variant tatting

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At the end of May I received this lovely cheerful version of my Just So Coaster tatted by Vani Kattoju. She designed a variation on the last round based on my original. 

Notice how she used Lousie Uteg' stacked rings but shifted their placement for a less dense round than mine. Alternating with these clusters is lower motif with a thrown Josephine knot/ring for a cute point.

At my request, she quickly and graciously shared her pattern ...

Round 6 counts are inked on the model above. It is best to use 2 shuttles, ctm, to throw off the JK neatly. 

Find the complete pattern here - 

https://tipsaroundthehome.blogspot.com/2025/04/just-so-tatting.html

https://tipsaroundthehome.blogspot.com/2025/05/comfort-tatting.html

https://tipsaroundthehome.blogspot.com/2025/05/stop-tatting.html

And Padma's version here - https://tipsaroundthehome.blogspot.com/2025/05/identity-tatting.html

Many many thanks, Vani, for being a real trooper!

sneak peek variation

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 This is my submission for our #TALme2Endrucks Aug2023 game of the month. It is a variation on Ninetta Caruso's Garland pattern derived from Endrucks' pattern #20. The pattern was shared in 3 parts during the 3 weeks, and a 4th part on some surprise variations will be shared in a couple of days. Here's a peek into part of what might be expected, ;-D

Most participants have already finished and shared their beautiful versions. So sharing my variation will not cause any confusion now.

It was meant to have 8 repeats and 5 rounds. I have 7 repeats and a 6th round of rosette motifs.

 

This interesting pattern is worked from the outermost round. It has onion rings with thrown rings.

Onion Ring with Thrown Ring. A few members seemed to find it difficult to understand. Hence I quickly prepared this pictorial using 2 colours to show which shuttle was in action. It is the same process as for the Happy Hands patterns from #1 (https://tipsaroundthehome.blogspot.com/2021/03/balancing-act.html). But each tutorial I referred to, was missing in one feature or other that was need for this particular pattern. Hence it was simpler to follow the steps of this pattern without the need for detailed written explanation.  

The 2nd round is worked on the inner edge of the previous round, made of block tatting 'flowers'. In my first repeats I am sure there are mistakes in the block (the very first one was snipped) - it needed mindful tatting.

I may not have gotten the shape of the flowers very nice, but the construction is very clever, as is to be expected of Ninetta.

The inner space is filled by working 3 rounds, this time in the 'proper' order - ie., from the inside out ;-D

The center rosette is worked and cut off. The thread for Round 4 is attached and worked around. 

The left one has 8 repeats, as per the pattern. This time I had counted and followed correctly, LOL.

Round 5 continues from the previous one without cutting and it is the round that connects to the outer rounds. It was only at the 'final' join that I realized there had been a miscount!!! Nothing to it but to bring out the scissors and snip snip snip.

Tatted Rounds 3,4, and 5 again, this time with 7 repeats, and joined successfully. However I did not wish to change the count which is why you see the slight curve in the linking chains. However I kind of like the organic feel of this imperfection.

TIP: To get a neat point in parallel chains or with chains that turn back, as in the middle round, I always count the lock join as one half of the double stitch. It leaves a much smaller footprint.

I had the pleasure of test-tatting and proof-reading this clever pattern back in June. Well I messed up with the repeats, but it gave us a variation that lay flat. So not much was lost.

For some reason the tinted green felt too overbearing. Hence I wanted to tone it down a bit. So after a long tatting break, I picked my shuttles for 2 nights in August for some 'mindless' tatting .....

This is what I came up with - repeated the inner flower motif around the edge. I measured the distance between the rings and the picots on the chains. It was a good fit!

Design TIP: I had initially tatted a 6-ring rosette. Surprisingly it did not look nice! So the 2nd one was made with 7 rings and these reflected the pattern well. So the first one was snipped off. 

 

I intended to fill in the space between the motifs with purple and white flowers connected with a plain green trellis. However, my tatting buddy Anita Barry, completely forbade it! She called it finished at this stage. To assuage my designing curiosity I might still try out one repeat, but not in the near future since I'm back in the no-tatting zone.

The model is worked in Anchor Pearl Cotton size 8 [green 0128; purple 00087; yellow 00291; white; tinted purple 5393. It measures around 12.5cms without and about 16cms with motifs.

I had a great time tatting it and apologize for the inadvertent error in counting. Must go back to a Maths refresher class! However yet again a mistake led to a slight variation - I should call it 'Mistake Designing', LOL.

Many many thanks to Ninetta for her beautiful pattern and all the work that went into it and into organising the game. 

truant heart

Pin It now! The truancy continues, well at least on some days. On other days I am simply vegetating hoping to rouse myself. 

This time it is with two heart patterns shared by our clever and prolific designers - Ninetta Caruso and Daniela Galli.

Mother's Day Heart by Ninetta Caruso - 

This is a derivative from Endrucks' pattern #5. I worked it in Sanbest metallic.

Instead of the beaded strings, Ninetta left bare thread on both sides - a nice effect! In a conservative mood, I strung beads on the thread after all the tatting was completed.

Can't say I am too comfortable working with metallics ... for one thing, the front and back side are not clearly distinguishable.

Just one more pic, LOL.

The pattern which was first included in the main pdf for pattern #5, is now shared as a separate pdf and is one of the patterns in our #pickmeEndrucks Feb2023 event in our Endrucks 1920 Project FB group.

Albero dell'amore (Tree of Love) by Daniela Galli - 

This heart shape is so biologically correct, isn't it?! 

There were large colourful beads added to the rings, and I was going to sew them in, too. But ....

 

I love the overlapping Victorian set chains. I worked this 2-round deign in one pass by starting at the left and climbing out with a split ring so that I could continue around with a 3rd round ...

Not willing to distract from the effect, I avoided the large beads. 

Instead, I added another round of chains to the top half, with seed beads ....

And this is what came of it - the biological shape ensconced in a stylized iconic heart shape.

Worked in Anchor size 20 (equivalent to Lizbeth size 10), it turned out kinda large.

This pattern was shared by Daniela Galli in an event in their Chiacchierino: Filo, Amore e Fantasia FB group.

I thoroughly enjoyed working on both hearts, and hope the designers don't mind my tweaks. And both hearts are quick tats, beads notwithstanding!

💗Grazie mille per questi meravigliosi schemi, Daniela and Ninetta 💗

hidden pathway

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I know many of you must feel that the hidden rose should stay hidden and not be seen so frequently, but what can I do when hidden assets keep surfacing?! How many secrets are hidden in this little snowflake? 

This time it is yet another pathway discovered by Melanie Cervi (or Mel as we fondly know her) who was put off by the paperclips required in my original instructions. So she set off into the woods, clearing away the trees in her path (thankfully, not literally) to leave a trail without clips!!! 

Sequence notated

When she emailed me a month back, I honestly could not figure out how she did it. Clearly my mind was blocked: any which way I went, at least one clip was required. It was only when she posted her instructions here, that I was amazed and amused ;-D In the above model (tatted by Mel), I have inked the sequence. Tatting progresses in clockwise direction and is made in one serpentine pass. 

So this takes the sequence toll to FOUR! We have 4 ways to work this snowflake ... so far ;-P 

1. Counterclockwise starting with inner ring; 
2. Clockwise starting with inner ring; 
3. Inner rings worked as circle of SRs and continued to 'outer' round; (by Natalia S) 
4. Clockwise starting with outer ring, and without paperclip. (by Melanie C) 

You can find links to the pdfs and posts, as well as the rose, ice drop, and heart adaptations in my Snowflake doc here.

Don't forget to skip over to Mel's blog to read her instructions as well as ideas for future experiments and trials - http://picotsnkeys.blogspot.com/2020/12/year-muskaan-floated-idea-of-hidden.html . I've put it on my to-tat list.

UPDATE: Mel made a tatted biscornu using the snowflake patttern! Check it out here - http://picotsnkeys.blogspot.com/2021/06/biscornu-finished.html

But before I leave, here's another lovely pair tatted by the talented Anna Tedesco and shared on facebook. Sorry for poaching the image, Anna, but it is just too cute! Anna has a facebook group - Tatting Art where you can scroll through all her gorgeous projects.

Many thanks, Mel and Anna - keep the spring of inspiration alive 💖

hidden option

Pin It now! With the plethora of techniques available and the keen eye of a tatter, any pattern can be simplified to suit personal skills! Here is one such example; the 2nd will be in my next post.

Natalia showed me her working of the Hidden Rose Snowflake in 2 rounds instead of the original continuous serpentine one-round working. But this, too is made in one pass.

Incidentally there is already a degree of simplification I introduced with a 2nd working by moving in clockwise direction! Now we have a 3rd degree! Options galore - now you don't have an excuse for Not tatting the snowflake ;-P (scroll down for all the links)

Natalia Shakhnova's adaptation - 

I Love her insight! She works the 6 inner rings first, as a circle of split rings and then continues on to make each arm! There will be lesser scope for mixing up shuttles and directions, and probably easier to work in 2 colours if desired.

In her own words - 

And here is the comparative photo she sent ... notice how compact her 2nd snowflake looks where she works it in her 2-round method?! Like a few other tatters, she has opted out of the lock chains, using only regular chains. The roses look a bit more compact and filled in, though the lock chain texture is missing.

See more adaptations here - https://tipsaroundthehome.blogspot.com/2019/12/hidden-treasures.html and 2 patterns here - https://tipsaroundthehome.blogspot.com/2019/12/open-treasures.html. Incidentally Anita will be teaching the heart motif at Palmetto Tat Days this year.

Original Pattern - counterclockwise - https://tipsaroundthehome.blogspot.com/2019/10/flowers-love-me.html  and clockwise - https://tipsaroundthehome.blogspot.com/2020/03/hidden-directions.html

All my snowflake patterns with updates - 

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1r4OmXX_c5LjFebMN2UbSNiYqXYETLmoridK0X1YIQco/edit?usp=sharing

Many thanks, Natalia, for sharing your alternate working :-)

Bloggers, does your lead pic show in the blog feed as a thumbnail? I noticed some blogs continue to show the thumbnail in my feed, while others no longer show up. I tried a few different tweaks, but no luck. I got in touch with Jane McLellan & Ninetta, and we've all been sharing notes. So do You have any answers on how to get the thumbnail to show again?

Thanks

DYJ instead of LJ

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Enclosed space medallions, as the term suggests, have a negative space outlined with tatting elements. When this space is large, the lace lacks the structure to hold it’s shape. Early tatters added a needle woven scaffolding after tatting was completed. 

Dora Young Join variation of 

Daniela Mendola's Filigree Stitch Motif

Now Daniela has shared a filling method that is all tatting and can be done with a single shuttle or a needle. It is like mignonette but instead of rings there are lock joins to the bare threads in previous round because we are moving inwards instead of outwards! She calls it Filigree Stitch or Punto Filigrana.

For my first attempt, I chose thick thread (Bliss, size 3?) for medallion and placed it on grid paper to mark the picots and the distance between them. 
Ninetta’s blipless join (without the half stitch) is perfect for variegated threads.

This gave me an idea of the length of bare thread required. It is 7mm here.

For filling I chose finer Red Rose pearl cotton size 8 (≡20) to better see, feel, and control. Single shuttle required.

Filigree stitch is done with lock joins from the back side. I started, but managing the lj was tricky. So I switched to Dora Young Join (DYJ) which is like the Catherine Wheel join but with one shuttle/thread only. This is done from the front, and appears like a double stitch. It locks in the bare thread and holds shape well. It is the same as tatting over a cabone, but only one stitch.

At this stage it started to ruffle a bit. Simple rolling pin blocking flattened it out later.

I thoroughly enjoyed this DYJ filling - it was smooth sailing - though the BTS could've been shorter. This was so much more fun than needle-weaving. And this DYJ filling has created a bit of a different look. 

Apologies to Daniela for not following the letter, only the spirit. But now that I have an idea, I will be trying again with shorter BTS and lock joins to achieve the beautiful pinwheel effect. Might even need more rounds. I will be snipping off this filling to rework the new one. 

Would a variegated or tinted thread filling show off the swirl better?

Related Posts/Pages

introduction to enclosed space medallions

answering a question  

links to tutorials

a Celtic flip

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Remember how I wondered about a Celtic variation here? This is how I went ahead to complete a Celtic variation of Ninetta’s Curled Ring ice drop.

Notice there are no curled rings here, but the beaded rings are raised. I was hoping for more of a water lily effect.  

The pattern for 2 motifs/medallions remains the same as Ninetta's original (I have inked the count in the pic above for easy reference).

BUT, I flipped the cabochon, switching the motifs in the process : the lower one is now in the front/on top, and vice versa.

I didn’t tat a new one, simply added to what was already tatted. One can call this a prototype variation if you will,  with scope for improvement. 

For outermost green round, after the first lock join to previous round, I continued with the Slope and Roll join. It looked better.

There was a very geometric and open shape after completing the green, hence I added more silver rings in the empty spaces to look more like petals. If properly planned, a full round of 16 silver petals would give it more of a lotus/water lily effect. 

as seen from the back

I still don’t understand why the outline is more square than circular despite all chains being 7-7 ! Anybody?

In Gautam (green size 8) and Red Rose (size 20) metallic threads, the motif/pendant measures 4½ cms across and 5½ cms diagonally. The cab is 2cms.