muskaan's T*I*P*S: before and after 3

Like I said earlier, this month's game had a wide range of stars and snowflakes patterns and possibilities shared by Krystyna Mura. I would've liked to tat plenty more but doubt I'll have it finished by 22nd when the contest ends. This is the 3rd one I enter in the contest where some have reached close to 30!

This 8-pointed Star from the Filligree collection is supposed to be worked continuously, starting with the outer round and climbing into the inner one.

This is my Poinsettia version, as the colours might attest.

Several factors contributed towards my tatting it differently - in 2 separate rounds, starting from the inner one. I started with a Floating Beads string which remains unattached except at the starting point.

One factor was the confusion over the mock rings. Hence I showed how I'd go about it. Ninetta went about it differently and later tried this method too.

All beads were pre-strung on shuttle #2.

After each SCMR, I make an unflipped half-stitch or hitch. It is invisible yet holds the mock ring in place without any possibility of distorting it's shape. It is something I've done for a very long time now.

It is only when I took pics that I noticed the flipped ring on the right side. 2 beads should've been on the outside.

Tatted in Anchor size 20 with a mix of beads and crystals.

It was easy to add the missing yellow bead while working the outer round. I was supposed to break the extra bead on the inside but didn't get around to it.

Now, here's something different I tried which could've been better (it distorted one of the chains/arms) - In order to complement the green on the tips, I wanted beads on the inner trough as well but these needed to be on the core thread! I really hadn't thought it through (which is not my strong point anyways!).

For one, the tension of the core thread should be extremely well-calibrated.

2nd, the sequence goes as follows if we want the triangulation ---

pull down the loop for joining in between the 2 yellow beads,

move the green crystals along the core thread,

THEN close the join. This positions the 3 crystals as a triangle.

All this is a bit wiggly.

Yet the core thread can still slide freely, hence care must be taken while tensioning the next chain.

I'm happy with my idea and that it was something 'new' I attempted, though the execution leaves much to be desired.