"Silently, like thoughts that come and go, the snowflakes fall, each one a gem." ~ William Hamilton Gibson.
I have been working on a mixed media snowflake for several months now. Like a delicate snowflake, ideas for it have come and gone, melting before I can turn them into reality. I can only presume that other designers have a clarity of focus - or a process - that enables them to progress more steadily, but this has always been mine.
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| Mixed Media Heart |
I began with an article from the Online Tatting Class (founded by Georgia Seitz) that I had shared in August 2003 called Mixed Media Heart. It was a heart my mother found at a flea market in Florida in 2002. My parents had only just begun their 19-season-long winter treks to sunny North Florida. This heart was found after rummaging through a box of crocheted lace doilies. Haven't we all enjoyed a good rummage through the doilies, looking for tatted treasure?
Carolyn Groves wrote a pattern for the heart from the photos I sent to Georgia. Thank you again Carolyn for your excellent work!
Georgia's original post begins with "There is an old saying that needleworkers should not mix their media." I believe that old saying is wrong. Throughout history artists have excelled at combining mediums as suited their vision. The 2003 heart mixed tatting with thread crochet. I wanted to reshape it into a snowflake with my own creative vision. With any luck it would be a gem.
Round one combines six tatted rings, chains with decorative picots, and a crocheted chain across the top of the picots to add texture and dimension.
The decorative picots in round two mirror the technique in round one. A single shuttle split ring bridges the gap nicely, but I needed two threads to tat the next chain. See the problem? Several faltering attempts later (see photo below for the most hopeful of the discarded attempts) I changed the plan again.
Here is an Instagram photo of a pretty snowflake combining tatting with Turkish needle lace. It is my inspiration for round three, if I can recreate the needle lace. Wish me luck!
"I wish I could press snowflakes in a book like flowers." ~ James Schuyler.
