Practice Makes Passable

I found the pattern for these little 3-D snowflakes on the Lace-lovin' Librarian's blog and have spent the last couple of tatting months spitting and cussing and throwing little knotted disappointments into the trash.  I finally seem to have figured it out, though they aren't of the quality or craftsmanship of many tatters on the web.

I did learn something important though.  Whenever I approach a pattern, even when a pattern is well written with instructive images, I need to make a demo piece with a large tatting needle (or a locker hook) and yarn.  And I need to do that first.   I wasted two months creating tiny delicate little knots from hell while trying to find the best way to approach the second layer of rings.  Right now, I don't have the dexterity to make something on size 20 thread with a size 7 needle.

A size 5 needle?  Well that's a snowflake of a different color.