Bentley

A very kind lady sent me Wilson Bentley's book called "Snowflakes in photographs" - thank you!  I was thrilled!  I no longer need to search through internet for snowflake photos, I have all I need right there in that book.

Wilson Bentley is one of the first known photographers of snowflakes.  I am inspired by many of the samples in his book… this is the first one that came off my shuttles.  I was thinking of him and I was looking to create a bit of a bolder design because I wished to name my new snowflake design after him.  I also wanted it to be special in his honour and that's when I came up with the idea of giving it a crystal centre, in a star shape.  There is often a little star at the heart of real snowflakes so this seemed perfect.  I can't quite catch it in my photos unfortunately but the Swarovski crystals look wonderful and sparkly at the heart of this snowflake.  I've just ordered different ones with an AB coating and I think they'll look even better.

Of course, I know that not everyone likes to tat with beads (or even have any to hand) so Bentley can also be made without beads and I will provide both versions.

I wanted really straight "arms" to my snowflake so I used lock chains and also in the centre where, like in Snowdrop, I wanted to emphasise the hexagonal shape which is a feature of real snowflakes.

I added a silver filament to my cotton thread

and when I pressed it, it made the picots at the tip go a bit funny…

I need to sort that out but was too impatient!

Below is the snowflake photograph

that inspired Bentley

Trying to show you the sparkly centre star;

This will look lovely hanging on a tree when the

light catches the crystals…

Very icy.

                                     Without crystals:                                    With crystals:

Again this is not a difficult design to tat.  I've even done away with the SCMR which I used at first to be able to throw the decorative rings at the tips of the snowflake.  Instead, I used a chain joined back which I have decided I actually prefer.  I think the resulting join is better and lays flatter than when using a SCMR.  I think SCMRs can sound daunting to new tatters but if you just think of it as a chain joined back at its beginning, then anybody can do that.

Best wishes,

Frivole