3D Christmas Tree Earrings – barely in time for Christmas…

Actually, it's not quite ready yet. It's freeform and unconventional, so I've been uncertain how to write it up. But a few people have said that they're waiting for the pattern, so I will just put this out as is. I'd welcome any feedback – then I can continue to improve my description of this pattern. So, here it is! :-)
[Update March 2017: I have now improved the pattern and changed the links to go to the updated version.]

3D Christmas Tree Earrings - November 2016

Better late than never — the pattern for the Dagmar Cross

In April 2013, the Danish Tatting Association sent out a call for tatting designs. They were celebrating their 20th anniversary, and they wanted to put out a commemorative issue with new designs. I heard about this through Craftree/InTatters (here's the discussion thread). I decided to try doing something for them.

I cogitated for a while. I felt I ought to design something Danish. The first thing that occurred to me was a Viking longship. But I felt it ought to be 3-D, and I didn't feel up to tatting that. Then I thought about Hans Christian Anderson's fairy tales. Swan? No, that had been done. Mermaid? That had been done, too. Tin soldier? Yeah, he was steadfast, but he didn't seem compelling. Then I thought that, just as there was a Celtic cross, there might well be a Danish cross. I Googled "Danish cross", and found the Dagmar Cross (have a look at it here — scroll down to see a picture of the original two-sided Dagmar Cross and read its story).

So I designed a tatted version of the side with the five medallions. And here is how my design looks:


I submitted this pattern to the Danish Tatting Association in July 2013, in good time for them to include it in the December 2013 20th anniversary edition of their magazine, Orkis Bladet.

After that, with their permission, I started getting the pattern ready for publication on this website. I did the instructions and the diagrams and got them test-tatted. And then... well, I didn't like the tatted models I had. One (the green and pink) was in Milford Mercer thread, which is rather sticky. When I retatted it in better Lizbeth thread (Herbal Garden and Autumn Spice) the ring sizes came out a bit different. But then, I didn't use flat colours for the Lizbeth model, so the construction of the cross wasn't so clear. I thought I ought to tat another model. But — I will confess to you — this pattern was no fun to tat! And none of the flat colours I had seemed right, anyway. So I kept putting this task off, since there were lots of other things that were more fun to do.

But, tonight, I finally looked at my pattern again. It's really all right! The instructions are test-tatted; they are clear enough, and mistakes have been fixed. My two models do show quite well how the cross should look. So why am I making such a fuss? It's not perfect, but it will do.  So, all I did tonight was to add the watermarks to the pictures and diagrams, and at long last, HERE IT IS. :-)

All my patterns are now watermarked

Some of you know that in the past few months there have been several instances of tatting designers having their patterns stolen from them — that is, published elsewhere without permission from them, or acknowledgement of them as the designers. Some of them have blogged about this — Jane Eborall, Corina Mayfeldt, and Marilee Rockley.

Back in March this year, I myself was alerted to a pattern in a magazine with a diagram looking quite remarkably like my diagram for my Cherry Blossom Hearts. But since it is such a very simple pattern, almost generic, I didn't really have much of a case for plagiarism.

I decided then that I would watermark my photos and diagrams (though I am not going to get them patented or registered with a copyright registry). However, because of my mum's illness and death, I didn't do much about it. Also, it took some time to find the right software to do the watermark.

But just a few days ago, it happened again — a designer's patterns, including her diagrams, popped up on a website without her permission, or any indication that they were her designs. That galvanised me into action. Since I have only a few designs, watermarking them was not too impossible a task.

So, it's now done. If you go to my pattern page (tab above), you'll see that all the photos on that page now have watermarks on them, and if you download the linked patterns, they all have watermarks, too.

If you have previously downloaded my patterns, I'd be glad if you could replace them with the latest versions. And if you're sharing the patterns to others, please refer them to my blog, because I might make further revisions to this or that pattern.

Thanks! :-)

For St. Patrick's Day — the Trefoil Hearts Shamrock

Early last year, I was on a roll with the Trefoil Hearts. After I had done the Butterfly, I came up with a cross made out of Trefoil Hearts (you can see it under the Designs in Progress tab), and then — since everyone was tatting shamrocks — I also tatted this Trefoil Hearts Shamrock. Unfortunately, I only posted it the day AFTER St. Patrick's Day!

So, this year, I am not making the same mistake. Here is my pattern for the Trefoil Hearts Shamrock, nice and early! I haven't run it by any test tatters yet. So, if you do find any problems with my pattern, please do let me know, and I will post an updated version. Thanks! :-) (The thread I used for this sample is Lizbeth Leafy Greens, Size 40.)

Trefoil     Hearts Shamrock, March 2013

Updated version of Trefoil Hearts Butterfly

When I first published the Trefoil Hearts Butterfly in March 2013, it was only the second pattern I had ever written up properly. It was one of a series of related patterns, and I felt I needed to explain about the Trefoil Hearts that were its building blocks. But now that I have finally written up the Trefoil Hearts in a separate pattern, I am able to streamline the butterfly pattern and trim one page off the instructions. So, here it is again! :-) The thread I used is Lizbeth Rainbow Taffy, Size 20.

Trefoil Hearts Butterfly, March 2013, updated Jan 2014

Three Little Hearts

I designed these three little hearts a year ago, and proceeded to build bigger patterns from these units — such as the Endless Hearts on my masthead above. I worked hard on them for a while, then I got bored and went on to other things. However, with Valentine's Day approaching, and lots of hearts being tatted, I received the impetus to finish writing up the patterns for these hearts and publish them here. I hope you enjoy them! (Thread I used: Lizbeth Wildflower Garden, Size 20.)

Three Little Hearts

Jane's Bookmark Cross in floral colours

I've just finished doing a Jane's Bookmark Cross for a friend (pattern here or here). I used Lizbeth Wildflower Size 40 – it's one of my favourite colourways.

I had a lucky accident when I started it – the first ring happened to be blue, the colour in the middle, where the colours start changing in opposite directions. (I.e., Green - red - pink - yellow - purple - blue - purple - yellow - pink - red - green). So, the colours on opposite rings were almost the same. Of course, when I started the second pass, I deliberately arranged the colours in the same way. A very pleasing effect, don't you think?

Not as original as I thought…

The first design I wrote a pattern for was a simple little flower with heart-shaped petals. I was thinking of cherry blossoms, particularly the iconic Japanese sakura you see in art and logos, so I called it Cherry Blossom Hearts. Here it is:

Cherry Blossom Hearts

The first place I showed it was in InTatters. One of the other tatters told me that there was a quite similar motif in Minitats, by Patti Duff — with six dimpled petals rather than five. I asked around, and was eventually able to contact Patti Duff and get her okay to 'publish' my little motif. This was at the end of December 2012. Then, a couple of weeks ago, I was flipping through my copy of A Pattern Book of Tatting, by Mary Konior. And there was a motif with five dimpled petals — very similar to my little cherry blossom! It's called Wild Rose, and it's on page 87.

In light of that, I've rewritten my design and 'copyright' notes for this pattern, and the latest version is here. Obviously, the motif idea is not mine alone; it has been around for a long time, and I wouldn't be at all surprised if in future I discover still other published examples of this flower. However, I developed this design before I saw either of the published examples, so I think it is okay if I continue to share my version of it with you all.

I'm glad I didn't know about Mary Konior's motif until recently. If I had, I might have been quite discouraged. My very first little written-up PDF pattern! It was also the first design that I added a diagram to — the diagram was easy enough that by doing it I could learn a new software program, as well as figure out how I wanted to make diagrams of rings and chains. I've since gone on to write up more complicated designs and do more complicated diagrams, but this was the first rung on that ladder.

Thank you, little cherry blossom! :-)

My patterns are up!

Yes, the main reason I started this blog has been achieved! Have a look under the My Patterns tab. Now, I still have to make the blog pretty. Also, if there's any feature you would like to see which I don't have, let me know.