Peacock!

I started all over again.  So he's a new chap altogether.  The beak is better this time and I got the body to work(ish), still not completely happy with it though and will have to re-think it for the next version.  I chose a darker turquoise for the body as I thought it was more like a real peacock colour.

But I LOVE the tail!  What a clever combination of motifs to give it that beautiful shape.  I find there is a bit too much contrast in the colours of that variegated and it distracts from the nice shapes in the tail but I thought the blues and greens would be suitable for peacock feathers.  I know which thread I'm going to use for my next try.

Anyway, here he is:

Motif no.20 of 25-motif challenge

I missed quite a few joins in the tail and got his legs wrong too!  But I'm glad I've worked through the whole pattern once and now know where I will make changes for the next time.

I also have to tell you that for the tail, I gave up following the written pattern and just went with the picture on the front cover of the book.  Frankly, in many places it seemed to me that the written pattern didn't say the same as what the picture showed!

Just to show you the pages of notes I took as I worked the pattern...

And they're written on both sides!

He's pretty neat though, isn't he?

Oh, and guess what?  There is a SECOND peacock pattern in the book...

Best wishes,

Peacock?

Remember mentions of the peacock in the same book that the dancing butterflies are from...  Well, the peacock on the front cover is really what drew my attention to it and made me buy the book.  I tried it once unsuccessfully, put it down and did the butterflies instead.  Last night I thought it was time for another try...  It was looking much better but halfway down the body, it's gone wrong again!  I've been examining the pattern and the diagram and the photo....  I've counted and re-counted...  and my conclusion is that there is a mistake in the pattern.  I can't seem to make it work out if I follow the written pattern (that's if my interpretation of the German directions are correct of course!).  So I've been studying it again and will re-write it how I think it should go to make it look the way it looks in the picture and then tackle the tatting again.

Here's a sneak-peek in the meantime...

Best wishes,