"But, really, why does anyone create? You feel a... a restlessness inside, a need to make something new, something no one has ever seen before. You want to add to the beauty and the richness of the world with a gift, an offering that is uniquely yours. It's an act of selfishness and generosity, all rolled into one."

-- Bruce Coville,
The Last Hunt

Saturday, December 17, 2011

Star/ Flake Rant

When I saw this on Fox's blog, I knew I had to tat it. I love the look of rings on rings, and this one has both SCMR's and rings on split rings! I literally bounced with excitement when I saw it. OK, so maybe I need to get out more. Anyway, here it is, tatted in size 50.


The colorway is "Holly Jolly Christmas" by LadyShuttleMaker. I love how she's added just a hint of blue to the Christmas mix. The pattern is by Julie Patterson.

The design is called "Christmas Snowflake". I can barely bring myself to type that. My frequent readers will know that one of my biggest pet peeves is calling something a snowflake that clearly isn't. It is a fact of nature that snowflakes always have six points. That is simply the way that water molecules crystallize. Google it if you don't believe me. You wouldn't call a triangular motif a butterfly, because it's not shaped like one; likewise, a motif with any number of repeats other than six is not a snowflake because it's not shaped like one. I am therefore choosing to call this a "Christmas Star" instead. There, I feel better.

The tiny little bell I tatted a few days ago and this pretty little star have inspired me to do a series of mini-ornaments for table-top trees. I probably won't do a huge number of them, but enough to have a good selection at next year's sale.

9 comments:

  1. Miranda, I love your Christmas STAR!

    How did you get it too look so much more...starish... than my poor lumpy little stabs at this motif? I found this a really difficult tat.
    Fox : )

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  2. I have a hard time calling anything a flake that doesn't have 6 or 12 points. I do love stars, so I think your Christmas star is beautiful!

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  3. Fox-- remember what thread you used on it?

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  4. I am glad to know that I am not alone in the aspect of snowflake terminology. If you are looking for more mini-star pattern, I have the StarChic pattern in my blog,
    http://tatsaway-patterns.blogspot.com/2011/05/starchic.html

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  5. Thanks, Jon, I love your patterns!

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  6. My goodness, where did you find that huge quarter? :-) Beautiful flake, and certainly not pointless. It just amazes me what you can do with such small thread. Thank you for sharing.

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  7. Lovely! And how wise of you to tat now for the next Christmas season. I'm certainly still in the mood for Christmas tatting. Enjoy!

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  8. Amusing story: 20 years ago when I learned to tat, I proudly put a 4 x 6 photo of my first tatted 'snowflake' on the front of my 60 Christmas cards, and it had eight points (size 50 thread)! I must say it made a lovely photo on a blue background!

    It was SUPPOSED to have six points but for some reason it wouldn't lie flat (never investigated why!), so I had to put eight points on it! I worked too hard up to that point to stop, as it was my first try with two shuttles! It looked wonderful to me and I was SO proud of it! I had NO idea (but should have) that snowflakes can have only six points! (I learned that fact years later!)

    I'm always amused now when I now look at my 'mutant' snowflake, and hope that my 'knowledgeable' card recipients allowed me artistic license!

    However, 'star' shapes are often represented as five points, and this motif is a wonderful design, beautifully tatted by you, as usual - and SO TINY AND DELICATE! Thanks to you and Fox for guiding me to Julie's pattern!

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