Flower Patch

More lace content!  I actually completed this last year, but didn't get around to working in the ends until this year.  My scanner situation is still not sorted out, and I realized that if I want this to be posted any time soon, I have to take a photo rather than scan it.

This is one of my "ancient WIPs".  I started it around 13 years ago.  Needless to say, it was on hold more often than not!

There were three main reasons I started this pattern.

• I like the pattern!  I started this soon after buying my first Konior book (Tatting with Visual Patterns) and was looking for something to make.  Since edgings are not my thing, I decided to try this piece.  I still like it after all this time, even though it is a fairly simple motif repeat.
• I bought a spool of sewing thread - Guttermann quilting thread I wanted to try.  It's actually very nice!  I think it is one of my favorite sewing/quilting threads to use.  It seems sturdier than most other similar threads I have tried.  I think it is only marginally smaller than my trustworthy DMC 80 and almost as forgiving to work with.  No concerns here when closing a ring!
• I bought an antique shuttle at a local consignment store (I miss that store!).  I have no idea what it is made of, but I suppose it is some sort of celluloid material (man made for sure).  It is extremely pleasant to hold, however I doubt I will be using it much in the future.  Unfortunately it has not tip/point/hook and I had to use a crochet hook for each join.  I liked using the shuttle enough that I did not switch shuttles halfway through the project, but it was not as convenient as having a pick on the shuttle.  I actually found it more of a hassle when I had to undo a few knots than during joins.  For doing is it easy enough to pick up a crochet hook, but undoing knots was difficult and fiddly.  The photos below show how large the shuttle is in relation to both the pattern as well as to my hand.  Surprisingly, the shuttle worked very well with the fine thread and that was not an issue at all.  In fact, I would be hesitant to use much thicker thread for fear of springing the ends. 

A problem with these motif pieces is knowing how large to make them.  Unless I have a specific purpose in mind (hardly ever), the end size is not set.  I had toyed with the idea of making this larger (5 across for 19 motifs total), but I know in that case it would not be completed any time soon.  If I want to, I can always make it larger in the future!