Deaconess Butterfly 1916

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Back in 2019, I had tremendous fun tatting the Deaconess Butterfly (from 1916) using beads to pretty it up. Recently Cross-eyed Tatter left a comment asking for help. (https://tipsaroundthehome.blogspot.com/2019/10/beady-eyed.html). 

After reading up my notes as well as the rewritten pattern by Carolyn Groves (in 2002) to refresh my memory, and being in a diagramming mode, I decided it would be better to share a diagram than simply notate the model. So here it is ---

And here is the pdf link (click to download) - https://drive.google.com/file/d/1gDRWAwqyN7f6kdsu9yybtQj9-l_QpsFn/view

For the above beaded version refer to my detailed notes here - https://tipsaroundthehome.blogspot.com/2019/10/beady-eyed.html

It took me a while to do the diagram to my satisfaction since parts of the pattern can be a bit confusing especially if one is a visual tatter. 

Pay close attention to the sequence. 

TIP: There are multiple joins between the head and body, and body and tail. Hence make sure the picot is sufficiently accommodative. 

Cross-eyed Tatter already figured it out and was tatting it based on her last comment. For what it's worth, I hope this diagram helps tatters in future. I will also send it to The Online Tatting Class, since that's where I first tatted it as homework. 

UPDATE: Thanks to some good sleuthing by Gloria Nelson and Wally Sosa, the original source of the pattern is as follows: 'Butterfly Motif' by The Deaconess in 'Practical Tatting Book No.1', 1916. (Reprinted in the book, 'Tatting- A Potpourri of Patterns' by Handy Hands). The pdf and image above have been updated with this info.

That's it for now. Butterflies never go out of season! So, let's enjoy 🦋🦋🦋

And if you find a mistake, please holler!

beady-eyed

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Some patterns are meant to enjoy! That is precisely how this vintage butterfly felt when Georgia announced it for this week’s class.

The Deaconess Butterfly 1916, re-written by Carolyn Groves in 2002. When I went hunting for a Deaconess butterfly, I found her old site!

It is a well-written pattern, with clear instructions. But I also kept referring back to the model image(s) frequently, to stay on track. It is worked in one pass. A very clever presentation by Carolyn Groves.

UPDATE April 2022 - Diagram shared - https://tipsaroundthehome.blogspot.com/2022/04/deaconess-butterfly-1916.html 

Click to download pdf of diagram - https://drive.google.com/file/d/1gDRWAwqyN7f6kdsu9yybtQj9-l_QpsFn/view

I decided to play with beads. Small projects are ideal to try out ‘new’ stuff. And not everything was planned ahead. I unwound the shuttle to load seed beads, etc.

The ‘stuff’ that went on here –

1. Black and orange beads pre-strung on yellow thread and the green seed beads on blue thread.
2. Twisted (floating) picots for antennae. 
3. Eyes and orange beads are ‘up’ beads- they need to go in the ring loop before starting the ring.
4. Long beaded picot –On the tail ring I made a very long picot. After completing the butterfly, I put 4 black beads over it with a hook, then snipped the picot in the center and tied a knot to keep beads in place. Snip off excess ends.
5. Rhoda Auld’s method for bead in center of ring. This was new to me. I Love it for various reasons and am eager to try out a few more ideas with it. I used it for all 4 wing rings.

The collage shows how the bead is hooked over blue thread and the loop is held with a holder pin/paperclip. This pin passes through both the loop And the picot. When it is time, a loop is pulled through both simultaneously to make the join. The bottom left is a back view to show join.

6. Frontside/backside tatting meant I used down and up picot joins respectively. 
7. Avoiding colour blip in Lock join – I did try my own method, but the thread is just too thick to hide it completely. And I was colour-blinded ;-P I thought the yellow blips could camouflage as tiny beads! 
8. Ninetta’s blipfree join was used in a couple of picot joins, and as usual I counted the join as 1ds. 
9. Elaine Gan’s Reverse join came in handy thrice, to switch threads/colours. 
10. Green seed beads in place of all the picots on wings.
    
11. In Anchor size 20,  the  butterfly is 2½” wide and 1¾” tall. A good size for brooch, pendant, or hair ornament

Phew, that’s it. I'm happy, though - getting more confident with beads! If you like this butterfly, fine, otherwise think of me being beady-eyed at the time ;-P

Oh, and I added a center to the Wreath snowflake prototype. It looks more like a flower now! This stitch count won’t work for an ice drop version. I added a faceted glass bead and wound the threads to make a suspension loop for ornament.

Links to all and more tutorials can be found here.   

Many thanks to all for bringing joy fluttering into our TatLand!