Tuesday 24 November 2015

Tiny Snowflakes

As I mentioned before I wanted a tiny snowflake and here is what I have come up with.  They are a bit fiddly to make due to their small size but I like their shape.  Can you see how I managed to get an hexagon in the centre again?  Just like a real snowflake.  These really benefit from being blocked to stretch the picots at the end and give them their pointy shape (a few pins and a quick puff of steam from your iron - quickly done!).  I placed the shuttle in the photo for size reference.  They are made in size 20 thread.  Two of them have an added metallic filament and two don't.




I won't be making an "official" pattern for those… it's hardly a pattern really… when you want something that tiny, there's not that many stitches you can put in there!  But if you'd like to make some, here is how:

Wind half a metre or so of thread onto a shuttle, do not cut from the ball:

SCMR2-1---1-2 (the first and third picots should be quite small and the middle one longer)
C2

Repeat 5 times.  That's it.  Simple, n'est-ce pas?  You must make sure to pull everything really tight so there is no floppiness and no gaps anywhere. Join the last chain back under the first SCMR.  It helps if you put a paperclip before starting the first chain so you can find a little space to join to.  I've just tied these with a tiny reef knot at the back, I didn't sew ends in.

Using SCMRs instead of rings is what helps make an hexagonal shape in the centre.




After writing this up, I thought about it again and wondered what would it look like with just normal rings and chains… and guess what?  It's nice too!  In fact, using regular rings and chains produces a little star in the centre instead of an hexagon which is also life-like and pretty.  So there.  Incredibly simple if you want to make tiny snowflakes:

R2-1---1-2, rw
C2 (BUT, make it like this:  2nd half, 1 full stitch, 1st half as when tatting FS/BS, this fills the gap under the ring and makes for a neater finish).



This is what it looks like blocked above,
and unblocked below.
You can see how stretching the centre picot
really helps give it a more "snowflaky" appearance.

Don't pull them too much though
or you'll stretch the centre
and the "star" will be less obvious.


I even tried it with a crystal in the middle (centre row right in the photo below).  To conclude, both versions are pretty but I think most people will find the simple rings and chains version easier to make than the SCMR version… though I'm personally partial to the latter because I like the hexagon, and I think perhaps the SCMR version is just a little bit "sturdier".



I hope you'll enjoy making these tiny snowflakes, really quick and easy.


Best wishes,
Frivole

23 comments:

  1. Sweet! Thanks for the patterns. They'll be useful for using small lengths of thread.

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  2. Cute and lovely, I agree with Jane useful for using up small amounts of thread. Thank you fir the pattern
    Margaret

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  3. Those are stunning and amazing!!! :)
    Thank you for sharing the pattern!!! :)

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  4. Oooo these are so cute ! Thanks for sharing your experiences :-)

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  5. Thank you-- these are great! Did you do the SCMR or regular for the crystal in the middle?

    Wonderful!

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    1. It was the regular Michelle. I thought it would be easier to get the crystal in there… though it's hard not to get a little gap where the thread goes down into the crystal under the ring. Still it's pretty and would look nice for earrings too.

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  6. Thank you, they are so cute....


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  7. They're adorable! Thanks for sharing the pattern!

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  8. Ohhh, merci de ce petit flocon. J'avais justement besoin d'un nouveau modèle pour mes cartes. Il est mignon!

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  9. They are cute! Thanks for sharing :).

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  10. Love them! Thank you for being so generous with your talent!

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  11. Thank you for sharing ! I will try them tonight ^^

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  12. These have been really nice to play with...have been enjoying something small to make with the bits of thread left from the larger flakes!

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  13. Charming! I had just gotten online to search for a very tiny tatted snowflake pattern because I loved a friend's earrings (not tatted) with two dangling snowflakes hanging at different distances from her ear and wanted to tat something similar. I'm now trying to determine how to best suspend two or three of these from the one that will be affixed with a tiny, sparkling stud to my ear. Thank you so much for creating and posting this adorable little pattern!

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    1. My pleasure Melanie, I like your idea of having asymmetrical snowflake earrings, I hope they work out!

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  14. Thanks for sharing the pattern! They are very cute :)

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  15. It has a cute shape to it. Thanks for sharing..

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  16. Simply beautiful tiny snowflakes!!!! Thanks for sharing

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  17. New to this so I need the words for SCMR. Thanks

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  18. I made a few today and sent pics to your email. Thanks for the pattern!

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  19. I can follow the pattern: I make a SCMR, then I turn the work and make a chain. But then I am stuk. How do I start a new SCMR after the C2?

    Thank you for your help!

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Thank you for taking the time to write a comment, it's always appreciated!