Beads and Ruffles

I made a couple more snowflakes from Vida Sunderman's book.

This is the "Beaded Snowflake". I really like how the shapes of the negative spaces jump out at you in this design. This was a very quick tat, too. Round 1 is so small and simple, it only takes a few minutes. Round 2 is all chains (those things that look like rings in round 2 are actually chains joined twice to the same picot; I like this look, which I consider to be a form of mock ring), so there's no unwinding and rewinding of the shuttle or reversing work. All the beads are on the ball thread, too, so you don't have to worry about spacing them on the shuttle (which I don't do well at all).

I couldn't take an in-focus photo of tatting to save my life this morning, so I had to use the scanner, even though I knew the beads would be too shiny to look good in a scan. They are Miyuki delicas in the brightest, shiniest silver color they make (the actual color name has worn off the tube). The pattern calls for size 10 thread, and I used size 20, which resulted in the beads being just a little more crowded, but not excessively so, I think. In fact, I like how the beads in the center sit right next to each other in a tight circle.

This is the "Ruffle-Edged Snowflake". I got lazy and didn't block this one, but I probably will, just for good measure. It lies pretty nicely without blocking, but it could be better.

The outer round is all in Victorian sets, but I did add a regular DS before and after each picot so the picots would sit straight. I also used size 20 Lizbeth for this one.

I have one more snowflake I'd like to tat from this book, and then they're all going in the mail tomorrow.