Thursday 12 January 2017

snowflake and TIAS

Pin It now!
blocks in snowflake and first block of TIAS !

Ninth Day of December Snowflake
Lene Björn

I was inspired by the same 2-colour working of this flake on Craftree as credited and also worked by Eliz here. And so, one of the threads had to be white.

I raided my size 20 stash looking for a colour to go with the white (which is a bit thicker than it’s counterparts), checking each by sight and feel despite my catalogue . I found only one that came closest in thickness – this aqua blue-green 4054-0185 !
For block tatting, equal thickness is critical.

I followed the same block tatting method as described in this snowflake. It works for me. The switching shuttles is too cumbersome. I prefer the flipped/unflipped (DS/RS) with a half stitch riser.

TWoT (This Way or tat?) note : For directional tatting or fs/bs tatting, start the chain backside with reverse order of half stitches. The thrown ring will also be tatted backside.
The snowflake is tatted in one continuous pass in clockwise direction overall.
But can it be tatted all from the front ?

Experiment with all frontside tatting : I tried a little experiment here. Since it is tatted in one pass, I wondered whether I could avoid reversing the work (RW) by using direct/reverse stitch chains and a reverse ring in the centre and tat the whole snowflake from frontside only.
Yes, reverse ring can be applied to thrown ring in this situation.
But I did not like the effect. As you can see, the chain arch is not as smoothly curved, and the base picot space is of 2 colours since core thread is white and ring stitches are green !
Better to avoid the reverse ring and stick to reverse work and normal thrown rings !
BUT, I now realise that I made a mistake in making the ring. If done correctly,  it would work except for 2-coloured base 'picot'.

Future Idea : Using a largish picot at both the inner and outer turns, tat the entire medallion in block tatting. An undulating braid of block tatting !

Techniques : block tatting, thrown rings, fs/bs tatting
Finished Size : 3½”

I Love the negative space in this flake. I'm pretty happy with this snowflake working – blocks and all. Do you share my feeling?

 YYYYYYYYYY

Tat It And See 
2017
Jane Eborall

And now for Day 1 of Jane’s TIAS that has TatLand excited … Yes, the fun has begun !


This little worm creeps out to see
the world in all it’s glory
What will it grow to be
we’ll have to wait, won’t we ?!

Her diagram seemed to indicate spaces between the rings. I hope it is so.
Lizbeth size 20, Vineyard Harvest..


happy tatting always Y

15 comments:

  1. Pretty flake looks good and neat too! 🌹😄🌹

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  2. Love the effect of the two colours that are quite close - it gives an impression of depth, rather than stripes.

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  3. I really like how you did the block tatting very neat and tidy.

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  4. I really should try block tatting. There are so many beautiful patterns that include it. I know that thickness of thread can change with color, but I hadn't thought about how it might be critical in a pattern. Good info!

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  5. Thanks, ladies :-)))
    Jane, you make an excellent observation !!! Quite true :-)
    Diane, blocks won't be as neat & symmetrical if the sizes differ - especially the edges. But it would be interesting to see how that looks. Hmmm, another trial in the offing ;-P

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  6. I think this is my favorite from the book. I used the colors of my college team for one example. It quickly got hi-jacked by my husband. Now it hangs in his office.

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  7. Lovely snowflake, I like the way you used two colours, gives it a definition in the blocking.

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  8. Beautiful and very original snowflake :)

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  9. That snowflake is totally awesome and inspiring!!!!! :) I made a slight attempt at it once, but failed miserably so I may have to venture to it again possibly this year!!! :)
    Looks like you are off to a good start on your TIAS!! :)

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  10. Lovely snowflake, the previous one you showed is very similar to this one in its construction and it inspired me that one that I tatted with bugle beads ;-) thank you a lot

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  11. Ah Mel, thanks for reminding - I think it was in yellow & blue ? I remember being awed by your perfect tatting !!! May even have pinned it :-)

    True, Margaret. Sometimes 2 colours are better than one ;-)

    Thanks, Anetta, the designer has done a splendid job of the pattern !

    I do hope you try it again this year, Sue :-)

    Ah, Ninetta, it is rare that I inspire you (usually it's the other way round ;-P). Have you made a dent in your bugle bead stash yet ? Waiting to see what you've made ...

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  12. I really like looking at - and tatting - that Lene Björn pattern. Yours is very pretty.

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  13. I do love the way this turned out. Your blocks look perfect, and excellent choice of colors! This is one of the patterns from this book that I can easily see myself using again and again.

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    1. I do so agree, Eliz ! It was great fun tatting and I want to try out my future idea some day (or see it used by anyone else). Thanks :-)))

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