Sunday, June 08, 2008

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!

10 comments:

  1. Now that's a nice lookin' strawberry!

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  2. I like your strawberry Gina! The top did turn out nice!

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  3. It looks scrumptious! Nice job on the strawberry top.

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  4. Workbasket was a small needlecraft publication from the mid-1940's through the mid 1990's. Up until the past decade when we experienced an explosion of tatting books, it was one of the few resources tatters had for patterns. They almost always had one and often two in each issue. I originally had a huge collection because I knitted and crocheted so they were even more valuable to me when I first started tatting.
    :-) Gina

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  5. Yummy! That strawberry looks good enough to eat!. I wouldn't want to sew the beads on later either... too time consuming!

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  6. Looks good enough to eat!

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  7. Very nice Strawberry, Gina.

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  8. I thought I left a comment already....arghh!

    Gina, I love this strawberry. Would you be willing to share your revised verstion. I think it's the best stawberry I have ever seen!

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  9. oooooo ... so beautiful!!! Job well done : )

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