Wednesday, September 15, 2010

Ring A Ring O' Roses

I was hoping to post yesterday, but I ended up having freezer issues last night. This cut into my tatting time, and subsequent motif blocking time. I was really looking forward to the first Tatting Beer Tuesday. I did have a Guinness while tatting yesterday evening. Maybe next week. Anyway, here is what I had hoped to show you last night.

I'm sure by now you have seen Fox's two renditions of Mary Konior's Ring A Ring O' Roses snowflake, from Tatting With Visual Patterns. Check out her blog if you haven't. I was inspired to try the snowflake again. I started tatting one using some thread I got from the Thread Exchange. Here it is, in all its glory:

Kinda. Apparently, this snowflake require more than 12 yards/metres of thread. The thread is Coron size 40, #156-7B, from Umintsuru. This is a really nice thread to tat with. I too wonder if there is a North American supplier of the thread. Probably not, since Google wasn't much help. Anyway, I decided to leave the snowflake unfinished until I am able to get more to finish it. Not satisfied with leaving the snowflake as a UFO, I started again with some good ol' Lizbeth. Here is the result:

This is Lizbeth 20, colour # 147 Red Burst. It may just be me, but I like how the variegated threads work with this pattern. I have to admit, I didn't find the pattern to be particularly difficult to tat. It just takes a while. There are really no fancy techniques. The difficult looking 'triple ring' is a single ring with two chains surrounding them. There are a lot of thrown off rings, but they aren't difficult either. While its not mentioned in the pattern, I found it necessary to switch shuttles regularly to get the thread in the proper position. This isn't a problem, it just slows the tatting process down. It is still a nice snowflake, and one I'd definitely tat again.

That's it for now. I picked up my ring order Monday and have worked on a few projects. My Etsy Showcase on Monday wasn't as successful as I'd hoped, but the increased exposure may help. A number of items got favorited, which could become sales later on. I'm going to leave the free shipping active until the end of the week. Till next time.

6 comments:

  1. Your Ring O' Roses looks great! I love the way the red looks. I missed Tatting Beer Tuesday this week... teacher meetings.

    Last week when Denise and I got together and finished with a beer, Linda suggested... Tipsy Tatting Tuesday. What do you think? : )

    ReplyDelete
  2. I like them both!

    The blue and white is crisp and fun
    The red is sultry, sassy and luscious

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hi Jeff,

    More Coron variegated blue will be on its way to you. Just let me know if you need any other Coron colours in the same package.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I Love the red...very effective.

    About the Coron - I was wondering about the same thing - if it is available anywhere on the North American continent! I love it.

    Figured out what was so difficult about that pattern; you are correct - there is no very unusual or exacting technique used here; it is just a slow tat.

    What I found frustrating, I think, was that as a stickler for symmetry, I felt the rings were not dead on in their size and shape. I could not get them identical.

    I like the pattern a lot and will probably do it again as well. Eventually!
    Fox : )

    ReplyDelete
  5. I agree that it looks great in variegated colors. If you run a bit short of anything I sent you, let me know. It isn't a problem to send along a little more.

    ReplyDelete