bookmarked for a diet !

This should’ve been posted in end May itself, but true to the character of a diet, it kept getting postponed ;-P

Meditating on a diet …. Nah, a tatted diet is sufficient. Especially if it is a four-course meal !

(click on the blue text for direct links to pattern, etc. )

Mediterranean Tatting Diet

A tat-along bookmark by Ninetta Caruso

I had fallen in love with it the moment I set eyes on it here in May 2015! And then she shared the pattern as a tat-along, in 4 stages. Yay !

First Course : Appetiser : 

fragola-en-curle

Fragola (strawberry)

 Dimensions : 1¼” x 1” & 1” x >¾” (in pic below)

Left out the beads

 Curled ring calyx made with doubled silk thread in shaded green. 

The 2 strands were fiddly to work with - kept getting ensnarled in the shuttle hook.

Second course : Salad : 

crispy fresh fogile & nuts in vinaigrette

Foglie (leaf)

Dimensions : 1½” x < ¾” in 2 strands of silk thread.

My detailed notes on the leaves are here. Made the leaves as mirror images. 

Couldn't see the front side well enough while photographing, though.

I was thrilled that there were no ends to hide after each piece ! 

But managing all those long silk threads drove me nuts !!!

Third course : Entrée : 

luscious stacked Fiori in creamy pesto 

Fiori (flower)

 Loved the flower & Ninetta's cute 'n' easy way of making a dimpled ring. Dimension : >1"

When tatting flowers or other flora & fauna, I often Google for images in order to choose thread colours & shapes, etc. As soon as I saw this wild strawberry flower, I had to try Patty Dowden’s Josephine knots on a floating twisted picot !!! 

It was very fiddly to make so many stamens. In any case, the stamens should’ve been fewer.

Made only 2 flowers . Seemed proportionate to the overall size of the twig. This 2nd flower is 1¼” .

Final course : Dessert : 

sweet spiralli & vermicelli dipped in  saffron-flavoured syrup

Encapsulation (stems & tassel)

 Now came the final assembly of all components. It was a sweet ending :-)

This was a fun part except for occasionally forgetting which half stitch I was using ;-P

Main stem length is ~ 5"

I love this encircled ring(s) application on the tassel !!! The tassel is 2" long.

"Houseplant Care" by David Squire & Neil Sutherland is

one of my favorite gardening books, especially for propagation.

It is filled with great pics, info, stepwise pics, plant names, etc. etc. 

A hardback coffee-table book that has been handy in my gardening forays.

Final Dimensions : 9½” x  2¼” (tassel included)

I did not have to stiffen or block, although the flowers & berries do need to be re-positioned 

unless one glues or sews it to paper/fabric. I like to use it as it is J

Yummy !

Many thanks to Ninetta for this beautiful pattern 
& 
the enjoyable 4-course diet that will never be depleted !

happy tatting :-)

Related Posts : Twisted Picot (floating) pictorial

First strawberry
First leaf & notes