Tatting an Eclipse

Not exactly but both are on my mind today. Early attention would have helped secure some of those special eclipse glasses. It has been so long coming; I guess I tuned out the hype and hysteria. My solution to the lack of protection is to spend the duration outside in my garden and enjoy the changing light without viewing the actual cause. It is a beautiful sunny day here. Eclipses come and go but my garden remains and after this there are a few tasks to accomplish.

Setting down my tea one morning, I managed to tilt the full cup just enough to splash a bit onto a ball of DMC Cebelia, size 30 cotton. It would figure it was a full ball of pure white, rather, formerly pure white, thread. What to do, what to do? Oh agony, I couldn’t see any way to remove the stain without making a tangled mess of it.

The only solution was to use the thread and wash the finished doily. Renulek’s 2017 Spring “Tat-Along” doily had been calling to me. So I began working with the tea-stained thread. The last one of Renulek’s doilies I attempted is not yet finished because I didn’t like the very long chains in the outer rounds. You may remember it; it is red. In any case, I set out not really expecting success. Tatting onion rings is not my favorite, either. The new doily sports several of those. I began without enthusiasm, not expecting much of the project.

If the colors were reversed - a black doily on a white table -
it would almost look like an eclipse 😉
Renulek's Spring 2017 Doily tatted by RepWeaver

The thread needed washing as soon as possible if I hoped to remove the stain. It was a race to finish quickly. Even so it took several months. Then it seemed there would not be enough thread to finish. As you can see, chains are blue in the final round. This was not in the plan but the result makes me happy.

Surprise, surprise! This was an enjoyable tat. When tatting was done I soaked the doily in OxyClean for several hours and “Voila!”, the stain was gone. I am one happy tatter.

Now I feel ready and anxious to revisit the red doily and figure out improvements in order to finish it. Before I do, there are rugs on my loom that need weaving.

But first there is a small eclipse . . .

Warp On/Weave Off,
RepWeaver