Yes, I should be doing other stuff and truly, that was my intention this morning but I'm teaching the Workbasket strawberry (July 1995) next Saturday and thought I better get ready. Originally I was just going to help out.

I'm glad I looked at it again. I've never liked the way it was written and broken up into two parts so I decided to rewrite it in modern notation. Well...it was still in two parts and I avoid hiding ends if I can so I got to looking at the diagram that was included and found a way to tat it all in one pass. I ended up making 4 split rings and 1 split chain but it's really a very easy pattern. Also, the designer, Cindy Polfer, says to sew the beads on afterwards. Well...it was 1995 - how much tatting was done with beads and split rings and chains then? So I usually load my beads on the ring shuttle and tat them in as I go.

Now the thing that really bothered me was the felt background which included leaves. Tacky. TACKY. I'd used the beads before but never could figure out the leaves. I needed something small and pointy. Suddenly, I remembered Mark Myers' link to the zig zag chain. By tatting various lengths and then using the end thread to thread through the picots and gather it up, it becomes the perfect strawberry top!

Now I want to make a whole bunch of them!