new book

My dear tatting friends, Today I want to tell you about the process of making a tatting book. 1) I have an idea: this time I wanted to create edgings and motifs with more than two colours and flower designs. 2) I put down the designs: the first ones are not so good, but are going progressively better. I try working with 2 shuttles in one hand, with 1 shuttle with two bobbins, but than I find other more comfortable solutions. I get totally trapped in creating, more and more ideas come to my mind and there seam to be no end. This process has some interruptions, for example for other projects like knitting, and lasts about a year. There are motifs, where the stitch count is so complicated, because they have to be perfect in patchwork combinations, like squares or hexagons, and I have to work always 3 or 4 to see, if all is perfectly flat. For some pieces I modified the stitch count up to 6 times, working 24 pieces. 3) A lot of patterns are created, but now they have to find a destination, they have to embellish objects. I have to buy or create objects (towels, clothes, boxes, earrings, braceletts, broaches, and so on). An additional difficulty is to match the colour choice, which gets the more difficult, the more colours are engaged. And I have to redo the patterns, working the requested length or quantity. 4) Now I have to open my notebook and start to put down the designs. First I make the diagrams: but...I dont remember, how the program goes!!! I have to remember and to exercise a lot of functions, therefore I let pass a lot of time before I get really encouraged to start. Once I start, the diagrams go, including the moments in which the computer does not start, the program crasces, the computer closes without saving the corrections. 5) After the diagrams I make the written text in 3 languages, german, english and italian. Before I get to write the texts, I will have a period of depression, doing everything else, than writing. Every evening I say to myself; tomorrow I have to work at my book! Than I stay up, start looking television (when I'm not engaged with my grandchildren), then I play the piano for hours, then I read news at the pc, do some translations, but the notebook remains closed. But at the end I start, and the the work flows. 6) Finally the diagrams and texts are ready, but...the testing of the patterns gives evidence, that the explications are not so comprehensible!!! Depression and stop of works for weeks. Then I take all my energy (perhaps the weather in the meantime got better and the sun cancells depression)and work on the description to better them. And I work on all particular instruction, making them as clear as possible, designing very difficult diagrams. 7) I print all out and be very satisfied. Then I start to read and find a lot of errors, mistakes, missing numbers or signs. All has to be controlled and controlled again up to 10 times. 8) Now my tatting tester is testing the patterns, but I myself go all the patterns through and retest all the diagrams and instrucions. 9) I'm at this point at the moment. 10) Now the next thing to do is to send the pages to my talented designer daughter Gloria Pizzilli, who will do the lay out. After that the book will be perfect and ready to print. Oh, I forgot: if there are those persons who scan the book and publish it on the world wide internet, al this work is - as we say it in german - for the cat! No, I have to modify this: it is worth for you very special people!!! Thank you!!!