I’ve been working on the ‘Iris’ cross bookmark I shared last week. I made a few tweaks as I worked on writing the pattern and tatted it again.
I tatted the original in size 10 thread, bigger than I usually work in. I saw the color and just knew I wanted to use it, and it was in size 10, so that was it. The cross came out the first time with minimal trouble. It ended up being six inches tall by six inches across, much larger than I think of as fitting in a normal book. I decided to make it in a smaller thread as I verified the stitch count.
I usually tat in size 20 thread, which would make this cross smaller, but I thought that it might not make it small enough, so I made it in size 40. Which I don’t tat in much, either, so it took longer to tat it. But the end result is about what I was hoping for.
The center of the cross has a wonderful pattern, but I was concerned that handling it as a bookmark would be too floppy. I added a picot to the corner chains to make it less floppy. While tatting in the small thread the ends of the arms didn’t come out looking the same as the original so I changed up the stitch count a bit there as well.
On the next cross, I changed the stitch count at the ends of the arms again and they came out better, but I still wasn’t happy with them. The shuttle 2 clovers at the tips twisted a lot. This would be a problem if it were handled much.
The fourth cross came out much better. The tips of the arms are more secure and less able to twist. I am also happier with the look of the ends. I’m wondering if I should leave off the picots I added to hold the center firmer. In the small thread will it be okay without them? I like the look better without that picot.
It is amazing how different the cross looks making it the two different size threads. What are your thoughts? Which one do you like best?
“The only way to make sense out of change is to plunge into it, move with it, and join the dance.“ Alan Watts