Unwinding Shuttles

A couple of weeks ago, I noticed that I had accumulated a lot of unfinished projects. A cross, a bookmark, a few small doilies...all the result of design whims that got set aside. In an effort to free up some shuttles, I took the time to finish most of these small projects. One of them was an alternate version of the floral coaster that I worked on in January.

This is a follow up of an idea I had while working on the original concept of the doily. I wanted to try making the flowers smaller and increasing the number of flowers used in the last round (from 12 to 18). I think it gives the doily a more balanced look.

As I had done previously, I worked this pattern backwards. I tatted a circle of 18 flowers first, and then created a center to fit.

I really like this method for projects that have a time consuming outer round. It saves from having to cut and redo the last round when things don't work out. Instead, the inner rounds (which take much less time to tat), are cut off and redone.

Last week was also Billy's birthday. He turned 9 years old on February 28th. We buy him a cupcake every year so we can take a photo. We don't let him eat the cupcake, and normally he isn't interested in it at all. This year was a little different:

In his old age, Billy has developed a bit of a sweet tooth. He sampled the frosting and cupcake, but then decided to go back to his bowl of celery.

Which reminds me, I never posted my completed Tat it and See. Here is the rabbit that Jane Eborall designed this year. I didn't have any orange thread for the carrot, so I made a stick of celery instead. Billy doesn't like carrots anyways :)