When we come across a new tatting term/technique, always try to place it within the larger set of techniques you already know. You will be surprised to find that you might already know the technique or at least parts of it. And then learning becomes easier, smoother, and associative.
One of the first messages waiting for me yesterday morning was about the Loop Tatted Ring (LTR) in the Christmas Star pattern by Krystyna Mura, an E31 adaptation. [pdf: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1fz0Hd9jgGnS_qWKayw4UX2Ikr-mp-npb/view]. It starts with a LTR over a bead.
Despite the video and pictorial links suggested in the pdf itself, Ulrike found it difficult to grasp. I, too, watched a few videos, consulted a few tutorials and found that it could indeed be difficult to grasp, despite the resources themselves being good. For one, they were all about a LTR on a ring which meant there are too many loops to consider, keep track of, and can become confusing.
That got me thinking and here's how I went about it. Deconstruct the LTR and you will find the basic concept, or at least some steps, is something you might've done before.
Step 1. Can you finger-tat?
Step 2. Have you tatted a single shuttle split ring (SSSR) Mathew Takeda style?
If the answer to both these questions is YES, then you are well on your way to tatting a Loop Tatted Ring!
Very soon, she came back with her SSSR braid , having consulted a few resources listed in my Resources page [https://tipsaroundthehome.blogspot.com/p/tatting-resources.html]
Step 3. Now tat an entire ring using only the finger-tatting method. After all finger tatting with a loop employed for part of the segment of a SSSR is exactly what you do in LTR, but for the entire ring!
And by jove, she got it! All within a few hours.
Step 4. Now we can tat the LTR over a bead easily as shown in several tutorials.
I had written the entire post yesterday but then thought a limited/specific pictorial would help other tatters facing a similar issue, to work this lovely Star pattern too. Hence today I created a stepwise how-to for Rounds 1 & 2 of the pattern. I also took the time to read Miranda's post and pictorial again after several years and discovered the similarities of association! She also gives a nice history of this technique. I apologise for the unintentional repetition. Unfortunately Sabina Madden's site is down though she is trying to find another server to reinstall paradisetreasures.com.
Now a Loop Tatted Ring or LTR is not limited to a LTR on Ring (LTROR). It can be used in several different ways, including on a chain as a thrown ring [https://tipsaroundthehome.blogspot.com/2021/08/thrown-floating-and-8-rings.html pages 7-8 in the pdf] or after a chain.
Here it is used as a central ring. We could've used a normal ring or a mock ring. But with both methods, we would not have been able to seamlessly add the bead through both threads to resemble the bead on a picot. LTR allows us the freedom to work continuously with the bead. In a lot of circumstances LTR allows us to tat something that would normally require a 2nd shuttle.
https://tipsaroundthehome.blogspot.com/2016/07/refresher.html
Thank you very much, the pdf is very clear!
ReplyDeleteGlad you approve, Nin. Ulrike liked it, too, although she had already figured it out based on my input 💕
DeleteGosh, it’s a long time since I did the loop tatted ring from paradise treasures. Yes, you have to get your head around such techniques. Good for you for helping Ulrike SEE it. I’m sure your tutorial will help others too.
ReplyDeleteI do hope so, Jane. 💕 Don't want anybody to not tat the lovely snowflake merely because they couldn't 'get' it.
DeleteI must say I have never heard of loop tatted rings. But to me the simplest way to make that canter ring is as a mock ring, then unwinding the shuttles, slipping in the bead, rewinding and then tatting onwards. And keeping the threads short to avoid tangles.
ReplyDeleteYes, Lavi, what you suggest is a very good option if there is only one (or a couple) such ring. What if we had a circle of rings with thrown rings and a bead between each of them 😁 Ultimately. whichever method one is comfortable with, is what matters 💕
DeleteAh, in that case I would sew the beads in afterwards. :D
DeleteIndeed, we all have our own methods we prefer.
😁😍
DeleteIf it was not easy for you, then it must be hard, I like the look of the ring but I dont think I have made a looped tatting ring, something else to put on my to do list
ReplyDeleteIt's not really that tough, once you deconstruct and understand the steps, Margaret. 💕 The lady who asked for help actually learned within a few hours, because of the incremental steps, after consulting respective tuts.
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