treble with an M

Yup,  I treMble in fear of how Ninetta will react to my crochet reference. But I get ahead of myself ....

First, a lovely triangular motif with both tatting stitches – the old ds and new tds.

Ninetta sent me a pic of her new treble triangle and I helped in writing the pattern. 

There are 3 rounds worked continuously in one pass. However I used different colours in each round to make it easier to demarcate stitches and counts.

I had to pause when joining a treble to an earlier element. After a couple of tries, I figured it out. I’m not sure if it is the right way, though it came out fine. I will share it in my next post where I dissect this new tatting stitch.

Ninetta Caruso’s

Triangular Motif (treble tatting)

(with pattern below)

A tad over 4 cms in Anchor size 40

The written instructions are for one-pass motif as in Ninetta’s model, climbing out with split ring. Or each round can be tatted separately as seen in the 3 colours I used in my model.

Abbreviations  (in order of appearance):

R – ring ; ds – double stitch ; vsp – very small picot ; tds – treble ;

BTS – bare thread space ; + - picot join ; - - picot ; SR – split ring ; rw – reverse work ; 
SS – switch shuttle ; TR – thrown/floating ring ; lj – lock join.

Notes :

• Use ball and shuttle for each round is worked separately; use 2 shuttles, ctm, if working continuously.
• BTS - since tds is ‘higher’ than a ds, leave enough bare thread space between rings.
• How to make a tds video ; For all posts/info on Treble Tatting start here.
• For how to join treble to a previous element (round 1) pull up thread through both picots – the vsp for tds as well as the picot on small ring. Stepwise pictorial in next post.

Pattern :

ROUND 1: (moving clockwise)

R1:  1ds vsp 1ds, 8tds, 1ds. BTS

*R2: 3 +(between before last tds) 3 – 3 – 3. BTS

R3:  1ds vsp 1ds, 1tds +(R2), 7tds, 1ds. BTS]*

Repeat from * to * once.

SR6: 3 + 3 / 3 + 3. mock picot

ROUND 2: (moving clockwise)

SR: 3 / 3,

*Ch 4 rw

R:   5+(after 2^nd tds) 5 rw

Ch: 4 – 4 – 4.  SS

SR: 1ds vsp 3tds 1ds / 6 +(after 4^th tds) 6. SS

Ch: 4 – 4 – 4 rw

R:   5 +(after 6^th tds) 5 rw

Ch: 4 rw

R:   3 + 3 SS

TR:  3 – 3 SS*

Repeat from * to * around Round1.

Climb out with a split thrown ring (3/3). Mock picot.

ROUND 3: (moving counter-clockwise)

SR: 3 / 3. mock picot

R:   7 +(nearest picot on chain) 9. rw    

Ch: 2 – 4 – 4 – 2  lj(same picot) 4 – 4 rw

*R: 4 +(vsp) 4. rw    

Ch: 5 rw

R:   4 +(after 1^st tds) 4. rw   

Ch: 5 rw

R:   4 +(after 2^nd tds) 4. rw  

Ch: 5 rw

R:   4 +(after 3^rd tds) 4. rw 

Ch: 4 – 4 lj rw

R:   7 +(picot on TR) 9. rw    

Ch: 2 – 4 – 4 - 2 lj rw

R:   7 +(2^nd picot on chain) 9. rw    

Ch: 2 +(previous chain) 4 – 4 – 2  lj(same picot) 4 – 4 rw*

          Repeat from * to * till end. Tie, cut and hide ends.

******************

A visual study of ds and tds

I learned how to do the treble in these earlier motifs.

But while tatting this triangle more questions arose especially along design lines. I wanted to put these observations to the test. So, choosing thick threads, I set about trying to compare normal double stitches with treble tatting and a few variations. I think the pictures, with notations speak for themselves.

Both double and treble stitches are made of 2 half stitches, though constructed a bit differently.

However, a ds has only 2 ‘legs’ or threads on the core thread, while a treble has 3 ‘legs’ or threads around the core. 

Reason - the first half of a tds is actually a normal double stitch (2 legs) at the base.

This makes the tds wider than the ds by a thread. 

Moreover, a single tds, or a row of tds will start with [1ds,vsp,1ds] and end with [vsp, 1ds].

UPDATE: After further evolution, Ninetta has shown that there is no need to end with [1vsp, 1ds]. We can easily end after the 2nd part of the treble tatting stitch. Automatically a hidden picot becomes part of the structure for future joining. For all links and updates -   https://ninettacaruso.blogspot.com/p/blog-page_95.html

When I showed Ninetta this pic, she shared her precision-based tip; something I had merely observed as explained in the above para.

NINETTA'S DESIGN TIP :

“... one treble takes the place of 1 and half ds, and the contour is spaced as a normal height picot, ...”

While tatting the motifs I sometimes made a mistake in joining to a tds. I had to count each tds to establish which ‘picot’/space was the right one. Given my recent foray into the top view, I wondered how the treble looked from top. 

The trough is one long arc while there are 2 crests within/offsetting it !!! Wow.

In the 3tds segment in above pic, the small crest between the long trough is where the 'picot' is - where we join a future element.

Now here’s where I go into ‘crochet’ mode and treMble to use crochet terms. But I think it will help, so here goes.

A treble starts by pulling a loop through the vsp and again through this loop (1 crochet chain formed). Then we pass the shuttle through this 2^nd loop and wind or wrap the shuttle thread 3 times around it before snugging tight.

I altered the number of loops pulled as well as the wraps made to see whether we can create viable variations of the tds. Yes, it works. (please note that Ninetta’s method is slightly different from the one I used here. A pictorial in next post will show the steps better).

So, from left to center the graduated tds –

1. like the single crochet (sc) –1 loop (no chain) thru vsp and 1 wrap with shuttle.

2. like a double crochet (dc) – 2 loops (1 ch) and 2 wraps

3. like a treble (tr) – 2 loops (1ch) and 3 wraps

4. like a double treble (dbl-tr) – 3 loops (2ch) and 4 wraps

This sequence was repeated in decreasing order. 

We can see the height changing clearly, as well as the number of ‘coils’ around the 2 halves of the treble stitch and its variations.

Please note that this is NOT a crochet stitch as Ninetta has explained in her posts. I have merely used it as a reference for visualization.

If all this is confusing, take a step back and the pictorials will soon reveal all. I have actually gained a whole lot of minute & detailed understanding even as I wrote out this post, and am truly amazed at Ninetta's brilliance especially the 1st half of a treble stitch! For the 2nd half of the treble, the closest similarity I could find was with her Vapor Picot.

to be continued - how-to pictorials

UPDATE : Stepwise pictorial ;

How to join tds & variable tds ; 

half treble ; 

tds worked as a Twisted picot.   

in helping a friend, one helps oneself