January 1981 Place Mat Finished

About the pattern:
 
The pattern is simple motif with four rounds and the place mat is a rectangle with six across and four down. 
 
The pattern asks for these items:

• One 2-ounce skein (180 yds) each of two different colors of Bucilla’s Tempo (a discontinued yarn)
• Size E hook

 
Last week I said I'd use Panda Cotton but I after doing one motif I decided I liked the lacier look of the thread and I wasn’t sure I had enough of it to make a place mat.  I’d planned on filling it out with #10 cotton thread but it wasn’t the right size to match the Panda Cotton.  I ended up using all of my DMC #5 Perle Cotton in colors I had left over from other projects.  Yay for stash-busting!
 
How it went:
 
It wasn’t difficult to make the pile of motifs and it was fun to rearrange them to get a look I liked.   Tacking them together was not fun.   It wasn’t particularly difficult but I didn’t enjoy it.    I made two extra motifs just in case I didn’t like one and it was a good thing I did because as I was sewing them together I came across one where I completely missed a section. 
 
Then there was the blocking.   I don’t mind blocking but this required a lot of pins and you could really see how my sewing varied from motif to motif when it was done. 
 
Overall this is a nice pattern but not one I really liked making.  I can’t imagine sewing together 32 of these for the table runner.

​​Next week we’ll go way back in time.    This weekend I’m taking a class at the American Swedish Institute on nalbinding.  Nalbinding is a precursor to knitting and crocheting.  It’s sometimes called Viking knitting.   I’ll show you what I made and tell you a little more about it.