Chain Tension and Pattern Revision

The short version: I've updated Late Winter Snowflake to include extra information about chain tension, with the hope that it will help the pattern lay flat. The revised pattern can be found under the old link on my patterns page.

The long version: Let's talk about chain tension

Since I began tatting, I've changed my tension a few times. When I refer to chain tension, I am talking about how tightly I pull my core thread after finishing a chain. For the sake of simplicity, I've separated tension into three options: low, medium, and high. All three samples are tatted with the same stitch count:

Design with Me: Cross of Sevens

Each time I attempt a design, I learn something new. Cross of Sevens taught me that it is a bad idea to design something while trying to avoid a certain stitch count. In this case, it is the number six. The idea for this pattern began when I was doodling squares on Kaleidoscope Drawing Pad. I came up with a sketch that resembled the central portion of a cross:

At the time, Kaleidoscope Drawing Pad lacked the feature that allows you to change symmetry mid drawing, so I was unable to make the rest of the pattern. I put it aside for a while and worked on other things.