Motif #18 - If He Only Had a Brain

Nutmeg the Christmas camel
Design © 2002 Dolly Hollander
Through no fault of his own, poor Nutmeg has become an unfortunate Christmas camel.

I didn't bother to block him (for reasons to be explained) but will still count him toward my 25 Motif Challenge.

Motif #18 - Christmas Camel

Nutmeg is tatted with Lizbeth #671 Christmas Red, #638 Christmas Green and Tatskool's Nutmeg HDT. All size 20.

He has a size 11/0 black seed bead for his eye and size 8 gold seed beads for his saddle. The flat scan doesn't do it justice, as the saddle bows out slightly for a lovely 3D effect.

Here is a link to Tatskool's Christmas camel from 2007. Hers is decked out so handsomely in his Christmas finery.

A Series of Unfortunate Decisions
Poor Nutmeg's neck is all out of whack so I didn't finish his bridle and reins. But the problem is not with the pattern.

He was coming along so well until I missed a join behind his ears, resulting in a misshapen neck and disturbing lack of brain.

(Now Nutmeg has something in common with a certain Scarecrow.)

Of course, decapitation is an option. I could tat him a brainy new head.

Would you fix him or leave him to suffer his fate?

~ flexiPoll: free online web poll ~

While I don't consider this next bit to be an unfortunate decision, I would reduce the stitch count if I were to tat it again:

I tatted Nutmeg's tail using Jane Eborall's marvelous Padded Double Stitch technique. But I didn't adjust the stitch count so his tail is a bit long.

Okay, I am done being my own worst critic. Whew! Aren't you glad that's over?

Let me stress that this is a wonderful pattern. Tatskool downloaded it from the Internet a few years ago. When I asked her if she could share a link, she was able to screen grab the pattern for me using the Wayback Machine. But my Wayback Machine searches have turned up bupkus. I am not sure where you can find it now.

ADDENDUM: I was lucky enough to stumble upon her phone number and spoke with Dolly on the phone this evening. What a delightful person she is! She shared a trick with me for stiffening lace using Future Acrylic Shine Floor Wax. Thank you, Dolly, for taking the time to chat!

E-mail Dolly Hollander privately at the email listed at the top of this post to request a copy of the Christmas camel pattern.