Here on the plains of Illinois the grass is now covered in white snow. The special squirrels down in Olney are no longer so easy to spot as in the summer. This little guy has his own winter white camouflage. And for him, it makes the nuts easier to spot on the ground!
In the northern hemisphere, winter means white and many of our holiday decorations are traditionally white. Like, the tatted snowflake!
This is just the right time to get started tatting some snowflakes. Here is a great list of patterns for you to try out:
http://www.bellaonline.com/subjects/429.asp
To qualify as a snowflake the tatted ornament must have six points or a multiple of six. Five points only make a star, four points make a square, three points make a triangle, two points make only a chain and one point? that makes only a ring. The requirement for six points is not arbitrary. All snowflakes in nature are not only six pointed (or a multiple thereof) but no two snowflakes are alike!
But...there is no law of physics that requires the snowflake to always be white!!!!! In fact, just feast your eyes on this 12 point snowflake tatted by Laura Blanton from a pattern by Denise Munoz. Gorgeous thread color and very well tatted!
For more lovely snowflakes designed by Denise Munoz, look for her book "Snowflake Roses" published in 2002. It is a petite booklet, 8.5" x 5" and has nine snowflake patterns. The center of each snowflake has the rose center seen above but all the outer rows and points are different. Techniques used include block tatting, dimpled hearts and a faux floating ring.
Here's the latest article from the Tatting site at BellaOnline.com.
Decolletage Insertion Tina Frauberger
Frau Tina Frauberger's Schiffchenspitze I ed. 1919
Decolletage Insertion Page 76, Fig 77
http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art57793.asp
Please visit tatting.bellaonline.com for even more great content about Tatting.
To participate in free, fun online discussions, this site has a community forum all about Tatting located here -
http://forums.bellaonline.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=postlist&Board=39
I hope to hear from you sometime soon, either in the forum or in response to this email message. I thrive on your feedback!
Have fun passing this message along to family and friends, because we all love free knowledge!
Georgia Seitz, Tatting Editor
http://tatting.bellaonline.com
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