Saturday 27 August 2016

antique pattern, modern presentation

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A couple of weeks back, Georgia asked if anyone could check for supposed errors in her modern notation of this vintage snowflake pattern. That very evening, I sat down to test tat it, making my own errors in adding wrong threads, but finally ending with a diagram, written pattern & a pictorial, alongside 3 tatted models ! Yes, I need to get a life beyond tatting ;-P

Louise Hauck ©1915 in ‘Tatting of To-day
*free pdf d/l of the modernized pattern with diagram
I like the pattern, especially how the arms are filled in - a breezy center with dense middle !

It is a 2 shuttle, 4 round pattern, all done in a single pass using mock picots to climb out to next round !!!
Except for one small bit (chain), all tatting is done from the frontside, moving in clockwise direction.

This is the diagram, with colour-coding of each round. To download the complete 3-page pdf which includes written notation, diagram & a pictorial, click here.
The pictorial collage in the pdf has fewer pictures. Hence, I am sharing pics of each round here, indicating major points of each round alongside.

Pictorial of Snowflake
In Georgia's pattern, each round is notated in letters (A-D), which was kept the same ...
Climbing out with a mock picot. The long picots in this round were made with a ⅜ inch gauge held horizontally/parallel to core thread.
TIP : When starting the chain after mock picot, I did not make any unflipped half stitch. Instead, start tatting normally after leaving picot space, and while snugging the chain stitches, simply ensure that the core thread retains the picot length (see pic below). This is especially useful when working chain in another colour - no colour blip will show !
The picot at the tip of chain is a small picot, but the one at the base (after the lock join) is a normal picot. The difference in picot lengths helps to bridge the next round so that the short chains lie neatly. If the base picot is small, the chain tends to turn.
2 thrown rings spanned by a chain. This is the only time when we Reverse Work (RW) in the entire pattern; otherwise, it is all tatted from the front. Of course, this chain can be worked in Direct Tatting using unflipped/reverse stitch.
I used a Catherine Wheel Join to bring continuity to the chain, but it is optional & can be substituted with a lock join. The CWJ is not included in the stitch-count of the chains. Consider it a way to span the distance.
The snowflake ruffles a bit, but is easily flattened with fingers. Picot lengths/sizes play a role in this piece.
The Trefoil is thrown off the chains. Hence, to anchor each ring, as well as the trefoil, in place, I used very small picots keeping the overall stitch-count same.

These tat up very quickly & most of the thread used is from shuttle 2 since it is mostly chains & thrown rings!
I used Anchor crochet cotton size 20 (white - model #2) & size 40 (white model #1 & 4054-0185 for model #3).
It measures 3" in size 20 & 2" in size 40.

It was Rakshabandhan on the day I completed tatting, so how could I not play around, especially since my resolve to put up a rakhi bracelet pattern this year did not materialize. So here's a pic of how 2 snowflakes in different sizes, topped with a long-picoted ring, would work as a possible rakhi centre ... we cord/twine attached under. Of course, the colours are too 'icy', but the idea is use-able, don't you think ?

So, here's hoping you like the modern presentation & download the Snowflake pdf for this Christmas :-)

happy tatting :-)


UPDATE (Jan 2017) : Check out what I did with the 3 snowflakes here
UPDATE (Jul 2019) : FYI. Since the pdf link got corrupted, there is now a new workable link in place.

28 comments:

  1. I love your tutorials! They are all so detailed and easy to follow. When I finish my Spinning Wheel challenge, I may have to move on to snowflakes. I have so many beautiful snowflake patterns to try, and this one is now on my list.

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    1. I'll be looking forward to your snowflake phase, Diane :-)))

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  2. It's a lovely snowflake, well worth updating, thanks for your hard work! I hope you're feeling better.

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    1. Thanks, Jane :-) Yes, feeling much better - medication course over last night, phew !

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  3. A beautiful snowflake! I must try this pattern. Thank you:)

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    1. Would love to see your version, Anetta :-))

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  4. Lovely snowflake and great job, I like a lot your diagram!

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    1. Thanks, Ninetta ! The diagram took many trials to get it to look uncomplicated ;-P

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  5. This snowflake is lovely.I will try this pattern someday. Thank you!

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    1. I'm sure you'll do an excellent job with it, Marja :-)

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  6. This is a wonderful pattern and you did a marvelous job on it, thank you so much!
    I finally found some of the woven bookmark pattern and just posted it sorry it took me sooo long
    hugs from Carollyn!

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    1. Thanks, Carollyn ! I'll go check you're blog :-)

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  7. Thanks, Muskaan! I know that took a lot of hard work. Great job!

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    1. ... but fun, Grace :-D This time I had actually taken 3 sets of pics ;-P

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  8. Lovely snowflake, and thank you for writing up the pattern and sharing it, it's a lot of work but a very pretty snowflake.

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  9. Hey I just added the PDF to the bottom of page on my blog the scanner worked :)

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  10. Piękna śnieżynka.Świetnie to tłumaczysz jak można zrobić:)

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  11. Thanks Margaret & Teresa :-) Hope you enjoy tatting it as much as I did.
    Carollyn, thank you so very much :-)

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  12. Thank you, muskaan. Great job on the diagram and tutorial. I hope you are feeling much better.

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    1. So glad you liked the snowflake presentation, Eliz :-) And not bad timing - snowflake patterns are starting to get searched now !

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  13. Lovely snowflake, and very nice updating! Adding to my drive for later. :)

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  14. Thanks for sharing the pdf with the diagram!
    This snowflake is on my list of patterns to try.

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    1. I'll be on the lookout for it, Christine :-) Do post pics on your blog when you tat it.

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  15. I'm late to the party! This is so pretty Muskaan, I missed it the first time around but I've just printed it and I'll try to make it soon. Thank you for your work on this. :-)

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    1. The Tatting party never ends, Frivole ;-P Looking forward to your working and notes.

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