a plump crown

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Anita invited me for a duo tat-along. Life and time zones got in the way of simultaneous tatting, but it was still fun. Someone had sent her the image. I traced it back to the original. Not difficult really – look for some watermark or notation, such as MC…H in this case. 

It struck a memory, and I typed “MC…H tatting” in Google. The search took me to pinterest, and after going round in circles for a bit (blame it on my Opera browser), I found her Instagram account.  And am I glad for taking that time/effort. She’s the one who tatted the World Map! Check it out, if you haven’t – she has pics of the map taking shape. What an impressive project.

It has consumed such large pearls and become plump!

Did it think it was Cleopatra?

A one-pass motif using a split ring to climb out, hence 2 shuttles required.

The boring stuff –

Anchor Pearl Cotton size 8 (shade 00297).

4 Crystal bicone beads size 8/0. 4 Pearls 10mm (this should be smaller!).

12 gold seed beads in shuttle1. 5 gold beads in shuttle2.

Final measurement : 2” wide x 1½” high.

   

My notes -

1. The middle row has 4 large Mock Rings – chain is lock joined at both ends to the same picot. It was Anita who noticed it (thank you). 

2. I had a vague idea of where I wanted some beads. Hence I had to unwind my shuttles before the last row to string the gold beads. The others were loaded on a long loop using #13 crochet hook.

3. The pearls are too large, causing the crown to become flatter and broader, besides stretching out the rings. My apologies to the designer.

4. An opportunity to practice beaded centers - 2 methods. I went through a lot of tuts/demos and liked a method I first saw in Carollyn’s blog for the crystal bicones. It had been done before by Maranta . Karen Cabrera has included it in her lesson 162 - Two ways of adding beads to center of a ring.  

5. Some elements got stretched or misshapen - very unhappy, but if I make it again, I can do better. Choose beads of right size, and make the row2 picots longer (the ones seen in the collage pic).  

6. I wanted to add a single gold bead at the intersection between row2 rings. Problem solved as follows – lock join chain as normal ; move bead from core thread ; make Another lock join in same picot, but on other (right) side of bead.

   

   Raised Beads (alternate method)

   Voilà, the bead lifts up! The bead in center of cross is added in same way, although I should've added in after the 2nd segment. The view from back shows those beads are invisible.

I then remembered coming across Raised Beads in Jon Yusoff’s blog. Went hunting later and found that she already has the bead within the joining picot. 
In case we forget to add bead(s) to the picot beforehand, or decide later, the alternate method can be used. 

So, there are Numerous solutions to any beading dilemma, as evidenced by my Floating Beads method !

7. Made the cross on top with chains facing inwards. Couldn’t be sure of how Hatsu did it. Anita made the chains facing outwards, hence must’ve used held the picot open on core thread. 

Excellent diagram, clearly showing which element has the picot and which element is linked to it… thus establishing the sequence. Moreover, regular picot join is indicated by a line, while a lock join is shown with a dot followed by line.

There are so many things I should incorporate in my own diagrams. Must remember.

A pic of her wearing the crown as earring! And some more of her free patterns. I especially like her star.

Many many thanks, Hatsu. Your tatted world map is Incredible!

And thank you, Anita, for including & inspiring me.