Feels Like Spring

 It doesn't really feel like spring outside but it does when I look at my tatting! I looked into my thread box, saw these two colors together and got inspired. Unfortunately the green is size 50 and the pink variegated is size 30! But I liked the combo enough to go ahead with it despite the very noticeable size difference and I think I got away with it. I did have to alter the stitch counts in the center of the round motif, and it still ruffled slightly. Worth it. The round motif is from Blomqvist and Persson's Tatting Patterns and Designs. Absolutely my favorite pattern from that book and one I keep coming back to. It makes a good snowflake but I love it in colors too. I'm not sure who to credit the bookmark pattern to. It's a classic pattern that I used to use a lot for making cross bookmarks, but this time I didn't feel like making a cross so I just made it as a basic strip shape. The tassel is an easy finish that I use as a clever excuse to not sew in any of the ends. 

Some Late Valentines

 I don't always tat hearts in February but this year I got in the mood and produced really a surprising amount of them:

I did some classic free patterns: two of Rosemarie Peel's heart, and Sweetheart by Birgit Phelps. Then I made two of Frivole's Heart Within. I bought this pattern quite a while ago but hadn't picked it up to actually tat yet. (This is what I mean when I say I don't always tat hearts.) I'm definitely a fan! It was fun to tat and I think it produces a nice-looking heart. I'll definitely return to it. Then the last one in this picture is the Peacock Heart, which I believe is also Birgit Phelps.

These hearts are from an unnamed pattern by Maimai Kaito, who is on YouTube and Instagram. I was not aware of her before finding this heart but she has some really good patterns. She presents them in video format, and I don't usually like getting info from videos. It doesn't work for my brain. However, I was able to take a screenshot when she showed the diagram, and I tatted it that way. It's a great little heart and I made several.

Forty-Eight

 Snowflake #48 from Four Dozen Tatted Snowflakes! Also the number of snowflakes currently hanging on my wall. I want to tidy them up and get a good background before I show you all, but I will be doing it soon! A few of the snowflakes I will probably not tat again, but overall there are so many of them that I loved, not only the final product but the process of tatting them. I've been waiting for this book since I first saw Robin Peretti posting prototypes of the snowflakes on her blog, and it was very much worth the wait. I promise someday I will be making blog posts that are not about Four Dozen Tatted Snowflakes, and it may in fact be soon, but... it might not be soon either.

Almost There!

 I'm getting so close to the end of Four Dozen Tatted Snowflakes! Here are #37-47 all laid out: 

And a close-up on #45 (top), #46 (bottom left), and #47 (middle right):

#45 and #47 are some of my top favorites from the whole book. It might be the Josephine knots. I just really like the overall effect of both of these designs. 

So close to tatting the whole book! 

38 and 39

 

Still working my way through Four Dozen Tatted Snowflakes. Here's #38 at the top and #39 at the bottom, with a little doodle to use up the rest of my thread. I'm planning a display for all 48 of them once I finish so I can admire them for the winter. 

Some Distractions

 

Continuing to tat through Robin Peretti's Four Dozen Tatted Snowflakes, and here are snowflakes #34 and #35. Unfortunately I got distracted during each of these and if you want to amuse yourself by spotting the mistakes, you can. There is one major one, which I had to be creative about to make the snowflake work with, and one minor one which just affects the symmetry. Hopefully I'll tat them properly next time, but for now they are good enough, and you can still see the beauty of the patterns. 

Snowflake Time

 I've been tatting snowflakes at top speed for the past month or so. Here is a sampling:

Most of these are from Robin Perfetti's new Four Dozen Tatted Snowflakes. I was so excited for this book and it did not disappoint. So many lovely designs and so satisfying to tat. I've made it up through Snowflake #33 and I'm probably going to start again as soon as I finish #48. 

This picture also has some other Robin Perfetti designs and a lot of Frivole designs as well. There's also Muskaan's Frost Flower and some designs by Harohlahlala of Shade Tree Designer Tatting which I found on Facebook.

There are so many fantastic snowflake designs out there that I am having serious trouble making enough time to tat every one that I like. Not an onerous problem to have!