Wednesday 13 April 2016

The rainbow within

Pin It now!
Colour adds the happy spark
In the midst of all our strife
A silver lining to a cloud dark
There's a rainbow in every life
                                   -  muskaan, April 2016

The Third Day of December Snowflake

Of all her exquisitely designed snowflakes, this is perhaps Lene’s Defining Pattern. One glimpse & we can identify the designer!
All along, the central rosette appeared like a rainbow to me. The spectrum requires many colours, and that is the reason I delayed tatting this snowflake, waiting till I was feeling very relaxed. Multiple colours for a multi-layered effect.
Having successfully tatted with 3 strands of embroidery cotton in Day 6 snowflake, I felt confident of being able to tackle this one without messing up.
One should frequently rummage through one’s craft supplies. I had Metallic embroidery thread 
(1 skein each of silver & gold)! What luck & what lousy memory ! 
Using only 2 strands for the centre, it is pretty easy to tat with.
I started with the original stitch count for chains-only round; but after trying out the purple, then a bit of dark blue, it felt like the fluffiness of picots will fall short on both sides of each chain. So, cut off & restarted below
Keeping the overall chain count the same as original, I increased the number of picots 
to make it fuller & fluffier. Each chain started with a very small picot 
to which Lock Joins were made in later rounds..
Each round was started CTM using 3 strands. 
A short length was wound on one shuttle, & the rest remained on the skein. 
Image of each chain round is a montage of 2 pics - 
the left is taken from above; the right from a much lower angle to show layers.
Had to solicit the help of my DH to confirm my choice of a couple of shades. 
He readily helps with such minor tasks.
Finding it difficult to sew in the tails, I cheated. 
After making a tight square knot, I simply snipped off the threads at a short distance. 
The shortened lengths merged perfectly with all the picots. Phew!
Each round was started with a 'phase-shift'. No 2 rounds started at same place.
This helps to disperse any visible line of beginning or ending. 
I use the same policy with crochet, embroidery, etc.
This red is an extra round in order to complete the spectrum. 
Wouldn't this make a great Rakhi bracelet, with braids or twines attached ?!
This is how it looks from behind. Thus far, it is less than 2 inches in diameter !


When I started with silver in center, my idea was to use it again for the final round - 
the silver lining !
But as you can see it did not do justice to the spectrum. Tried a mix of white & silver, 
but finally settled on plain solid white in size 40.
I had deliberately started with the inner ring & chain, so that I could hide tails 
in the last floating ring which is a Single Shuttle Split Ring 
It is the one at 6 o'clock position in above pic.
Factoring in the extra round, I increased the stitchcount of final round by 1 DS 
for each segment between picots on both rings & chains between 2 picots. It worked.
The final snowflake measures a tad over 3.5 inches. 
Techniques used : CTM, LJ, floating rings, SSSR to hide ends, square knots, 
multiple strands of embroidery floss/cotton & metallic thread for tatting. 


I am very satisfied & happy with the outcome. Hope you like it too. 
It is a spectacular design & fun to tat, especially with the shortcuts I took!
This completes 6 snowflakes for the Craftree Snowflake Tat-Along. I've completed the first round of Day Seven, but am busy with a lot of other activity around the home, hence it is going slowly ...

happy tatting always :-)

Related Posts : Rakhi Bracelet patterns



24 comments:

  1. What a fabulous idea! And it turned out splendidly. Really putting your own twist on an iconic pattern.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Jane :-) Took my time to start, with a bit of fear, then loved tatting it ...

      Delete
  2. Replies
    1. Grazie Ninetta :-)
      I still have to read your posts - once my head clears a bit !

      Delete
  3. What a fun snowflake! The center reminds me of tie dye.

    In regards to the very last red chain in the rosette: Did you leave a small picot near the final join? If not, how did you join the next white round back to that spot? I have a rosette coaster and I'm trying to figure out how to get a picot near the final join. Hope that makes sense!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Robin, since I left a vsp at the beginning of each chain, there was no need to have a vsp at the very end. In fact, at the end of each round, I linked the chain to the 1st vsp, tied & cut.
      And as I mentioned about the 'phase shift' - I never join back at the very same point. I rotate the piece & join new thread for next round to the vsp of a couple of chains ahead. You might be able to see this in the pic which has a back view by enlarging it.
      So, as long as you have a vsp at the beginning of each, you don't need one at the end. Hope this helps? Eager to see what you are making :-)

      Delete
    2. Ah, that makes perfect sense! I looked at my coaster and saw that I actually DO have a very small picot in that spot, just like you have in yours. For some reason I didn't think to attach the next round to it (brain fart). I used a split ring to climb out instead, but wanted to know how to instruct others who may not use split rings. Oh, and the coaster is just the one that I posted to my blog at the end of March.

      Delete
  4. How lovely, rainbows always feel so good. Bravo.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Beautiful, reminds me of a kite for some reason, I love the fully stuff!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Now that you say it, Carollyn, it does ! Interesting how we all see a bit of something else :-)

      Delete
  6. That is one of my favorite snowflake patterns! I've never thought of doing the center in multiple colors... great idea!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm trying to challenge myself with each snowflake, Diane :-) And am happy that so far I have tried something new/different in each.

      Delete
  7. Totally outstanding!!!!!!!! :)

    ReplyDelete
  8. I'm SO impressed with what you've done with Lene's pattern. I also love your idea of adding a very small picot at the beginning of each chain segment for future joining of the next round. I think it produced a smoother look than I managed. Fantastic job!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you so much, Eliz :-) I was unsure about the vsp but opted for adding it as her diagram seemed to suggest there is one, and I am not a great fan of poking the hook through the cap to make links - with tight stitches, it tends to distort the chain.

      Delete
  9. Beautiful rainbow ! I like the colors.

    ReplyDelete
  10. This is a beautiful snowflake, I love your colours and it would have taken you ages with the colour changes, six snowflakes you are doing well, ahead of me with my boring blues and whites. Well done on such a magnificent work.
    Margaret

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Actually, Margaret, with absolutely no ends to hide (CTM, & tie & cut to picot length)& no picot gauges, it went surprisingly fast. My husband had an amusing time watching me get up after each round to take photographs ;-P

      Delete
  11. Beautiful rainbow! And I can't believe how fluffy it is - so many picots! It looks great. :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Sarah :-) I am admiring your snowflakes & experiments, too!

      Delete