Snow Doily - 2

Two-Colour, One Pass Strategies

Renulek’s Snow Doily*

Round 5 and a pdf download*

Faced some dilemmas in this round ...

Round 5 consists of 3 separate motifs, joined to each other & to previous round.

{ Motif 5A is a snowflake ; 5B is a starlet ; 5C is a leaf clover for stability.}

Next there was the problem of colours – which colours to use, how to show them up at the right places, how to hide a particular colour, and so on.

And of course, the problem of hiding multiple ends!

I tried to balance practicality with pleasure, trying to be as precise as I could.

I would’ve liked to make at least the snowflakes ahead, & join as I tatted Round 4. But the all-cream snowflake (shown in previous post) did not appeal, hence shelved the idea. And I think it was a wise decision – the completion of rounds 1-4 gave me a better perspective on choice & placement of colours. Pretty happy with the outcome … wouldn’t you agree ? :-)

AND I got to learn a new technique, which Always generates immense interest & excitement !

List of abbreviations at end

* Click on titles/coloured font for links and pdf

Round 5.  A – Snowflakes

A 2-round snowflake that can be tatted in one pass by using split chain.

Techniques required : 2-shuttle tatting for outer round; Floating/Thrown ring.

Techniques I used : FS/BS (RODS) tatting ; Floating Ring ; SSSR ; LJ .

Row 1 (yellow) – Made them all together. For 1^st few, I hid the tail ends using Frivole’s finishing on a chain method. But since I was still sewing in the remaining tails under a few sts, I decided to simply go traditional (& practical). Knotted the tails, then sewed them under to hide. With size 40, knots are not discernible , Yay !

TIP : I tend to leave part of the tail ends visible till the motifs are completed & attached. It helps to easily identify the front & back sides of the motif. 

Snowflake motif measures 2" in size 40 thread

Row 2 (cream) – Ended with an SSSR for one tail. For other tail, I made a LJ to base for security & evenness ; then sewed under the chain caps. (the tiny telltale tail-ends are visible in above close-up pic)

TIP : One can use tiny picots at base of the thrown rings, to anchor them. However, considering that all 6 of these are joined to some part or other, I dismissed the idea. Would’ve been even pretty fiddly, too. Practicality ruled.

Ditto for the long chains – these could use a very small picot join at base (1ds away). But I kinda liked the flowery freedom & precision was discarded for pleasure :-)

Round 5. B – Starlets  ; C – Three-Leaf Clovers 

These are very tiny motifs, especially in size 40, for me. Hence when these came up, I tried to use a little brainpower – surely they could be tatted together ?! Easy with single colour, but with 2 colours, in predetermined positions ?

There’s always a solution in our WonderTATland, isn’t there ;-)

I tatted the 2 parts together using Brown in SH1 & yellow in SH2.

It can be started from either end ( I tried one starting with clovers, followed by starlet) but I preferred starting with starlet & ending with clover leaves.

Learned & applied Double Core Single Shuttle Split Ring* to hide the brown in the yellow ring, when moving from starlet to clover (main steps indicated in pics below).

Part of the Starlet is complete, joined to snowflake. 

Now trying to hide brown within a yellow ring.

 Instead of SSSR, one can continue with SH2 to complete the ring normally ! 

Then cut & hide yellow thread.

If one opts for a normal double core ring, then make a Lock Join with SH1 

& start clover motif 

Starlet, in size 40, is 1" long & less than ½” wide

(Alternate Method - Double Core Ring shown below)

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1st ring of clover motif is SSSR. I added anchoring vsp (9vsp1/1vsp9) 

Yellow tail can be hidden within this ring or to previous yellow ring.

2nd ring of clover is normal, joined to adjoining vsp & then to Row 4 

3rd ring is also normal. Cut thread & pass through centre to bring it to the back

Hide threads. Motifs 5B & C complete

3-Leaf Clover, in size 40, is ½”across

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Techniques required : 2-shuttle tatting; Floating/Thrown rings; Onion Ring join ; Lock Join.

The 2 motifs are tatted separately in original pattern.

Techniques I used : FS/BS (RODS) tatting ; Floating Rings ; SSSR ; CWJ (for onion ring join) ; LJ ; Double core SSSR and later, Double core Ring ; Reverse Join.
I tatted the 2 motifs in one pass, using 2 colours.

I have prepared a diagram, with instructions, to show how I did this motif. Click to download file.

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Double core SSSR – quite a mouthful, right?! And if one really deconstructs it, this is only partially applicable.
1. the double core is for part of the ring only

2. the ring starts by using Two shuttles to tat !  And

3. one can complete the ring as a normal ring with the visible colour, as in this case.

This technique allows us to tat the complete ring in a single colour, while hiding one colour And positioning both threads as required. So in a SSSR, both threads emerge together at 'opposite' end, as in a split ring. But if one completes the ring as a normal ring, then the hidden colour emerges at one end, while the visible colour comes back to the base of ring !

It hit me almost towards the end, that for this particular pattern, why was I using SSSR after double core half ?! I could so easily avoid loop tatting by doing a normal ring for the 2nd half. The last few motifs were done in this manner :
Double core Ring

This also gives me more options to hide/sew in the yellow tail ! 

Notice where the yellow thread is emerging in this picture : it is at the base of ring... 

unlike in the double core SSSR, where the yellow thread emerges at opposite end, along with brown.

* I learned this technique by watching Karen's video (Lesson 43)

However, before posting here, I decided to do some more hunting. The first place to look is always Jane Eborall’s blog & sure enough there was the tutorial on Double Core SSSR with Two Colours Or how to crawl out of a round while using 2 colours and keep the SSSR one colour! 

And that also revealed that this technique was originally conceived by TattingChic in 2009. Read all about that interesting experiment & process (with pics) in her blogpost titled “A Tale of Two Split Rings” . 

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I like how the brown clovers form a defined outline for previous round - almost like a large flower !

 

Measures around 11" in size 40, after round 5

Abbreviations used :

SH – shuttle

SSSR – single shuttle split ring

fhs – first half stitch

RODS – reverse order double stitch for frontside/backside tatting.

LJ – lock join

CWJ – Catherine Wheel Join
ds - double stitch

 

The brown doesn't quite show up against the blue background ; but colours get muted against the pale b/g !

Motif #4/III for 25 Motif Challenge 

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In Conversation ...

What I considered to be ‘routine’ repetitive rounds after Round 5, have suddenly perked up my interest.

As I was looking for the stitchcount in Rnd 6, something sprung up that I’d missed earlier. Rounds 2 & 3 have the side rings facing in one direction, while rounds 7 & 8  face the opposite direction ! And I think my round 2 & 3 rings face the ‘wrong’ direction ;-P

And the very latest includes new learning again – Join to Smooth Side by Anne Dyer. 

More about these in next post .

Till then, happy tatting :-)

Related Posts : Snow Doily Rounds 1-4

Hiding Ends sans sewing

Rounds 5 B and C in one pass