Did you ever notice or wonder why a central ring is round while a normal tatted ring is tear drop shaped despite having the same overall stitch count?!
I've been ruminating over this for a few days and have only one theory. However, I would like you to share your thoughts before I update this blog with my own answer. Both rings above have 20 stitches each. I haven't done anything special except for picots in the central ring version. In fact these are straight off the shuttle, no blocking, etc.
Another pic showing one more ring (5-5-5-5).
This is what I've been enjoying about working on the Glossary. I had added an entry called Shape of Ring which got me delving deeper into this topic. As always happens with me, one thing leads to another and suddenly there are quite a few examples, factors, etc. I don't want to reveal too much though Net Best had given me blanket permission to share anything from her book .... I had refused her then and even now it just doesn't feel right. I tread carefully trying to share only a few of my own inputs here.
But I can share Elena Kozinenko's tip about how a ring is pre-shaped before closing can determine the final shape. It really works and I have tried to incorporate it into my tatting repertoire since. In fact since then I noticed how so many excellent tatters do it similarly. Hadn't ever realised the significance. Never too late to learn and improve ;-D You can find her blog post here along with a link to her video here -https://fairylace.kozinenko.com/perfect-tatting-part-7/
So, waiting to hear your thoughts ....
