Multicolor Snowflake

A couple of weeks ago Anne Bruvold shared this pattern with the Online Tatting class.  I love it!  But it was too "easy".  So I started thinking, "What if I make it with 3 colors instead of 2?" and here it is.  It' s still very easy to make and the extra color gives extra fun.  :-)

Thanks Anne for sharing the pattern!

An interesting challenge

A few weeks ago there was a discussion on In-Tatters about which one is faster shuttle or needle tatting. I do both but I prefer the shuttle tatting. So now that I don't have TV I took the chance to make the challenge. This is how I did it. I tatted the same motif with the needle and then with the shuttle. The motif is:

R: 3-(+)3-3-3.
CH: 5-5.

Repeating until 10 rings and chains were done.

It's a pattern so common that I know by heart. So here are the results.

With the needle it took me 21 minutes.
With the shuttle it took me 11 minutes.

The difference is 10 minutes! There are some things to take in consideration. First, with the needle I notice I spend more time pulling the long amount of thread (I used 2 yards). This slow me a lot, I think. Also the method I use to join to the picots could be a factor in the speed. I join to the picots in the same way I join with the shuttles. Some people join to picots, while needle tatting, just passing the needle through the picot or placing the picot on the needle and continue working. Something interesting I found was the finished size of the medallions. I was thinking that the shuttle motif was going to be smaller, but it was the contrary! I think the problem are the size of the picots. I was able to make smaller picots with the needle than with the shuttle. Very interesting... One thing I don't like of needle tatting is calculating the amount of thread needed to work from the needle. I do "real" rings when I needle tat, so this uses more thread than if you do the mock rings. So I always miscalculate the amount of thread, usually I'm left with a lot of thread. then with this tails I have to make butterflies or something.

It was a very interesting challenge none the less. Have anyone else done the challenge?

At last my Homework

I signed for the Design Course by Sharon Briggs and then got caught in some many things with my Spanish tatting group that I couldn't make my homework. At last this morning I sat down and I told myself that I was not going to stand up until I finish the homework. They're on the 3rd lesson now! I didn't made the 1st two homework because they're too basic for me, so I jumped to the 3rd one.

Here was my 1st try to the exercise. It didn't work out as planned. When I made the last join it cupped so bad that it was in no way to flatten. So I cut it from the center. But I saved this part because I like how it looks and I know it can becomes a nice motif. So I'll be working this as a new motif.

Here is the final result of the exercise. This one still needs a few tweaks. Just to diminish a ds here and there because it ruffles a little. But I like how it looks. Also I can see it with beads! May be a button in the center? Ideas, ideas!!! I still have a few more versions on the making. This is the kind of challenge that I love to do.