These patterns are quite simple, but they can be very useful as quick last minute snowflakes that can be turned out by the dozen for Xmas cards or gift tags, tree decorations, a mobile or to stick on windows.

Also I like to use this familiar structure, the 6 ring/chain motif as a basis for trying out techniques and introducing them to others. It is quick to tat, you know it works and will lie flat, and you finish up with something useful, a snowflake! Try it out and send us your results.

MHC Snowflake
Why this name? Because I designed the snowflake for the cover of the leaflet advertising my first autumn tatting course at Malvern Hills College. And claimed that by Christmas the students would be able to make one! (They did.)

Use 2 shuttles
Thread: Using No 20 here, it measures 2 .25"
A second shuttle is used for the ball thread so that it can be used to make rings and Josephine Knots (JKs) coming off the chains. Have the thread winding continuously from one shuttle to the other to avoid unnecessary ends.

Josephine knot - is like a tiny ring or rosette made of about 7 or more half stitches. You work all 1st half or all 2nd half of a ds, not too tightly, and close carefully. If JKs are a problem make sure to hold all the half ds's pinched under your thumb as you do them. Close to the last half inch of thread and then pull the thread round and towards your body to encourage a rosette shape rather than a sausage. If you don't want to do JKs, do picots instead.

R : 4-4-4-4 RW
*Ch : 4 (Sh2, JK9) 4 (Sh2, R: 6-1--1-1-6) 4 (Sh2, JK9) 4 RW
The above is a chain consisting of 4 ds, a Josephine knot, 4 ds, a ring with picot, long picot, picot, 4ds, a Josephine knot and 4ds.
R : 4+4-4-4 RW
Repeat from *, finishing by joining last central ring to first, work last chain, cut and tie ends through first ring.

Kim Picot Snowflake
Many of you may call these Double or Triple Picots but in Malvern we call them after our dear old tatting pal Kim Wright who is no longer with us. He invented them, in our part of the world at least, and well into his 80's did lots of them with many variations (See RoT Newsletter No 31, Autumn 1995 and the RoT anthology, "Tatting 2000").

At the point where you want to start your KP you make a long picot - here I used a ruler, width 3cm as a gauge. Next make a small picot, then pinching the long picot join the tip of it into your work just like joining a picot from another ring or chain. The result is a long picot arching over a small picot to produce a triple picot.

Use 2 shuttles
Thread: Using No 20 here, it measures 2 .25"
A second shuttle is used for the ball thread so that it can be used to make rings and Josephine Knots (JKs) coming off the chains. Have the thread winding continuously from one shuttle to the other to avoid unnecessary ends.

R : 4-4-4-4 RW
*Ch : 6 (Sh2, JK9) 3 (Sh2, R: 6, KP as explained above, 6) 3 (Sh2, JK9) 6 RW

The above is a chain consisting of 6 ds, a Josephine knot, 3 ds, a ring with a Kim picot, 3ds, a Josephine knot and 6ds.

R : 4+4-4-4 RW

Repeat from *, finishing by joining last central ring to first, work last chain, cut and tie ends through first ring.