as Table Runner.

and I can see that in the picture posted of the original pattern on Umi's link above.

I have started my version of the pattern.

the thread is size 40 Rhubarb Pie by Marilee Rockley.  yummmm  I think I might have to get some more rhubarb out of the freezer. 

I have benefited from the posts by previous tatters giving hints and tips to make tatting this pattern easier. So, while the pattern calls for 6 layers of chains around the flower center, I have only tatted 5.
and I ran across a link to a youtube video for tatting the leaf. The videographer is Frivole, who is so generous with her video lessons.

here is my week. 
Monday: work, and because of farm things this morning, I didn't get to work until 10:30a.m. good thing my boss is good with a flexible schedule, but then I didn't leave work until 7:30 pm. 
Tuesday: I have a meeting in a city 60 miles away, with the Diocesan Pastoral council so I will not be going to work. 
Wednesday: a meeting in a town 30 miles away, for a Safety Council sponsored by our State Workforce Safety and Insurance Dept for which I am chair of the finance council. so at least I will have a few hours at work in the afternoon.
Thursday: I will have a whole day at work.
Friday: my dd#4 gets to walk in graduation from grad school at a university 4 hours away.  She will still have to defend her Doctoral thesis in a couple months, but she will be a Doctor of Chemistry.  I am so proud of her, this has been a loong haul.  Her first experiments for her thesis several years ago after her successful defense of her Masters were considered failures. that meant starting over in between the teaching she has been doing. Now it has been discovered that those "failures" weren't failures after all, simply a new discovery that wasn't understood properly.  Woo Hoo,  She will be able to publish a paper that will be sighted by other chemists for some time.  Major Woo Hoo.
Doctoral students are expected to publish papers, and several of her papers were covered by grants and the companies who provided those grants considered the work proprietary so she could not publish them. Now, one of those papers has been released and she can publish that paper. so that has helped.  Things have been falling into place for her this year. 

I am so proud of her.

Oh, that means no work on Friday for me either as I will be traveling to see her walk across the stage to get her hood.

Hmmmm good thing this wasn't payroll week.  don't know when I would have gotten that done.