Mignonette Tatting Wedding Hanky

This is what has been taking up most of my time! And, I still have a few more hours to invest. This was almost "The Wedding Hanky." For a time, I was working with 6 shuttles at once so that I could get all the way to the outside round and see if my husband and I liked it well enough for the wedding. We decided we didn't and that's when I went to the one I have finished and given to my daughter.

Still, I think it is very pretty and wanted to see it completed. Now that I am nearing the finish line, I am very glad I have kept tatting. The 2nd picture is a close up and the 3rd picture shows about 6 inches of the 3rd round that I have to complete before I can finish the 4th round, of course! This is such a big project, that it has helped me to keep going by working on all of the rounds at once, except the 1st row of tatting onto the hanky.

The pattern is courtesy of Georgia Seitz and the corners from Katie Johnson. It can be found at http://www.georgiaseitz.com/classes2001/mignon/mignonette.html
(I hope.) Let me know if you can't find it. I had to increase the number of stitches between picots that were shown on the outer round in order to turn the corners. It would have looked more dainty if I had squeezed in more rings on the 2nd round in the corners. Then, I could have used fewer stitches on the outer round and it would have been smaller. That's something to think about if you decide to tat this pattern onto a hanky.

I really enjoy the Mignonette tatting, which is unusual because the measuring must be done. Since the rings "float" on the threads, they have to be as even as possible. Following Tat-man's suggestion, I cut a 2" piece of plastic from a butter bowl lid and used it for a guage. It worked really well. I hope when I finish tatting, wash and press, it will look nice and precise.

The hanky is Irish linen and the thread is DMC Cebelia size 20. Thanks to Georgia for her research into the hanky Katie Johnson found and for her instructions on turning the corners.

Now the question is - will it be a wedding hanky after all? Might I need it to dry my tears? We'll see! If not, maybe I will save it and maybe I will sell it.