Is it Spring yet?

The sun keeps shining and I see a few green things outside struggling to grow in spite of freezing temps so it is here...barely. Inside though, I've had so much fun tatting these tiny blossoms.

I showed the white ones earlier but I couldn't stop with white. I had to keep trying out other colors, stacking them up, marveling at their pretty little bits. I did send them all to a friend to do with as she wishes, but I think this might be my new shuttle ending pastime. There's so much that can be done with them. I've used this rosette as the basis for several of my patterns or as an embellishment on something else I've stitched. I usually add beads during the tatting but beads can always be added later. I think I'll tat up a little stash for myself to tuck away and bring out when I need a pretty pick-me-up visual.
Before I start the next challenge piece which I always make first in DMC white size 20, I wanted to tat something in color! At first I was going to do Jon's foldover bookmark but then decided I wanted something a bit different and I knew I wanted to add long tails that ended with a covered ball, like the thong bookmark I won from Umintsuru once.

So, I went looking for a suitable pattern. It had to be one that could be folded over at joins, which isn't as easy to find as you would think.

Did you ever see a pattern and wonder, "what in the world (or sam hill as crazy mom said) is that for?" I love Mary Konior's patterns, even when I don't have a clue what to do with something. She tatted all those fragments and single motifs that just beg you to do something more with them. I found one on page 76 of Tatting Patterns. It's called a "triad". But there's no mention of how you might use it.

So here it is, tatted in Altin Basak, size 50. It could be a pendant with the right beads to give it some weight.

Or you could turn it over and it makes a great crown motif!

Or you could put two of them together and....whooooaaaa....what's that ballerina doing there??? Heheheheh...really, it's supposed to fold over. Why is it dancing on pointy pink ballet slippers?

Okay...it's not a ballerina, but it wouldn't take a lot of tweaking to become one! Now you see how easily I get sidetracked.

Back to the bookmark...