Here is a spool of DMC Diamant thread and my favorite shuttle for working with it. I separated the plies on the cut end so you could see how they are wound; it doesn't tend to fray on its own. Neither of the photos do the thread justice – it really has a lovely sparkle with lots of blue glints flashing off the white.

I have recently finished my first project using DMC's Diamant thread and thought I would share my experience with you. It wasn't a joy to work with, but I'm pretty happy with the results. I asked for advice on working with it at the last Spokane Shuttlebirds meeting, and was told to work with fairly loose tension, as it was difficult to close rings if I wasn't careful. I took that to heart, and the other key take-aways from my experience were to work with deliberation and use a shuttle with a pick on the end to help control kinking.

The thread is actually a cordonnet of three strands of plastic-wrapped polyester, so it has a definitely rough texture. It is also very stiff, and I was worried about "breaking" it while I worked. I don't think that is actually possible, but it will get badly creased and you will have to work to smooth the creases out if you aren't careful. When worked up, I think it is equivalent to a size 10 due to the stiffness, even though it is the same diameter as Lizbeth size 20.

The stiffness is also the reason it has a reputation of being difficult to work with. Once you start working a ring, for example, the plies tend to separate and begin kinking if you don't pay attention. Those kinks can seriously interfere with your ability to close a ring and make the tatting look messy to boot. Kinks also turn up or the stitch gets stuck and refuses to flip if you try to work too fast. Using the pick to guide the threads when necessary (usually in the last few stitches of a ring) and working at a deliberate pace solves those problems. Watching each stitch as you pull it closed slows you down, but I think my technical skill improved as a result; it was like mindfully practicing the basics again.

When it came time to finish off my ends, I was a little nervous. It turned out to be no problem at all. Because I had deliberately kept the tension loose, I was able to use both magic thread technique to pull one end through and a fine tapestry needle to hide the other thread. I actually like the result with the needle better, because the magic thread left a visibly wider chain behind.

Even though the tatting was fairly stiff, it still needed to be blocked to get a nice finish. I usually use a steam iron and pressing cloth on my tatting. I pinned it using glass head pins, then got it good and damp before ironing it on a polyester heat setting. The lowest setting (nylon) didn't seem to be doing any good, so I turned the iron up and checked under the pressing cloth frequently to be sure I wasn't melting the filaments.

I may not use this thread on a daily basis, because it is rough on the hands, but I will definitely be making up a bunch of snowflakes for Christmas gifts with it! For my next project, I'm going to try working with only one ply of the thread. Wish me luck!





This is the large snowflake (4.25" diameter)that I tatted. The pattern is called "The Tenth Day of December" from 24 Snowflakes in Tatting by Lene Bjorn (Akacia, 2013)