Saturday 19 May 2018

I love butterflies

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Garden soil had been split open to sow seeds and now those seeds have split into plants with lovely blooms, attracting butterflies to split open the pollen sacs and carry on the circle of life.
Hey, don’t split!!! Promise, I’ll behave … Just trying to clue you in :-D


You have already enjoyed & appreciated the lovelies made by friendly tatters. These are my versions of make me pretty butterfly fun. And the ‘split’ comes from this month’s I Love Tatting task set by Justyna – split chains, curlicues, etc. She has compiled an incredible list of tutorials and free patterns for inspiration!
I actually have something more in mind for the task, but till I find time to tat it, this will have to do. 

Tutorials for most of the prettifying techniques mentioned here are listed on these pages -

In chronological order … I have literally used scrap threads for most.
Venetian Picots for antennae, dot picots and graduated picots
Here, I made the same mistake Lavi made, but didn’t bother to rectify it. 
These were my very first venetian picots!!!
3¼ x 2½ cms in Anchor 20 cotton

Graduated picots and twisted picots (floating)
2 x 1½ cms in 2 strands of Anchor embroidery thread

Venetian picots for antennae & 4 picots
2 x 1½ cms in Anchor size 40 cotton
The Venetian picots worked out much better in this finer thread.

Right after posting the pattern, I tatted the above 3 versions. Some of the following versions were inspired by the butterflies flying in (Anita, Denise, Ninetta).

Twisted (floating) picots and seed beads
3 x 2 cms in 3 strands of Anchor embroidery thread.
This was inspired by Denise’s 3 beads in the lower half.

Dot picots and decorative picots
This is based on Anita’s stitchcount. I like the broader span of top wings.
2¼ x 1¾ cms in Lizbeth & Anchor size 40 cottons

Since this project was a spin-off from the Common Mormon caterpillar, there just Had to be a couple of butterflies in black and yellow ...
Beads and floating beads in different arrangements
I tried something different – beaded string wrapped around the lower rings. 
These are longer than I had visualized, but let them be.
The antennae uses floating beads (FB) or fringe on chain method.
2½ x 1¾ (or 2 with bead string) cms in Anchor size 40 cotton

The wooden black bead was too large and unseemly. So I decide to remove it. 
Wasn’t as easy as I’d thought. The FB method really does hold the beads in check ;-P
Then I remembered a tip on Jane McLellan’s blog about breaking unwanted beads. 
Yes, that worked! Once broken, I inserted a scrap thread for better grip, and knotted the tips.

Onion rings (Josephine rings inside the upper & graduated picot rings inside the lower halves), twisted (floating) picots, and Curlicues (dead end chains or SSSCh) for antennae.
3 x 2¼ cms in Anchor size 20 cotton
I started with a knot for each curlicue, serving to hold in pinch, 
and worked back with unflipped stitches.

Inward picots, decorative picots, long picots, a head ring, and Venetian picot for body. 
I followed Ninetta’s directions
2 x 2¾ cms in 3 strands of Anchor embroidery thread.
  
 
A couple of side views to show the 3D effect.
When making the Venetian picot, I left the scrap thread in it and 
this served well when joining the next ring to it.


 
I include the Venetian picot in this month’s kocham frywolitkę task because both the curlicue and this picot are standalone or floating chains. Although in the former the stitches are unflipped and wrapped manually, in the latter each half stitch is flipped but moved in place manually over the previous stitches.

I couldn’t resist a couple more pics.
 
The background is Monet’s White Clematis an oil he painted in 1887. 
The image is in this amazing book The Life and Works of Monet by Susie Hodge.

UPDATE : My latest butterfly with floating chains tipped with Josephine knots for antennae....


Do stop by to welcome this batch of butterflies :-)

UPDATE - New arrivals (2020) from talented tatters -
 https://tipsaroundthehome.blogspot.com/2020/07/welcome-intrusions.html

13 comments:

  1. Replies
    1. Yes, Jane! Not even the tip of the tat-berg ;-P I still have lots of sketches and techniques/effects ...but currently no time.

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  2. So many pretty butterflies! Aww, you also joined in the wrong place... Lovely job with the venetian picots, I'm happy to see this new technique used. The last one seems hairy and being brown, it kind of looks like a moth. In the black and yellow beaded one, how did you add the beaded strings?

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    Replies
    1. Happened twice, Lavi, but I caught the mistake early the 2nd time ;-P
      The hairy feel is due to the embroidery thread - it is less tightly wound than crochet cotton and one can see fibres in a close-up.
      The beaded string is just a long beaded picot, unattached. Make the LBP and leave it hanging, unattached. When joining the elements, though, take care to slip the ring/element through the picot. Simple, no :-D
      Give it a try.

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    2. Oh thanks, now it makes sense how you made the beaded string. I will keep that in mind and try it sometime. :)

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  3. They're all so pretty! The black and yellow ones are especially attractive!

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  4. Beautiful butterflies, such a vast variety of colours

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  5. They are so cute this so reminds me I really need to add to my butterfly collection 🌻🦋🌻

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  6. It's nice to bring joy on butterfly wings! Thanks Diane, Margaret, & Carollyn :-)))

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  7. Replies
    1. Thank you, Barbara 💖 Hope you participate in bringing this tiny skeleton to life 😍

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