variations on a snowflake

These three snowflakes are patterns I've been making occasionally for years - I love the way they look, and the consistent stitch count (3 or 6) makes them really easy to take on the go (and to copy from the previous snowflake when you want to make more).  But I had somehow never noticed how very similar they are until this year, when I happened to hang them right next to each other.  They are basically the same snowflake, just with slight variations in the center, and different tip lengths from a repeating ring/chain unit!

And I realized this means I could mix and match the center and the tips and make a whole batch of them!  So I did.  And I added a tiny ring to the small open center to make an even dozen variations. Different backdrop because the book I've been using isn't big enough, and yes, the top row is a different color of white from a different brand of thread.  Also, I got lazy with the blocking after the first couple, so please excuse picots out of place and arms that aren't quite 60 degrees from each other...

(click on image for a larger view)

The first original snowflake is #5 from Myra Piper's booklet "Tatting" (although I make it with two shuttles, resulting in the U-shaped curved lines next to the center flower instead of a V shape), but even after extensively searching through my books and printouts I can't find the source for the other two.  If I ever figure it out, I'll update this post.