Lucky Clover

I'm making the Lucky Clover doily from Tatting Pattern's and Designs, by Blomqvist and Persson, using Cebelia No. 20, color 745, "Banana Yellow". (I have this book and several others on my Nook, which I adore!)

I love the way this pattern looks.  I like that there are no picots, other than those used for joining.  In this pattern, it's perfect.

I modified it a bit, and am now having an issue (of course). It calls for 8 repeats in the first round, but when I finished 8 it wasn't large enough to join to the beginning, so I did 10 repeats instead.  I guess I must have tatted too tightly.  Anyway, I don't have a picture right now but I've finished the second round and had too many repeats of that so now it's curly.  I haven't blocked it yet because it made me mad so I set it aside, and maybe blocking will help this problem. That's what I get for not following the pattern as written.  Grr.

Am also including more pictures of the pretty shuttle I'm using for Lucky.  I bought it on Ebay I believe, included in a lot of shuttles someone else found at auction.  They're all handmade wooden shuttles, and there's one I'm going to use to try tatting with yarn.  This one holds a lot of thread, and although one end has a large opening, the other holds the thread in place if I have to dangle it to get rid of twist.   It's large, but I got used to it fairly quickly.

Not sure about the wood.  Oak?

Motif Number 25! (and a problem with a join in Firus...)

I made it! This is motif 25 in the 25 Motif Challenge! It's Mary Konior's Spinning Wheel Glass Mat from Tatting With Visual Patterns. This is the third time I've made this pattern.  It's fun.

Thread is Lizbeth No. 20, Color 112, "Carousel".

I do intend to continue with the challenge and make another 25, and will have more to post soon.

And now on to my problem.  I'm making Firus, the last motif I need to finish in Jon's Elegant Tatting Gems. Grrrr!!! I have had no major troubles with the others, but have come to what has turned out to be, for me, a tricky join.  I've had to restart this motif three times now but as it's the last one I have to do, and since I'm a stubborn girl, I WILL NOT GIVE IN!

There is a five ring flower in the pattern with chains on either side that, on the right side, are behind the flower.  To accomplish this, the first three rings are made and then you reverse the work, change shuttles, and make the next two rings in reverse order (making the second half of the double stitch first, then the first half) so that it looks correct on the right side.  Anyway, that's not my problem.  It's joining the last ring to the first that is stumping me. Not because I don't know how to do this, because I've done it lots of times (folding over the ring, twisting the picot, etc.), but in this case the threads from both of the shuttles need to end up in front, facing you, after closing the ring.  The instructions say "When making this join, make sure that both shuttle threads are on the upper side of the flower motif, i.e. the side that is facing you."

Sounds easy, right? Well I'm stumped.  I can get the two rings joined properly but not with the last ring's shuttle thread ending up in front and the ring looking as it should.  Here's a picture of the motif where I've stopped right before I need to make this last join.

I already have the second shuttle's thread in front, but when I go to join at this point to the last picot in the ring on the right, the thread of my shuttle in use ends up in the back.  I should say the reason it needs to be in front after this ring is made is because the next step is to reverse the work and make another chain that needs to be behind this motif, and when I reverse work, if the thread is not where it needs to be, I have to pull it through to the back, and there's no way to make it look good by doing this, in my opinion.  (I hope this makes sense...)

I haven't done any internet searches to see if there's a way to do this as of yet, but maybe someone will read this and help me out?  Maybe Jon will give me a tip? (Hint hint.)  I'm going to put it aside for a bit to see if I get any responses.  

Oh and I must show off my favorite tatting shuttles while I'm at it, since I'm using them to make this.  They're Jane's Pop-a-Bobbin shuttles, which can be purchased (when they're available and while they last, which isn't long!) on her Etsy page.  I LOVE these shuttles.  Not only are they beautiful and feel good in your hand, but the hook is fantastic and they're the perfect size for me.  She also has some really cute tatting bags that I'm coveting, and finished items that she's made.  I subscribe to her blog and really enjoy reading it, so thanks Jane!