Motif #1 for 25 Motif Challenge

I did it! I have signed up for the 25 motif challenge. See me wading into the waters with SweetHeart pattern by Birgit Phelps © 2003.

I chose it for a few reasons:

• 2003 was the year I went on a tatting hiatus (until 2008)
• the joins create the illusion of four-petal clovers
• no awkward downward joins

Plus, I think this design makes a terrific central motif upon which to build a bigger heart. More on that later.

The colorful heart on the left was made with an itty-bitty mini skein of Tatskool's lovely Rainbow Bright HDT in size 20. Hee, hee, the center rings remind me of Fruity Pebbles^®.

The pink heart uses the same thread as the pink-and-white edging pictured in my last Tatting Tea Tuesday post. This thread came to me in a box salvaged from an estate sale rubbish bin. Not sure, but I think it is a finer quality crochet cotton in roughly size 30.

For the past few weeks I have been experimenting with a lattice-like heart design that includes four-petal, split ring clovers and adapts an edging pattern for the last round. But my end point is awkward and I'd prefer not to have to cut and tie ends to start a new round.

Birgit's SweetHeart motif looks like it will adapt well. It offers a more straightforward "climbing out" point to begin the next round. Hence, the pink heart on the right.

I'll stop here to ponder the best "climbing out" method. Simple chain? Split chain? Other options?

Time to put the kettle on. See you on Tuesday!