life without Ts

Nearly the entire month of August has passed by without my favourite Ts....

Typing (on proper keyboard for blogging, pattern writing, ...)

Tatting (one full fortnight without, and then some !!!)

Tunes (no breath to spare for the extra movement required to switch on my fm)

Tea (my cuppas taste like dishwater - or what I Think the latter taste like 😄).

Thankfully, one T kept me connected when I wanted - my Tablet.

I didn't want August to slide by with just 1 post! When was the last time it happened?!

I've already shared these on facebook to some good reactions....

1. Rakhi 2019. 

This year Raksha Bandhan fell on the 15th. I had assembled with Budding Dahlia Snowflake with a calyx (which later became the Starlet in previous post), bead, and string.

In lower half, the middle petals are raised up for 3D effect.

2. Peacock in the Snow flake

This is a prototype of my 8th snowflake for Land Of Laces' 25 Snowflake Project. I'm going to try adding another round in white to symbolise snow. I uploaded as is so as not to miss out on another Sunday!

I've been a good girl in this project, right, using only regular techniques.  It was time to play .... this one has treble tatting stitch with variation,  giving rise to the serrated outline.

3. Summer Rose Snowflake

This has a very long and interesting evolution (that story for another post),  and I am finally happy with the outcome. 2 versions - one with overlapping, interlaced arms, while the maroon one is flat. Where one is more organic, the other brings out the design better. 

This is counted as Snowflake #9 for the project.

It's Sunday again tomorrow, and I hope to have something for snowflake #10!

All patterns will be shared when I am strong enough to spend time at the desktop. 

Till then, happy tatting .... 💜💙💛💚

decorating in August

Snowflake #7 in Land of Laces’ 25 Snowflake Project !

If there can be snowflakes in June/July, why not start with tree decorations in August?!

This Sunday I have 2 tiny stars and a Christmas tree motif for Dorota’s project.

Starlets and MatheMagical Tree  

click to download free Starlets pattern pdf

UPDATE : MatheMagical Tree pattern 

All 3 projects require only one single shuttle with ball.

The starlets are quick projects to empty shuttles.

Recognise the teal star? Yes, it is the centre from the Repetition Doily. Here are the starlets with the snipped off center. 

I had an idea to use a beaded circle on which this starlet could be anchored, but totally forgot to tat it. Any ring can also be used.

Starlet #1 is a chains-only pattern, starting with a mock ring (SCMR) and climbing out to work the other rounds in one pass. Notice that the outermost chains have their stitches facing inwards. I used a simple picot and folded chain to get the pointed tip.

Starlet #2 is a single round of inward-facing chains with long interlaced picots. In order to get the tip, a small seed bead is moved from the shuttle when required.

Care is required when interlacing so that they move over/under correctly.

Starlet #2 – Ice Drop Process for an ice drop variation is also provided in the pdf.

These make for quick inserts for greeting cards, or to embellish on top of a card. Or as tree ornaments, naturally :-)

Dancing with the stars, all starry-eyed !!!

download free Starlets pattern pdf

MatheMagical Tree  
click to download MatheMagical Tree pattern

It is clear from the name that this is a derivation of the snowflake. While tatting the flakes, a single arm looked like a conifer, so I included this in as my #7B, since the starlets are too tiny ;-P

Here, I used green in shuttle, and brown ball.

I made a slight alteration by adding unanchored rings along the center. (If desired, tat 2 rings, one for the front, and one larger behind, for an even fuller look.) 

And picots, of course! 

Picots caused a dilemma! With asymmetrical rings, how to join to the middle picot of each ring since one would have an odd & the other an even number of picots! I solved this by starting and finishing the 'even' rings with 1ds instead of the regular 2ds in the 'odd' rings. Thus I got the same number (odd) picots in both rings and could link in the middle.

Can you see a bell here with slight modification?!

Now here's the deal. pdf for the starlets is ready and link is shared. BUT presenting the tree pattern is posing a problem. I don't need a test-tatter, but can somebody volunteer to look at the draft and answer a couple of my questions and help to simplify it? That is if you think the pattern is even worth the trouble ;-D I

 need to sleep over it some more, yawn, the bell tolls !!!