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Sunday, 23 June 2019

an aspiring flake


While hunting for something, I came across many snowflakes in various stages – from sketches to trials to completed-but-not-presented. So, despite having sketched 2 new designs after the Paisley snowflake, I’m taking this opportunity to reduce my backlog.

 My Snowflake #2 for the 25 Snowflake Project started by Land of Laces on facebook....

Aspiration Snowflake
click to download free pattern pdf

This is the snowflake that arose from my Aspiration doily trials in 2017. with an additional final round of spiky dendrites! I prefer curve to points, but this is a deliberate experiment. The reason is evident in the yellow trial piece below.

The size 40 white is pretty stiff and starchy and not enjoyable. It is also slightly thicker than coloured size 40s as can be seen between the original yellow trial piece and this white one.
I don't even like my stitches! Hence I’ve decided to change to another bold colour in 40 for trials, and may also play with Pearl 8 colours for flower flake versions.

This 4-round snowflake can be worked as separate rounds or in one pass. 
The written pattern is given for individual rounds, but the very same instructions can be applied to continuous tatting by working the last element of each round as split ring or split chain, with mock picots to climb out. Except for the central rosette, the white model is worked continuously.
In Anchor Pearl cotton size 8, it measures 3¼” tip to tip and just under 3” as a hexagon side. This is equivalent to Lizbeth 20.

I intended to make some picots longer in the coloured version, but didn’t quite get it right. Pearl cotton tends to mask a clean picot due to the fibrous nature of the thread.

There are numerous ways to tat this flake and is a prime practice piece for a study of This Way or Tat ? (TWoT) when different methods/techniques are used - such as SLT, reverse join, direct tatting (reverse or unflipped stitch), and so on.

click to download Aspiration Snowflake pattern 


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12 comments:

  1. Jane McLellan23 June 2019 at 21:24

    Lovely. I don’t usually like ‘spikes’, they go against the nature of tatting, but in this case I think they work. Good to be able to build on earlier work.

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    1. muskaan23 June 2019 at 22:18

      I can't agree with you more, Jane, on both counts ! 💖💖💖

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  2. Madtatter8023 June 2019 at 21:45

    I love your "how you arrived to your beautiful design Pictures" and I don't usually like the snowflakes with color very much, but I love this one, the colors really bring out the lovely work :)

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    1. muskaan23 June 2019 at 22:31

      😄 When I showed hubby the white one, he didn't like it 😄😄 But he, too liked the coloured version, Carollyn.
      I share my design process in the hopes that someone may learn from my struggle and mistakes !

      Delete
  3. Lace-lovin' Librarian ~ Diane23 June 2019 at 23:22

    I like the design, but I dread the thought of making those spikes even! I've downloaded the pattern, and I will give it a try one day. Thank you for sharing it with us!

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    1. muskaan26 June 2019 at 18:13

      Diane, since the spike chains are not too long, a good snug was all that was required. :-)))

      Delete
  4. victats@gmail.com23 June 2019 at 23:52

    I love it in the different colors. I think it will look lovely as a grouping of snowflakes too.

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    1. muskaan26 June 2019 at 18:15

      As in a larger doily or mat? Or as a combo of different coloured flakes, Vicki? Good idea, either way :-)))

      Delete
  5. God's Kid24 June 2019 at 19:44

    It's wonderful!!! :)

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    1. muskaan26 June 2019 at 18:15

      Anything to bring some cheer, Sue :-)))

      Delete
  6. Lavinia26 June 2019 at 15:22

    Pretty snowflake! I also prefer the "spiky" version, because it is closer to how snowflakes naturally look like. It is interesting how the same size thread is so different in white versus colour. Thank you for sharing the pattern!

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