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Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Designer Gecko

Now you have to go back a post, to Another Weekend of Geckos.in order to understand all this!!

OK all sitting comfortably! Righty oh!

After I ran out of thread for the grey leaf tail gecko I decided to start another one but this time it would be in WOW! colours. I was tired of using authentic gecko colours so this would be a Designer Gecko.

Never heard of a Designer Gecko...no I don't suppose you have! Well it's much the same as a new variety of Orchid or Rose that has been selected for it's beauty and rarity.

Occasionally a new variation will be appear in a gecko and the breeder will think ooooh! that's nice.......and so they try to breed more of them. This is often a very long drawn out process depending on whether the gene change responsible is dominant or recessive and may take several generations, until you can be sure that you can breed that variation on a regular basis. It's just a question of selection of the variants that you like. Leopard geckos are classic Designer Geckos.

Because that variant is rare then it will be sought after! and so it will be with my Designer Gecko!!

What thread did I chose....you guessed it none other than Rainbow Bright.

A Rainbow Gecko should be beautiful...or it maybe it will be a bit odd...which do you think it will be?????

Here is my first one started in Germany...



The beads are white opaque that I used for some of my other geckos, the eyes are black as I thought it needed a strong contrast....fire opal swarovski crystals in his head.....the toes are smaller than I normally make them....isn't it amazing tho' how all the toes are much the same orangey red colour!!

The fascinating thing about tatting a gecko in variegated thread is that you never know exactly what it will look like....I had wondered if every leg would be totally different. Of course now I wondered if the toes would be more or less similar if I made the toe picots bigger...mmmm

and the answer is.....



probably more similar.....but isn't he gecko so different...same beads....different effect when the outline of the body is in different colours.

Here are the two little fellas playing together.



The next gecko just had to have my new leaf tail, hubby's favourite.



Doesn't he look different with his pale greeny/blue toes, deep blue silver lined sparkly beads, AB crystal swarovskis and his eyes....oh his eyes are beautiful, I can't describe them except to say that they catch the light in a different spot depending where you are looking from, making them look so realistic.

One more to go....tho' there is another half made too.



This one is probably my favourite, the toes are similar to the last one but the body outline is darker and the red beads and ruby red swarovskis give a really rich feel.
the eyes are fabulous, just one pair that I bought I don't know where, they are deep clear green with accents of red and gold. I finally decided to take both shuttle threads through the eye beads to avoid the thread running around the outside of the bead.

Here are the last two together.....



...see how the light has caught the blue eyes in a different place.

Of all the geckos that I have tatted these rainbow ones just have to be my best ever. They may even be the best thing I have ever made!

You can't get any idea from these scans how gorgeous they really are.
Two of them are ear marked for my denim jacket but whether they will ever get there is another matter altogether...I hate sewing!

Must also show you one of the geckos my tat friends made a while ago....



.......this is a Tokay Gecko.

Sad to say that if my Rainbow Geckos were out in the wild they wouldn't last a minute before they had been spotted and eaten......that is unless they were on Rainbow Trees!!

Do please take the time to leave a comment if you enjoyed this post, they mean such a lot to me. So which do you like the best?????

Oh, and didn't Jane Eborall do a wonderful job when she designed this gecko for me.

22 comments:

  1. Super fantastic! Love and want them. I'll be waiting by the mailbox for the leaf geckos to arrive. ;)

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  2. Where do I start? Yes the rainbow geckos are the absolute BEST! It's so weird how all the toes turned out like that...but very cool! Also...they look gorgeous in the scans so I can only imagine how they must look in real life.

    I bet rainbow geckos hang out on rainbows...you could ask Fergal if he has seen any.

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  3. Hi Steph...thanks for your enthusiasm albeit unfounded!! Glad you like them enough to want one.

    Hi Sherry. I would ask Fergeal but he is asleep...typical lazy lep! I had never thought of that scenario, you may have hit upon the answer as they obviously do survive and breed.

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  4. The second one (with the purple toes) is my favorite, but they are all very special. It is a bit odd that a person living far north of the tropics would be so enamored of the beasties. Then again, perhaps not. My aged aunt (who was raised in Jamaica) claims that you can tell how long a person has lived in the tropics by their reaction to geckos: those who have been there a long time do not find them in the least bit charming.
    Your geckos would melt the heart of the most die-hard gecko-hater.

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  5. You have so much fun with your tatting! I can just imagine how they sparkle.

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  6. Hi Suzanne. No, not odd at all. We have lived in and visited the tropics often. Hard to explain but geckos still are all beautiful to us. I remember when my parents came to visit us in Tanzania and a gecko ran up the wall in their bedroom and behind the picture, my mother thought that we should shoo it away...but we said no, that's it's home, it lives there!!

    Hi Gina, thanks for your comment...life is fun.

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  7. The first leaf-tailed gecko, with the green toes and purple-y beads - that's my favourite!
    Geckos can be noisy if they climb into your airconditioner - quite amazing.
    perhaps your rainbow geckos could live in magical rainbow trees, and blend in like chameleons!

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  8. Love all of the geckos. But theleaf geckos are my favourite.

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  9. love your rainbow geckos! they are very charming, although i'm not a gecko lover. but the best is the tokay gecko. it's very pretty, i'm most attracted to it, perhaps because of the white and red beads. way to go!

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  10. I so enjoy your tatting and these guys are my favorite yet.
    My DD is visiting Ireland next month and I wish I were as small as certain sunbathing lep here in Atlantic City NJ
    I would definitely jump in her backpack and visit.
    Connie

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  11. You are the Gecko QUEEN in Tat~land! You have such nice even stitches and beautiful beadwork with the thread choice.

    I'm getting lot's of very nice comments about your beautiful tatting on my blog! :)

    ((Hugs)) from the USA!

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  12. I love these, what size thread are they in?
    When I did the dragon I did look at the gecko pattern as a follow-up, but was put off by the idea of beads. When I have tried adding beads to tatting in the past I have found them to be too heavy for the size 80 thread that I prefer...or perhaps you have a suggestion? Maybe I just need to get over my problems with size 20!

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  13. Lovely! The red beaded leaf-tailed gecko is also my favorite because of the rich colors. Here in Ohio, the Tokay should be well loved by all Ohio State University Buckeye fans...go Scarlet and Grey!

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  14. Hi Maureen, you like the blue beads, cool. Magical rainbow trees would be lovely, wouldn't they be lovely in a childrens book.

    Hi Sharon, glad you like the leaftails like I do.

    Hi Valerie, the Tokay gecko, well I will have to make one of those then, just dyed grey thread yesterday.

    Hi Connie, Thanks for the compliment. Hope she gets good weather in Ireland, August should be good. WE had 2 weeks of real summer but now having days of continuous rain.

    Hi Chic...love you too!! I have has soooh many visitors pop over from your blog....

    Hi Snowy, you have hit upon an eternal problem for me. MY geckos are all size 20 as this is the perfect fit for the beads that I have, size 10/11. I could probably use s size 40 thread with them but after that the beads would be too heavy for the thread. I don't have smaller beads and i am not sure that i could deal with them adding to picots even with a size 0.4 crochet hook.
    My friend started a size 80 with beads but has so far not finished it.
    But you could make a size 80 gecko without beads and it would be lovely, Jane used 80 I think for geckos for her collar.

    Hi Randi, you picked my favourite.
    Thanks for your comment.

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  15. O.K.
    Tatting with small beads isn't really the pain that many people think it is.
    size 15 beads are perfect for fine threads and if your beads are all one color then you can load them on with a bead spinner.
    I don't count my beads I measure how many per inch then load that many inches.
    The bead spinner junior is very inexpensive and beads just jump onto the curved needle. Obviously this doesn't work for patterns that have a certain scheme to the bead color.
    If anyone needs help finding these items or needs help with using them just ask. I'd be glad to help

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  16. Wow you sure have been busy. I like all of your geckos, but the green eyed leaf tail is beautiful. I think it's the green of the eyes. Beautiful.

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  17. LOVE all the geckos! Please don't make me choose a favorite. I have first hand experience with geckos as we had rather large one that lived in the corrugated aluminum roofing over our porch door when we lived in the Philippine Islands. They were very common there and grew to be quite large. I was a child then and was terrified by them. Now I live with my son who has an iguana and I'm currently knitting him a chameleon. My opinion of lizards has improved greatly since I was a child.

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  18. I just got back home and saw all these gorgeous geckos! The rainbow ones really are the best. I'll have to try that. Did Fergeal answer Sherry's question about rainbow geckos hanging out in rainbows?

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  19. Hi Pamela!!! I am so behind on reading blogs. I love all your gecko's..... They look fabulous in your rainbow bright colors. I really like the new leaf tail you have given them too. Will you share the pattern? Pretty please!!! I like the blue eyes you have used too. That one is very cool!! I also really like Tokay Gecko. His color and bead colors are great. I like how his toes look too! Thanks for showing all your Geckos. Have a great week Pamela!!

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  20. Hi Connie, the bead spinner sounds cool i have never seen one in action.

    Going to UK on wed, must look out for tiny beads.

    Hi Bonnie, glad you like the green eyes, they are super, must look for more.

    Hi Donna, thanks for leaving a comment, funny how our attitudes change as we grow older. I used to have to call my mum to get rid of big spiders from my bedroom, then I became a zoologist!!
    A knitted chamaeleon will be fab. My hubby would be jealous of your iguana.

    Hi Tattycat, glad you are back, missed your comments. Nah! Fergeal said that he had never sen a gecko in a rainbow...but then what does he know!!

    Hi Carol, I have managed to catch up on all the blogs, but will be sooh far behind again soon with a holiday looming.

    Glad you like the leaf tail, I wrote out the pattern as i did it so sometime or other I will give it to Jane and post it on the blog if she agrees. haven't got a good drawing tho. You are the second person to lie the Tokay now I really have to make one, have dyed the grey thread already.

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  21. Oh my goodness, I am so in love with your geckos! I had such a great time looking over your posts and admiring your beautiful handiwork. Your hearts are gorgeous, and even more gorgeous on the scrapbooking page. And your wedding photo was wonderful!

    I wanted to thank you for the warm and thoughtful message you left for me earlier this summer. I was touched by your compassion and kindness. It brought me comfort and strength. Thank you.

    xoxo
    bella

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  22. Hi Bella, thanks for popping over and especially for leaving a comment.
    I am delighted that you enjoyed browsing, it makes all the effort worth while.

    I hope you are doing better now, so glad to see you blogging again, everything will help the pain a little. The blogging community is simply the best.

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