Ooops! there is just one more!!

24 Snowflakes in Tatting by Lene Bjorn

I think that I may have misled you in my last post........there is just one more snowflake from this book that I tatted over Christmas.

It's The Eighteenth Day of December.

This design is made of rings and split rings only and was easy to tat...as long as you stay awake!

Tatted in Lizbeth 20  Red Burst...my Secret Santa gift from Erin....it measures 10cm.

Thread amounts

Sh1 7.75m     Sh2 5.35m

This really is the end of the line for this challenge ...for this year at least. I am not really disappointed that i didn't get all 24 done. 18 out of 24 ain't bad.

I really have to move on to other things.  I looked thro' my TAT Apprentice folder and was horrified to find that I got my Certificate in July 2005......and I thought it had only been a couple of years.  I certainly am much more capable of completing what looked like very difficult projects in Artisan...now they just look difficult!!

I finished my 3rd one last night...only 9 more to go.....should I pick an easy one next or go for broke!

You will still be hearing from me as I still  have lots of things to show you.

Weather report from Tatskool-land

Within a period of only a little over a month we have had (NB I have had only the 'lite' version of most of these!!)  extreme flooding, extreme freezing temps, extreme snow, torrential rain, gales, freezing fog, power lines down, burst pipes causing reservoirs to run low, lack of water, lack of grit/salt for the roads.......some of this is still going on causing great hardship to farmers and livestock in particular in remote areas......it has all caused extreme damage to the roads.....the main road out of our hamlet has been closed for a week, we think to 'fix' a stream which has decided to be a permanent fixture across the road!!  All of this is extreme and unexpected to us..........but here after more heavy rain last night and they say we need a whole lot more to fill the reservoirs........the sun is shining and the sky is blue!

Long may it last.


My dye studio is running with water that must have got in under the door with the force of the rain.
Oh Well!!
Will have to create some new appropriately named dye mix!!

Trying to get back to normal!

What is normal...I wonder.

Well my snow lasted only a day....to be blasted with sheeting rain (1inch just during the night) and a Force 9 Gale which was quite frightening, especially the way the glass in my huge bedroom window was flexing in and out. Finally some power line went down and we were with out electricity for a few hours. I can't even imagine what it must be like to try and restore power during a gale. Well done to them.

The still frozen fields...frozen for over three weeks...just couldn't absorb all this rain....which just poured on to the roads.....causing more flooding. Last night they froze again.....more icy roads. When will it end.
Today has been beautiful, warmish at 6C and so sunny.....but it's freezing over again now!

I have ventured out into the dye studio as I was suffering withdrawal symptoms! Dying to try something new as well as colours that I MUST dye.

Miranda sent me a photo of a doiley she has made for her mother. It is edged with a design by Tatman Fleur De Lys in size 40 Vanilla Sky and has butterflies by Jane Eb on the fabric in Size 80 Vanilla Sky.

It looks beautiful to me.

During the Christmas period I did manage to tat another snowflake from Lene Bjorn's Book 24 Snowflakes in Tatting.

This one is the Seventeenth Day Of December.

The thread is another Altin Basak  and the snowflake measures 9.5cm.

It took....Sh1 6m,  Sh2 5.75m.

It was easy to tat and I have only one crib about the diagram.

In the diagram she shows only 5 free picots in the outer ring, but on her tatted piece there are  7.

Last night I got out my TAT Artisan Pack, still unfinished after at least two years (it was last years resolution to finish it!!). Two parts are finished.  Two more were started.  Eight more scare the life out of me!

I have learned so much in the last two years that I can attack it with renewed vigour...tho' there are still some bits that look HARD!

Tatting for this is difficult because I cannot show you...but it would be great to finish it. Spurred on by others who are now Master Tatters.......I must get down to it. The piece that I am working on has been made much better by Jane Eb's suggested ways to close a SCMR.   nuff said.

More Snowflakes!

Back to December the 3rd...can you remember so far back???

I just had to finish tatting this one in all my Rainbow Bright colours.

First is Blue.....

......then comes Indigo

...and finally Violet.

One last thing before I put them to bed is to see them all together.

OH      MY     GOSH!

Next time you can expect a different snowflake.....hope you get it!!

Christmas Wishes!

Christmas has caught up, snowflakes are getting thin on the ground.

A Happy Christmas to all the followers of my blog. I have so enjoyed your company and comments along my journey.
I would have liked to have sent every one of you a snowflake for Christmas, but the best I can do is to send you all a Christmas card. This is my card that I sent out this year, I had no time to make my usual handmade cards...... I wonder why!!



Enjoy all the merryment, you have all earned it.

Sixteenth Day of December!

24 Snowflakes in Tatting by Lene Bjorn

I continue to blunder my way through my challenge, trying to tat as fast as possible....Resulting in so many mistakes which I am happy to show you, tho I would prefer perfection but that doesn't happen first time always....indeed not often!

We all have to practice, concentrate and learn.

Snowflake number 16 was no exception!
This is a very pretty easy to tat snowflake...provided that you concentrate enough!

Shuttles loaded I was a good way round before I realised that I was didn't have enough picots left to join to to give me 6 tall and 6 short trefoils.....clang.....mmmm!!! since there are 6 tall and 6 short trefoils then I need 12 picots!

Now of course this would have been obvious if I had been concentrating and not watching TV at the same time. The book had lulled me into a feeling of false security that all the central motifs have 5 picots and a false one.

Rather than throwing all my work away...too far to untat....I though that it would work equally well with 3 tall and 3 short trefoils......wrong again. I ended up with a 3D object.....



...which actually would look great draped over a bauble....if only the central circle had been bigger.....which brings me back to the beginning again!

By this time I was heartily sick of this colour....Oren Bayen...gorgeous teal green.

A change of colour would do me good and it did.




Looks beautiful doesn't it and I bet you didn't notice the mistake...yes another mistake. I ran out of picots to join to again...I was sure I had 12....if you look closely at the top right you will see the little blighter that got caught up in the previous bit of tatting.

Nothing for it but to soldier on and MAKE another picot in the last stitches. Looks ok mostly.

It measures in Oren Bayen 50 9cm.

Thread amounts Sh1 11.5m if you don't RW after the central ring then Sh1 does all the work. Sh2 1m or less.

This really looks like the end of the challenge for a bit. Christmas really did catch up with me and the rest of the family refuse to believe that it is only the 16th and wait a bit.....probably because their flight home won't wait!!

16 out of the 24 snowflakes, two thirds....not bad I suppose.

I do have no 17 about a quarter finished but sonny boy wants to play Cluedo and Mahjong tonight and have a party of our own, since the one we normally go to is cancelled. Cluedo I will put up with, Mahjong is our all time fav' since we bought out set in HongKong a life time ago.....

The family that plays together stays together.

Trying to catch up on all the Christmas blogs is impossible but I am trying.

The family just don't know the secret life their mum leads!!! ain't it wonderful.

See ya tomorrow.... I had hope to photograph all the 16 snowflakes together but no time. I actually tatted a total of 32 snowflakes if you count the repeats!

Fifteenth day Of December!

24 Snowflakes in Tatting by Lene Bjorn

There are tatters out there who don't believe that it is really the 15th of December!!!

They may be right!

If they are then I will not have finished my 24 Snowflakes before Christmas!

But I keep going in the hope that they are wrong!!

Today has been a hectic day in my house, finishing decorating to name but one minor thing. I nearly didn't make it to my computer for this post, so think yourselves lucky!!

There are others who believe that there are tatting helpers in my house, they obviously don't know just how lazy two leprechauns egging each other on can be!!

Today's snowflake no 15 in the book was a real pain in the ....! I am beginning to see a pattern here of easy ones
to give me a feeling of false security followed by similarly easy looking ones that are NOT.

Lene's tatting is so immaculate in her photos, every picot is just so, and her chains all so even, that I am wondering how many dozens of times did she have to tat these to get a perfect one or can she do that every time!

OK enough of that, time to show what I achieved.



I can tell you that it looks a helluva lot better now that I have blocked it than it did before.

The tatting itself is easy. It is basically chains with rings thrown off, but it is so difficult to get those long chains to be smooth and even. Maybe practice would make perfect but no time to do that. That and getting the joining picots just the right length. Done really well it would be stunning.

The thread is another Altin Basak 50. the snowflake measures 9.5cm again.

Thread amounts Sh1 1m, Sh2 11.5m, sh2 does most of the work...or Sh1 if you don't RW when you come out of the center ring. In which case adjust thread amounts slightly.

Today's bonus snowflakes...more of my favourite Dec 3rd..this one is just so easy and so stunning.
I wanted to try it in Vanilla Sky. MY first one has a center of Raspberry Ripple and Real vanilla.



You may or may not notice a glaring mistake...but I will point it out anyway! Major forgetfulness in the big ring at the bottom of the scan. I get so used to tatting my picots in the central rosette with no stitches between them that I forgot not to!

I was too far past it to even think of untatting so I said to myself who cares anyway! It's just hand made that's all.

I don't really like the effect of the varig' center so I will use a solid colour. The choice was a pale pink from Vanilla Sky or a slightly deeper one. I chose the deeper one.




Not sure that this was the right choice, need to do another with a paler center!

On to tomorrow....still a week until Christmas!!!

Fourteenth day of December!

24 Snowflakes in Tatting by Lene Bjorn

You wouldn't believe how much this tatting challenge is luring me into a false sense of security. In my mind it is really only the 14th of Dec and I am immune to the hustle and bustle going on all around me (well almost!). My mind says...plenty of time left to do everything. I think it might hit me on Christmas Eve that I AM NOT READY!!! HELP!
Well there is lots of help here anyway and Son and DIL to be are both so laid back that there is no hassle in Tatskool land.

Last night was the coldest we can remember for years, went down to -2.6C with the whole garden and windows covered in really thick, crystalline frost. Yesterday I skidded on an icy corner..the first real skid I have ever had. Today we are waiting until the bright bright sun thaws things enough to take the kids town to see all the changes, a whole new shopping street since they last came. The shops shown on the advertising video clip aren't the ones that actually came. It is about 75% occupied which in a recession is amazing. The shop on the corner called Fink (I think) is now a dedicated Apple Mac shop...superb. the new street which is a widened small lane goes thro' from our main street to our beautiful old art gallery. So if you want a glimpse of my city this is it.

Back to business. Today's snowflake was one of the stunningly beautiful easy ones. A lot of work in it but nothing difficult.



The thread that I chose is a very, very pastel Altin Basak 50 in pale peach,green.cream.
Lets take another look on a black background.



A very clever design.
The finished flake measures 9.5cm
Thread amounts. The total was 12.25m, not easy to give amounts for each shuttle as Sh2 did most of the work and so I had to switch shuttles half way thro'. Next time that I do it I would probably put 3m on Sh1 and 10.5 on Sh2.

A little extra treat today for everybody suffering Rainbow Bright withdrawal symptoms.



Isn't that a wow! and it really does look as bright as that. So now which one do you like the best!!!

Twelfth Day of December!

24 Snowflakes in Tatting by Lene Bjorn

Snowflake number 12...yipeeeeeeeeee! Half way through the book.

It's all down hill from here...or should that be uphill!

This snowflake is a little beauty, one of my favourites.
It was so pretty that I had to stop halfway and do a scan...it is perfect as it is.




Add the final round and it is splendiferous. I think this is a design masterpiece.



It was very easy to tat, nothing more difficult than one split ring if you want to do it all in one go. It would look gorgeous in different colours for the rounds, but a lot of hiding of ends.

I tatted this in Coats 40 in a lovely medium purple. It measures 9cm. I really need to make all of these snowflakes in fine thread to make them suitable for the tree.

Thread amounts, Coats 40. Sh1 9.75m, Sh2 3m.

I finally finished decoration my big real Christmas tree. This year it has to be baby friendly, I put on only 2 glass ornaments and no little wire hangers like I normally use. A smaller tree than usual it had to be raised up...more baby friendly too. It took two milk crates to make a stable base I put all the cute decorations that a little boy will love to look at near the bottom, missed out all the tinsel and lammetta as it is such a pretty tree and then went to town with tatting.

Over 600 little tiny lights and it looks so much prettier than you can see.



Lets take a closer look





You will wonder why when I am tatting so many multicoloured snowflakes and then have a tree with nothing but white.

Well white is still the best for a snowflake and they do show up so well against the green. Upstairs I have also decorated my Silver Rainbow Christmas tree with total absence of white. My antique feather tree is all white also this year...totally tatting....so all my white snowflakes are not on my big tree!

The angel on the top of the tree was made many years ago.....



.....but she remains my all time favourite.

One year in Brownies we made a start for an angel. A cardboard cone with a cotton ball for the head, and told them to go away and decorate it for the following weeks party. The results were fabulous. This was my attempt with gold foil,holographic paper, glitter glue and sequins and a little angel hair with a pipe cleaner halo.

Some of my favourite decoration on my tree are geometric shapes made out of thin card and decorated with glitter and sequins...I must show them to you sometime.

Eleventh Day of December!

24 Snowflakes in Tatting by Lene Bjorn

11th day of December and I am still tatting. I wish it really was the 11th, then I might have a fighting chance of completing my challenge.

Snowflakes are beginning to get thin on the ground...tho it is just possible that we might have a White Christmas...how cool would that be....probably very. We have had almost a week of dry sunny weather, blue skies...but gradually getting colder.

On to Snowflake 11...this was really very easy, if you can tat a trefoil then you can tat this, you can even avoid a split ring if necessary.



...the instructions say to make it in 2 rounds but since there are split rings...the 2 rounds are continuous...something she says in other patterns but not this one. I guess it's just happened in the translation from Danish.

Pretty snowflake....don't like my colour choice much...a varig' Flora 20...looks better in the scan than in real life. A bit clunky in 20, next time I will make it in 30 or 40.

It measures 10cm....interesting fact is that if you tat a snowflake in size 20 it will be the same size as the diagram in the book!

Thread amounts, Sh1 6m, Sh2 7.

An extra treat today....look what I got in the post from my dear friend Sally from Tats Heaven....tucked inside the Christmas card was a simply divine be-jewelled butterfly bookmark designed by her very own sister.



Hope to see ya tomorrow, better get down to it!

Tenth Day Of December!

24 Snowflakes in Tatting by Lene Bjorn

Sorrrry! been a bit busy, trying to get Christmas sorted, finish the shopping, buy the tree (at long last), get it up and decorated for my tat party today with my lassies.
Trying to make my tree safe and wonderous for a one year old...is that possible!

Watching with fascination how Fergeal's new recruits have settled in to their new home. Two glorious reports so far,

find Ruari (Rory) here
and Stiofan (Stephan) here

Such wonderful photos for Fergeal's album, he is so proud of his siblings...and jealous too.

Back to reality and the next snowflake in my Christmas challenge.



Day 10 was an absolute joy to tat.
Isn't it beautiful, I love the negative space created by pulling those chains out to the side.

I made this in a gorgeous colorway in Oren Bayen another soft 3 cord Turkish thread which comes in gorgeous colours.
It measures 10.5cm and takes approx 12.5mm, can't give you the amount on each shuttle as had to do some shuttle switching to finish it, having put 7m on each shuttle.

This is a definate must do again.

Hope to see ya tomorrow.

Ninth Day of December!

24 Snowflakes in Tatting by Lene Bjorn

This is the last of the 'how on earth am I going to tat this one' snowflakes. That's not to say there won't be any more, but they all look do-able from this distance!

This one took me 4 nights to get right, but I got there in the end. Tatted in one round, it goes in and out, up and down and round and about until you are dizzy!! Once you have figured out which direction you are going and where to join it's a doddle!!

I did start off on my first attempt going the wrong way as I came out of the inner ring and ended up with my block tat lines lying the wrong way round...which turned out to be useless...so that was abandoned...especially after I then noticed that there were direction arrows. silly me.

Once again the photo is the reverse of the diagram which doesn't help the confusion.
Nice big print out, flipped over had to be made.

The instructions are actually good with start arrow and follow up arrows.

Loaded up with Flora 20 in a minty green off I went....at speed...too much speed not enough thinking! using Jane/Julie's method as in the last snowflake...I was half way round before I stopped to take stock and realised that....the picot shown by arrow A should have been joined to point B.....ooops!



Looks simple doesn't it...just tie them together when I have finished...WRONG!! that would make one row of block tatting too many and I would end up at the outside instead of the inside!

Well I was b...... if I was going to unpick all that way...so I will tat as far as I can and see what can be done.

I cut out the offending chain and the first ring, stood on my head and tatted backwards to the beginning...or something like that. I did it anyway and it don't look half bad! Well apart from that blob of 4 ends tied off that you prob can't see and I won't look at!!



Yippeeeeeeeeee! it's finished...it was easy really on reflection! they always are..that's why I should tat it again and enjoy it this time. So what colour do you suggest.

Thread amounts it measures 10.5cm in Flora 20
This is just an approximation due to the mistake.....Sh1 9m, Sh2 8m...total 17m that's a lot of tatting!

Joy of joys, tomorrow's pattern looks easy and gorgeous.....now don't peep and it will be a suprise! See ya!

Eighth Day Of December!

Glad that so many of you enjoyed Fergeal's exploits....it you enjoyed it do please leave a comment...they do show me that my efforts haven't just disappeared into cyber space.
Only one guess as to which day of the week he held his interviews!!
There will more adventures of Fergeal to come as he is getting big ideas above his station now that he has his office.

Back to my adventure.......

24 Snowflakes in Tatting by Lene Bjorn

This is the second of the snowflakes from hell that I was dreading. Sorry Lene...all your designs are superb.

The finished snowflake is beautiful.



But it had major trials and tribulations.

I began with a solid colour in Flora 20....loaded up a shuttle connected to the ball.The instructions tell me that it is made in two rounds continuously...and I understand what she means...miraculously! I am told where to start and given direction arrows and further instructions.... so all should go well!!

But it didn't... I chose to do Jane's method of block tatting..that is one row of flipped stitches, followed by one row of unflipped stitches. Very easy once you get the hang of it and so turning at the end of a row. Jane has just reminded me that Julie Patterson used this method first, though Jane arrived at it independently.

All went well until I suddenly realised that I had joined in the wrong place! Way to far back to unpick...and so I abandoned it...and learned!



I do have one complaint about the presentation tho'! The photo is the reverse of the diagram...making it very difficult to compare where you are, especially when you are right left challenged. This wouldn't normally be an issue as most designs are symmetrical, but block tatting is not!
So I had to flip it and print it out...big!

I also learned something else...NEVER, EVER try to do block tatting with a soft thread like Altin Basak. In block tatting there is a lot of joining thro' tiny spaces and inevitably the thread gets split at some point. With 6 cord thread you can usually smooth it back into a useable state, but with this the soft single pulled thread broke and became a lump of fluff!! Twice I had to join in a new thread next to the fluff....bet you can't spot it tho'!!

I would tat this pattern again. I can think of so many threads that it would look pretty in. Using the shoelace trick method, the colouring in the block tatting would be continuous. Jane/Julie's method and switching shuttles method both produce contrasting stripes.

Thread amounts
Altin Basak 50 measures 8cm
Sh 6.75m, ball 4m...using Jane/Julie's method, other methods will take a different amount.

I promised to show you what I bought in the Big Smoke on wednesday. This was my best find, something I had been looking for for ages...and there it was in a sale, half price!

It's a tree about 18ins high, made out of silvery wire with crystals on each branch.
Even tho' the crystals are made of plastic they really sparkle. It's a good job they are not swarovski as they are destined to be taken off!



I put it in my hallway against a mirror so I will get to see two lots of tatting. I can see this with hearts or easter eggs too.

You can't see it very well in this photo so I have put a piece of card behind it.



Isn't that pretty.

See ya tomorrow!
Addendum...this is the same Altin Basak thread that I used for the first snowflake of 3rd December that I sent to Diane. Pretty colour.

Seventh day of December!

24 Snowflakes in Tatting by Lene Bjorn

This is the first of three designs that I would have avoided if possible!



Before I start I have to say that this is the worst colour choice that I have ever made for tatting a snowflake. I personally think that it looks foul!

Another Altin Basak thread that I had never used...now I know why!

For starters,I don't like most threads that go from dark to white. Add to that the abrupt colour change from green to yellow and I know why I started dyeing my own threads!

It's yuk!

Now maybe I instinctively chose that colour because I wasn't going to like the pattern...now that's a thought!

I have to admit that in a better colour it would be lovely.

The pattern decrees 2 shuttles and it is made in 2 rounds according to the diagram. Now at this point I came unstuck trying to determine what was actually in each round. It's obvious now but it wasn't at the time.
What I would have like to have seen on the diagram was

1. A start arrow.
2. Direction arrows.
3. Numbered rings.
4. In what order should the onion rings be tatted. I have done them before and did actually remember, but it would help others.

In fact I just looked at the diagram and couldn't remember what was in round one.....that's how bad it was....I think I am into snowflake overload.

In order to figure it out....as I couldn't from the diagram...this is what I did.
Selected just the black square with the actual tatting photo from my scan, knocked out the black so it didn't take too much ink to print and printed it enlarged.
This helped me to see where the actual tatting seemed to go!......and wow her tatting is so neat.

I would like to make this again to see if I could do better.

Thread amounts it measures 9.5cm in Altin Basak 50
Round 1, Sh1 3.5m, Sh2 3.75m
Round 2, Sh1 @.5m, Sh2 5.5m

May not get a snowflake posted tomorrow as going to the big smoke. Hubby has a meeting at the zoo and I have no option but to shop!! Three bead shops and a ribbon shop, now what could I possibly want there, I already have enough bead for several lifetimes. Just hope it doesn't rain, last December when I went it sheeted down the entire day, but my spirits weren't dampened...made of sterner stuff!

Three hours tatting on the train each way....must go and wind some shuttles.

Sixth Day of December!

Only a day late so far, that's not bad!

Gosh! you really liked my Vanilla Sky and the snowflake, thanks for all the comments, very much needed encouragement.

I intended that it would be the thread that I would do all my snowflakes in this Christmas...but it took so long to get it done...and then I took on this challenge....and then I had the new batch of Rainbow Bright and the rest is history!

Here is my snowflake, the sixth one from 24 Snowflakes in Tatting by Lene Bjorn.



Isn't that pretty. I tried to make my picots long to make it frilly.
This was tatted in another of my Altin Basak collection, very pretty colour. Soft and gentle. I need time to repeat this one in Vanilla Sky.

The pattern was pretty easy except that I decided to make it in one continuous go and make a split chain to go from the inner ring to the outer round.
I have made so many of Jon's designs on rings from her new book...which are great practice for split chains....that I thought that it might now be easier.....and to be honest it was....but I can still see where I made the split chain.

Once again I feel that I am not afraid of it!

Thread amounts...snowflake measures 8cm in Altin Basak 50

Sh1 5.25m, Sh2 4.75m...total 10m...more if I could do even longer picots.

It would look nice in two colours but no time to do it.

My only criticism of this book....like most of the others in this series...is the insufficient amount of written instruction and often the diagrams would be easier to follow with more info on them. This pattern was ok as is is labelled with A,B,C..to help tackle to outer round.

I am now coming up to three patterns that I have not been looking forward to. I would have skipped them and gone on to the next ones that look easy.

But life can't always be easy and that is the point of this challenge...to tat them all...in order.

So look for me tomorrow to see if I have been able to do it...without exploding or imploding.

Dec 5th...again and a new thread!

I promised you another December 5th snowflake.....so here it is...




This is tatted in size 40 of my brand new thread Vanilla Sky. I have been working on this colourway for so long...for months..that I am glad to say that I am finally more or less satisfied that I have achieved what I wanted.

It all started when my good friend Sandra sent me some photos that she had taken with her mobile phone during a holiday. Great photos for a mobile phone.



It's a very soft and gentle colourway, going from mid Indigo, to pale pink to vanilla. I intended having a hint of gold on the sky line but finally decided not to go with that.

Here are two pieces that I tatted with it while it was in it's test stages, months ago.They have much more vanilla and less indigo to pink gradation than the finished thread.






Dec 6th snowflake delayed.....coming tomorrow!

Fifth Day of December!

Christmas starts here for me. Bit late checking in today's snowflake. It's 7pm and I have just got home from taking the Brownies to the pantomime...oh I loves the panto.

It was raining when we went in soaked and still raining when we came out. There is a minor flood warning for the city for high tide tonight in about half an hour. there are going to be a lot of people not in their own homes for Christmas.

We have a beautiful Victorian Theatre. It opened it's door in 1897 and today is elegantly restored with it's ornate gold and red boxes and plush seating.

There were over 650 children and leaders from Ladybirds, Brownies, Guides, Beavers and Cubs, on the ground floor and balcony.





We were only 5 rows from the stage, so close that a couple of Brownies caught sweets thrown from the stage.

It was the best pantomime ever, the acting and the singing were great. Aladdin gave a wonderful performance and so many actors were familiar including our fabulous dame who has entertained up for so many years.

There is always such a lot of audience participation and I came home with 'Oh no it isn't!' ringing in my ears.

Every year I plan to retire. In Feb 2010 I will have been a Brownie leader for 30 years! That's a good time to quit...while I am ahead and still standing....but....the kids are lovely and it will be like shutting a door on a part of my life.....so I can't bring myself to carry out my decision!!

Back to the snowflake! from 24 Snowflakes in Tatting by Lene Bjorn



This is a very pretty snowflake and easy to tat. So pretty that I did tat it twice, but I will show you the second one tomorrow...when I have more time.

this one was tatted in Altin Basak another little used one from my stash.
It measures 9cm

Thread amounts
Altin Basak 50 (like a 30) Sh 3.25m, Ball 5.75, total used 9m.

To make up for not showing you the second snowflake yet...here is another Day 3 for your enjoyment...I hope.



See ya tomorrow!

Fourth Day of December!

Another day, and yet another snowflake....from 24 Snowflakes in Tatting by Lene Bjorn.

The response to yesterday's snowflake in it's glorious colours was stupendeous. I will get around to answering all of the comments. Please keep them coming they are making my fingers fly! Without them I will give up...so if you are enjoying this and have never left a comment before...now is the time.

Today's snowflake....here it is.....



......bears such a striking resemblance to yesterday's that it only got tatted once!!

.....but yesterday's got tatted again to make up for it!!!



....so what do you think of this one with it's brighter than bright Rainbow Orange center...jeepers!! My fingers flew a little too fast and as I was 'refining' the stitches and picots didn't I see a glaring mistake. Oh well, nobody is perfect!!

So Day 4 is the same as my favourite but with the fluffy center replaced by simple rings and chains. I have been spoilt!

The pattern says that it is done in two rounds continuously! yeah that was ok!

Thread amounts for Day 4 using Coats Floretta 20. The flake measures 9.5cm.
Sh1 6m making smallish picots, Sh2 3.75.
Bigger picots would be nice but I find it hard to make them bigger without using a gauge! they just naturally come a certain size!!

Third Day of December!

Another day, another snowflake....from 24 Snowflakes in Tatting by Lene Bjorn,but this time it's my absolute favourite in the book, so I tatted this lots of times and will tat it even more when I get the chance...why did I ever start this challenge!!! This is what I love to do, explore a pattern to the utmost!

I started with a varig Altin Basak to see how much thread it would take. I have quite a selection of Altin Basak/Oren Bayen varig's that I rarely use as they are soft 3 cord threads.



This was so pretty that I had to tat it again to send to a friend. It spurred her on to tat some herself!

I felt that it would look good with a different thread for the middle, rather like a flower with fluffy stamens.





These were made with Coats Floretta 20 in ivory and indigo, the first scan was with the scanner lid closed flat, and the second one with the lid propped up with pencils so that it didn't squash the fluffy center. The shadows really let you see the 3D effect.
The thing that I like best about this design is the lovely 3D center. I also bought the book of Snowflake Roses by Denise Munoz, but not a single one has a fluffy center. That's a job for next Christmas to adapt those designs.

Another one with a Floretta center in appley green with my Raspberry and Chocolate Mousse for the second round. Lovely subtle colouring.



I didn't know if I was going to like this one until I got to the very end, and I do.
It reminds me of a spring flowering Hellebore. I would like to try it using a slightly darker green for the outer round, even more Hellebor-ish.

OK!! so you have all missed Rainbow Bright (well one of you anyway!) and so have I.



This ABSOLUTE PERFECTION to me!

One more tho'.....



...of course you know me well enough by now to know what I am think...what would it look like with centers in all my Rainbow solid colours...yup you got it!

I showed them to my friends to see if they liked the yellow center, as I was not sure it it was just too much. The white center is very classy I think. they thought that it tied in so well with the colours in rainbow Bright that it was a definate yes.

Thread amounts
Altin Basak 50(like 30) measures 8cm, whole motif Sh1 3m, Sh2 8.5m

Coats Floretta 20 measures 9cm, center Sh 1.25m, Ball 5.25m
outer round Sh1 3m, Sh2 4m

Coats mercer 20 measures 9cm, outer round Sh1 3.5m, SAh2 4.5m

Coats mercer 30 measures 8cm, center Sh 1.0m, Ball 4.75m
Outer round Sh1 2.10m, Sh2 4.25m

That should keep you going! Now I know that there will be some tatters out there who think that it is OK to look at my tatting and figure out the stitch count so that they can tat it themselves. This NOT my intention and I thoroughly disapprove of this. It is not the way to encourage designers to keep designing for us. This book is such good value that the author deserves your support for all her hard work.

If you like the designs, please buy the book, no I don't have any connection with the author or publisher, I just like fair play.

See ya tomorrow!! or will I!

One last image before I go...

Second Day Of December!

I am spurred on by your enthusiasm!

I am still working on 24 snowflakes in tatting by Lene Bjorn.

So I present to you the Second day of December snowflake .
I had and still have great ideas for this one as it is a very simple pretty design.
I tatted it in two rounds...but I could have used a split chain to go from round one to round two.

First in Floretta 20 in that gorgeous deep pinks mix.



I really like this one, I also like the ones that Diane tatted. Steph has also been tatting from this book. she has done Dec 1st and may be going to join me in this challenge!

Next I tatted it in traditional white. At one time all my snowflakes were white and they still look stunning in white....but nowadays white has become raw HDT and is crying out to be dyed!!
It reminds me of when I first met hubby, he seemed to live on toast and bread became known as raw toast!



Now if I only tatted one of each snowflake I would get through the challenge a lot quicker.....can I do that!!....and so I am abandoning my ideas for this flake...at the moment.

Thread amounts Floretta..it measures 4inches,
Round 1 Sh 1.75m, ball 1.4m
Round 2 Sh 6.5m, ball 3.5m.....maybe I should make bigger picots...I do try!

Coats Artist 20, ...it measures very slightly more than the Floretta
Round 1 Sh 2.15m, ball 1.80m
Round 2 Sh 7.5m, ball 4.0m

That's all..see you tomorrow...with a bit of luck!