Monday, 11 August 2014

Tatting Away III

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Puerto Rican (Maga) Hibiscus
Designer : Wally Sosa   


A beautiful cluster of 3 hibiscus flowers loomed up one day in pinterest . They were by Umi & Tsuru, but with no link to the exact post/page. So it went into “inspiration”.
The very next day, I stumbled upon Crazytatter's (Grace) project on Craftree ! She had done a wonderful job of tatting the piece And she had also added links to the free pattern, as well as a Great tip from Jane McClellan  !
Well, I Had to get down to it right away …. or as much as was possible with Wimbledon finals going on …(this was in early July ...I just didn't post in time)

Originally, Wally's pattern is done in tatting and crochet. However, creative tatters have converted it into an all-tatting pattern, giving it a beautiful dimensional look – from a flat hibiscus to one that comes alive in 3D !
I have tried to do the same & must admit that I quite like it ;-)

Threads used : Anchor Mercer Crochet Cotton Size 20
Yellow : 0293
Red : 046               
Measurement :
The flower measures about 2 inches across (3D), without lying flat, when done in size 20 thread.

Main Techniques used by Wally Sosa :
SCMR – Self Closing Mock Ring
CWJ – Catherine Wheel Join
LP – Long Picots
JK – Josephine Knots
JCH – Josephine Chain
Crochet for Round 2


My Thoughts

No exact stitch count to follow in tatting for Round 2 of petals. Hence here are all my notes on the flower :
Additional Abbreviations used below :
SSSR – Single Shuttle Split Ring
ds – double stitch         
JR – Josephine Ring

1.      I would decrease the length of the very first large picot in the center just a tad. It is ½ inch in length … which is ideal for 6 petals. Hence a little less would do for 5 petals ..
2.      It can be done in one-pass if 2 shuttles are used, each filled with a different color.
a)      If one starts with the pistil – right at the very tip, & goes down to the center, then each ring with petal …. The first yellow center ring will have to be done in SSSR to keep the color same.
b)      Do not cut the thread after Round 1. Carry on with the 2nd round, using CWJs to hide the yellow thread ….  
3.      The CWJ idea from Jane works incredibly well! It gives the edge a smooth & even finish, without the use of crochet. This truly is one project where the CWJs work like a charm for that smooth edge !
4.      In Round 2, each petal starts & ends with 6 chain as per original pattern. I used a variable of 6 & 7 ds. This causes the petals to overlap slightly. One can start with 6ds, join the picots, & end with 7 ds for each of the petals.
5.      In Round 2, between picots, I mostly used 3 ds, but interspersed with 4ds once or twice in each petal. No particular order…. Just eye-balled it.
6.      In order to close the SCMRs, I used Jane Eborall's method to avoid blips (Closing a Self Closing Mock Ring – 2 ways. I used the 2nd method explained there). Love it !!!
7.      The JRs have a variable count too – starting from 7 half sts for the topmost one, through to about 12 half sts for the 6th/last one.
8.      For the lowermost segment of JCH, I debated whether to use padded Josephine Chain , to give it some thickness, but when I checked out the actual flower, the pistil was of even thickness throughout....


The 1st pair of leaves (pic on left) was tatted earlier for another flower & I kind of liked the arrangement. But since these differed in shape & colour from the actual Maga leaf shape, I made a new pair of leaves, in keeping with the pattern of the tatted hibiscus petals (with picots emanating from the central ring).
Both pair of leaves are my own pattern. If anybody is interested, I can share the stitchcount & pattern of both pair of leaves. Please leave a comment or email me.

I had tatted the Maga leaf pair separately, then sewed it on to the base of the flower. Then the flower, with leaves was tacked on to a hair band for my niece.


Motif #11 for 25 Motif Challenge 

11 comments:

  1. Oh this is really cute love your design! they are one of my favorite flowers that brings back childhood memories!

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    Replies
    1. So glad this flower brought back happy memories :-) Now I hope my niece will like it too.

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  2. Lovely, Muskaan, well done! I like the idea of the flower being done entirely in tatting.

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    Replies
    1. This wouldn't have been possible without your CWJ tip ! And now, with so many CWJs, I'm unlikely to forget them in a hurry ;-)

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  3. Replies
    1. Thanks, Jenn :-)
      I'm enjoying your motifs, too, for the 25 Motif Challenge ...

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  4. Hi Muskaan,

    You did a much better flower than me. I'd like to try your leaves too. Can you please send me your pattern for them? you can email me at crazytatter01 at yahoo dot com

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    Replies
    1. Thank you so much, tatcrazy :-)
      These are 2 different sets of leaves & I will definitely send whatever I have on them. Will write to you ...

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    2. FYI, have sent you an email ... just in case it goes to Spam ;-)

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