YESSSSSS! Green Doily Finished!

I'm so pleased to have completed this one.  I have liked it and planned to make it for several years before I finally decided to tackle it.  I do like Jan Stawasz's designs very much and this one is no exception.

I like the hexagon shape in the centre and I love the scallops.

Visually, I also like the contrast in textures.

I tatted this in DMC Babylo size 20 thread.  

It comes in 50g balls and I only needed a whole one and part of another

(the doily only weighs 71g - surprising isn't it?).  

It measures 23in (58cm) across.

Working on this large piece inspired me to try new things to be more efficient like making rings as SCMRs so that I didn't need to refill my shuttle and used thread from the ball and making chains unflipped so that I don't have to keep reversing work and rewinding my shuttle.  The latter technique I have adopted permanently as I really like it, find it more efficient and I like working from the front all the time.

Best wishes,
Frivole

Bejewelled Ice Drop

I met with a tatting friend yesterday.  She is a member of the Ice Drop Addict group.  She had lots of pretty ice drops to show me.  I particularly liked this one with bugle beads and Swarovski crystals.  My friend was kind enough to give me all the bits to make one.  She is not very experienced with posting images on the internet so has not yet been able to share her creation on the Ice Drop Addict Facebook page (just in case Diane wonders why she's not seen it there yet!).

The pattern is a slight modification of Nicola Bowersox's Birthday Ice Drop (which was itself adapted from Wally Sosa's 2015 Birthday Motif pattern).  

Very pretty I think.

A nice use of bugle beads,

and I also like the addition of Swarovkis.

I might just have to make another as she also gave me some blue cabochons...

*** Thank you! ***

It was a nice break from the pattern from the previous post which, believe or not, I'm still working on!  I might get to the end eventually.

Best wishes,

Frivole

Several More Samples Later...

Oh, you can keep fiddling forever!  But I think I'm happy with this most recent version.  I needed to space the centre rings more as there was some tension in the design but then I felt the circle right at the centre ended up too big so I decided to fill it.  Yes, I think I prefer that.  I lengthened the arms by a couple of stitches.  I also found that starting on a ring on a point enabled me to tat the whole thing in one pass without that awkward split ring I had in the previous post.  I added a few extra picots (I may change those a bit again)... to make it look more frosty!  I also added a bit more space between the chains as I thought it made it look a bit "heavy" when the two chains touched.  which lightens up the design.

Here are most of the samples I tatted pinned to my board.  I like to look at them as I work and let them speak to me as to how I should proceed!  :-)  Viewing designs from a distance also gives you a different perspective; it lets you see the overall shape, rather than the detail, and the play of positive versus negative space in the motif which helps me decide what modification to try next.

I hope I can come to a definitive version soon!

Best wishes,

Frivole