tree in time

Digging through my tatting stuff for another project, this tree pattern sprung up! I had sketched the pattern in January, but didn't get around to uploading.  

Wonky  Spunk  Tree   

free pattern pdf

This was the final motif of the 25 Snowflake Project from last year. All patterns are listed in my patterns page, as well as in the Snowflakes' Google-Docs file (which needs a bit of updating).

This is tatted in 3 parts, though one can climb out with split chains to avoid cutting and joining. It is based on a sketch I showed here.

Worked with one shuttle and a Red Heart size 20 ball, ctm. 

Final measurements : 6 cms wide and approx 8.5 cms tall.

This is a prototype, but worked quite well the first time round! It is very wobbly since most rings are unattached. It was deliberate, so that I could insert a string of beads later, as desired.

Under fairy lights, shadow play gives it a 3-D appearance. Despite being floppy, it is good to glue down on a card or to sew as an applique.

Here it is with a string of assorted size 10 to 12 beads. Notice that there are 2 strings. I used a sewing needle with firm thread, joining to each free ring, as well as at other points.

Finally, these larger size 4 beads in assorted colours were sewn in. I thought they would work as baubles :-) With a bit of pre-planning, some of these 'baubles' could be left to dangle. However, in this case I needed them to join the free elements between layers.

It can be used as a tree ornament, but will require stiffening.

This time I simply inserted a couple of the model pictures to my pattern image and converted it into a pdf. Each of the 3 parts (A, B, C) is in a different colour. Here's the pdf link again.

This is kind of freeform - easy to change size and shape. making each model exclusive and unique, as in Nature! Hope you enjoy tatting and gifting.