climbing out with mock picot

A question was posed in a facebook group and my first answer was incorrect. Got my shuttle, thread and beads out, and gave it a few whirls. Wahoo, got it! (I'm getting good with bead solutions ;-P) Later, Lee Buchanan posted another option.

Climbing Out with a Mock Picot …

with a bead at the base!

What’s special or new about climbing out with a mock picot, you ask? Well, this time there was a bead at the base of the ring and a long picot over it. Looking back it seems, huh, what’s the big deal. Try it with a normal ring, and you’ll discover the issue.

This may have been done before but I’d like to keep a record on hand for future. Sharing both methods here.

For this pictorial, only 1 shuttle is used, with a long thread left attached (ctm).

Method 1 : Mock Ring

1. String beads on the shuttle thread and start a mock ring. I find the self-closing mock ring (SCMR) is neatest and the closure almost ‘invisible’.

Leave a loop and slide a bead after each double stitch (or as per pattern). I have 6 beads here. 

2. After sliding last bead, do not make any more ds, pass shuttle through loop ...

3. ...and close the mock ring. 

4. Leave bare space for the mock picot and make a lock stitch or overhand tie (SLT). Continue with pattern.

Method 2 : Reverse Ring

Lee Buchanan got into the swing of things and offered this RR solution!

1. Start a reverse ring (tutorial links here). A reverse ring or wrong-way tatting starts on the opposite side of a normal ring, and has reverse or unflipped stitches. Make sure the beads are within the loop of the ring, and slide a bead after each reverse stitch. 

2. After sliding the last bead, close the ring. 

3. Threads emerge on either side of bead. 

4. Make a mock picot by securing the bare threads with a lock stitch or SLT and continue with next element in pattern.

As you can see, the end result is the same. Of course, getting that last picot to look unbroken is unavoidable, Unless the next element is a split ring in which case no lock stitch or shoe lace trick is required.

TIP : If beads are on the picot (up beads), one can climb out with a mock picot as in this beautiful Sitka Rose motif here.

Thank you Sheetal. Each time a question is asked, 

there is an opportunity for mutual learning and improvement!

Thank you Lee, for being such an enthusiastic and adventurous tatting sport! 

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