Sunday, July 10, 2016

Snowflakes completed for June and July (Motifs 4, 5, & 6 for 25 Motif Challenge)

My plan was two a month and I got behind by two in June. Now I'm caught up through July. (Join us in the Craftree tatting forum as we tat Lene Bjorn's 24 Snowflakes in Tatting before the year ends.) You'll notice that I skipped a flake this time. I will come back to it later when I have time to practice that frustrating split chain some more. :)
Twelfth Day of December 
White, Size 30 DMC, approx. 10cm in diameter
It isn't missing a chain. I didn't notice that one of the chains had folded over behind the ring when I took the photograph. I really like this one.

Fourteenth Day of December
White, Size 30 DMC, approx. 10cm in diameter
I like the way this one looks, but it isn't without mistakes. The small chains in that outer round that are side by side are not identical, at least they aren't supposed to be. I made a mistake with the very first pair and didn't notice until a couple of repeats later. I didn't cut it out, but, determined not to have any more of those mistakes in the piece, I found myself untatting several times. 

Fifteenth Day of December
White, Size 30 DMC, approx. 10cm in diameter
This one is a mess. It looked like a bowl as I finished the tatting.  My rings should have had larger picots. I struggled to keep those chains looking smooth, but I also was running short of thread on my shuttles as I neared the end. I was tatting with the bobbins and changing shuttles to avoid having to add in new thread so close to the end. Can you see where I did the shoelace trick in that top left chain? Note the breaks in the curve. The ends of this one had to be knotted and cut as one of them was less than an inch long. That was close! I hope my own failure with this one won't keep others from trying it. I think the design is a lovely one. Just remember to use the picture as a guide to picot size. Most of them must be fairly long.

The children and grandchildren were all out of town yesterday so I found some time to work on learning something new. I'll be sharing more about my explorations later. 

Happy tatting!


11 comments:

muskaan said...

Love your first 2 snowflakes ! They turned out beautifully !

I'm tatting Day 15, too, & made the very same mistakes (& some additional ones) :-( Discarded one, started new, but still had to retro-tat. I learned from an earlier snowflake experience that Lene does not use small picots, so I'm hoping at least that will go fine. Jittery about the long chains, though. Let's see... I do like her patterns !

Looking forward to your other projects :-)

Fox said...

Love that #4!

Margarets designer cards said...

I am tatting no 13 and it's proving to no 13 I don't like the long chains.
I have no 12 and will blog no 13 together when I have finished it, I have some knitting which I am fighting to finish first but it won't be many days before I can blog it.
Yours look lovely well done on getting three done
Margaret

Jane McLellan said...

Well done on catching up. Pretty snowflakes. The bottom one looks tricky to tat, especially if you're trying to get to the end without refilling shuttles!

Michelle said...

I love the 12th day especially but am thinking about trying these. I've done the same as you, saved thread, shoelace,etc and it just never works does it! More thread and ends to hide would be better. That said, they're still quite lovely. Have you seen Frivole's how to do a split chain video? It revolutionized my life!

Lace-lovin' Librarian ~ Diane said...

They all look lovely! I find that I learn so much from my mistakes, so they don't bother me nearly as much as they used to.

God's Kid said...

Fabulous snowflakes!!! :) I like them all!!! :)

Ninetta said...

Lovely snowflakes! From now to xmas, if you were like me, you forget where is every mistake!

Sally Kerson said...

Snowflakes in July! They are so pretty. I bought the book tempted by people who had tatted the snowflakes but for some reason not actually made one myself, perhaps I will now.

AmyO said...

Nice work!
I, too, had exactly the same issue with #6. I keep meaning to see if it will work on the top of a Christmas ball (I can't even force my flat with blocking)

Eliz Davis aka Tatknot said...

I've really enjoyed reading all of your comments. It's nice to know I'm not the only one to cringe a bit when it's a project with long chains.

Fox, #4 is my favorite, too.

Margaret, I used Linda Davies video. The sad thing is that I used to make lovely split chains, but after years of very little tatting and no practice with the technique, I forgot everything I ever knew. Thanks for the recommendation. I'll try hers next if it doesn't work out this time.

I agree, Diane, that it helps when I can learn from the mistakes. You are so right, Ninetta. I do sometimes forget. The ones that really get me though are the ones that I don't know about until the piece is finished, or even photographed. Then they seem to jump out at me. LOL

Sally, it isn't too late. Join the challenge. If you complete all 24, great! If it helps you to get any of them tatted, it's a plus.

Oh, Amy, I know that is so frustrating. Maybe you should stiffen that one to form a little tatted bowl!