my design path from learning to
needle tat to pendant to shuttle tatted snowflake !
There are multiple inspirations
and paths to designing; some are project-specific, others can be internalized. Long-time
readers may remember many of the design paths/ processes shared, with more to
come. I will keep adding them under Design Ideas and Processes .
But much earlier, I’d outlined
how my needle-thread size mismatch led to a medallion (snowflake) instead of a pendant, and why the name 'neemiss' was coined. Here, I’d like to share more pics and details of the process for any budding & interested designer.
Never be scared to
experiment or to redeem & repurpose mistakes !
Neemiss Snowflake Design Process
It started with me trying to
learn needle tatting using a thick mattress needle with size 20 thread !
DAY 1 : Basics
My very first needle tatting
attempts on June 21, 2014 (clockwise from
bottom right):
a red roselle (true rings)
medallion ;
a ring and chain medallion where
inward-facing rings are attached to a single long picot ;
interlocking rings.
DAY 3 : Conversion to
shuttle tatting
Sketched a couple of ideas for next round....
So now you know the reason why alternate clovers have a different stitchcount !
DAY 2 : Burlesque Pendant !
Next day I tried clovers and
chains. Then a Josephine rings at end, including a thrown JR.
It was all so quick and easy, that
instead of going around, I decided to return from the other side to create a
pendant. Added tiny silver bells and a few rings in the empty space.
There are a lot of mistakes, but
it was a very liberating experience – back then I struggled to design in 2D. Called
it the Burlesque pendant because of the red-black combo.
In order to convert the pattern
to shuttle tatting, I wanted to change only one design element – make the
center ring of second clover larger to get a well-defined dip/point.
Instead of 3-6-6-3, I made it
3-8-8-3.
Horrors ! As I finished tatting 3
clovers, the pendant shape was a compact half circle instead of a broad arc! Needle
to shuttle conversion was awry because needle was too large for size 20 thread
in pendant.
Nothing to it but to go ahead and
complete the circle.
Went with this one, but as you can see below, not
fully.
The final pattern can be found here.
rsqrsqrsq
That’s it. Two days of needle
tatting gave rise to a snowflake.
Many lessons learned here.
Many lessons learned here.
I now have 2 sets of tatting needles, but no
time to take it up seriously ;-P Yet, I maintain, that testing & trials can
make for quick work if needle-tatted, then convert the final to shuttle. Let’s
see what this year holds.
happy tatting & designing J
Very interesting!! Thank you for sharing!!! :)
ReplyDeleteThanks Sue :-) The miss was not a hit, but it certainly taught a lot of lessons !
DeleteI have a friend that just needle tats and she has made it a skill to switch over all the shuttle tatting designs to needle. My brain cannot go there I'm just a shuttle tatter🌹
ReplyDeleteI do want to learn needle tatting more seriously, Carollyn, and hopefully this year. I admire tatters who are proficient in both, though my preference will always remain shuttle :-)
DeleteI like to see steps in design process. There are many ways that designs come to fruition. People then see the final product without knowing how it came about.
ReplyDeleteSo true, Jane. There's usually a backstory and if I did something for the first time or differently, then I like to share it/read it :-)
Delete