Tuesday, March 12, 2013

Tatting Tea Tuesday - butterfly beginnings

The Ides of March are almost upon us -- that ill-fated day when Julius Casear went to the big coliseum in the sky.

My paternal grandmother was born on the Ides of March. Theresa Schill Beary lived and raised 10 children on a small homestead with a chicken coop, a sprawling lawn and a lovely flower garden.  Butterflies often flitted among the spring tulips, summer cone flowers and various wildflowers throughout the growing season.

Today's tatting project is a pretty butterfly pattern chosen to compliment my memories of that lovely garden and its winged visitors. I found it on the Italian tatting web site:  CHIACCHIERINO  The butterfly diagram can be found on this page: Gioielli di chiacchierino

Here is my first round.  And a second photo of this pretty start next to its "schema."  *

 * NOTE: Round 1 starts with a knot at the tip of one antenna and chains toward the Self-Closing Mock Ring (SCMR) body. If you are not familiar with this technique, please review SCMR instructions offered by Jane Eborall or The Shuttle Brothers.  I used a lock-stitch chain for the antennae, but a regular chain works equally well.


Farfalla, round 1
Lizbeth®20 #613 Golden Yellow Medium and a
blend of lavender/black/yellow threads for antennae
Farfalla, round 1
with diagram
Rains pelt the windows as I sit sipping an infusion of green tea sweetened with a lemon and ginger syrup.  It soothes my sore throat and eases the sinusitis brought on by Old Man Winter's (hopefully?) last gasp.  I am winding two shuttles (CTM) with Lizbeth®20 #139 Fruit Fizz for round 2 as I dream of delicate daffodils and delphiniums, butterfly gardens and the freshness of spring.

Wishing you all blissful me time to create something beautiful. See you next Tuesday for more communi-tea!