Welcome to another Flashback Friday! Has it really been a week already?? It’s hard to believe, but we are two days away from Christmas! Are you ready? Let’s take just a moment to sit back and relax with a nice warm beverage and chat about this next tatting pattern. I loved how this snowflake turned out.
The inspiration for this pattern came from so many different places. The long chains before and after the clovers points, when needle tatted, cross over each other. This adds a bit of a Celtic look to the snowflake and I think is a very nice touch. Let’s get into the pattern!
Leens Tatted Snowflake


Round 1 :
R 4 – 3 – 4 rw
Ch 4 – 2 – 2 – 4 rw
R 4 – 3 – 4 rw
Continue around for a total of 6 rings and 6 chains, join to base of first ring and chain.
Round 2 :
* R 4 – 4 – 4 – 3 DNR
R 3 + 4 – 1 — 1 – 4 – 3 DNR
R 3 + 4 – 4 – 4 rw
Ch 10 rw
R 4 + 3 – 3 – 4 rw
Ch 7 rw
Join to center picot of Round 1
R 4 + 3 – 3 – 4 rw
Ch 7 rw
R 4 + 3 – 3 – 4 rw
Ch 10 rw
Repeat from ” * ” for a total of 6 clovers
This snowflake is beautiful in any color and in a smaller thread size it becomes really delicate. I can’t wait to see what you create with this pattern! Don’t forget to leave a picture in the comments so I can see them!!
Hi. I’m kind of a new tatter, been at it about three months and am managing to turn out some small but nice items. I’ve been working on your snowflake. I had the first row done and looked kind of, well, floppy, then I realized you have to join the rings to each other. So I started again, joined the picots and it looks very nice. It took a while to figure out I had to totally end the first row and tie it off then start the second row separately and attach it later. So I’m good there. But I’m confused with the joining picots in the rings. I’m assuming the plus sign means to join to an existing picot but I don’t know where to join them them to. For the first part of round two I joined the picot in the second ring to the first one in the first ring. But for the third ring I don’t know where to join the picot to. I know it doesn’t join to the three-in-a-row picots but everything else is on the other side. Is there any way you can talk me through this? I don’t think this is too advanced for me, I just need help interpreting this pattern.
Oh. I’m needle tatting if that makes a difference.
OK. I figured out in the first section of the second round I left out the fourth picot on the second chain. That’ll fix my problem there. But after you join to the first round that first ring is supposed to join to a picot somewhere but I can’t figure out where!
Hi Leigh Ann, I’m sorry it took so long to get back to you. It sounds like you may have missed a picot. Let me see if I can help you out here.
On the second round, every ring connects to the ring before it. So, the ring right after the trefoil (that would be ring number 4) will have 4 stitches, a join to the picot on the last ring of the trefoil, 4 stitches, the center decorative picot, 4 stitches, a joining picot and the final 4 stitches before closing the ring.
Then you will make your chain of 7 stitches, join to the center picot of round 1.
The next ring, the one in question, will be 4 stiches, join to the last picot on the ring before it, 4 stitches, the decorative picot and so on.
Wow, that can be confusing, even to me! lol What might help is printing the pattern and then following along that way on the picture. I hope that helped you! If not, let me know and we can try it again! Also I would love to see your snowflake when your finished!!
Leen
Thanks for getting back to me. I do have a picture and it’s a good thing because that’s how I figured out to join the rings in the first round. You’d think it’d be obvious but I’m a beginner and follow exactly what the pattern says and it didn’t say to join them! When I just ended up with the floppy thing that looked like lace sewn in a circle I figured something was wrong. So I looked at the picture, started again and it came out nice. I did miss the fifth picot in the second ring of the first part of the second round but I got that figured out. I feel like I’m just randomly joining stuff up. I think I’ll have to finish it and see what it looks like. It’s hard to tell when the first bit is still hanging loose. I had to look at the photo really good to figure out how to start the second round. I thought you just kept right on going after the last chain but there wasn’t a chain connected to the second round. So that’s when I figured out I had to cut the thread on the first round and just start the second round as an independent thing. I think I’m going to like it if I ever get it figured out.
Although I was confused on when you join the second round to the first one. This is the part right here:
Ch 7 rw
Join to center picot of Round 1
R 4 + 3 – 3 – 4 rw
So if I’m right I chain seven, finish it off, make four double stitches then attach to one of the center picots of one of the rings on the first round. At first I chained seven, attached it to a picot and then started the ring but that didn’t really look right. The one problem with looking at the picture is since it’s a circle trying to figure out where one thing ends and the next begins.
I’ll for sure send a picture of my first attempt. I always have to make a prototype to figure out the pattern then after that I’m usually pretty good.
Oh, yeah. Totally nailed it. I have problems with my chains twisting every which way. I need to be careful when reversing it. I had a hard time at the end because there were no finishing instructions. I figured the last picot of the last ring needed to join to the first picot of the first ring. Then I joined the chain to the base of the first trefoil. I had problem figuring out how to join the chain of seven to the inside round. I made the chain, tied it off, then joined to the center picot of the ring on the inside chain and made that the first part of the first DS in the next ring. Make sense? I can’t post a photo in the comment box but here’s a link. https://ourbusylife123.files.wordpress.com/2023/01/img_1461.jpg