Part 3 snaking it's way through

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...... continued from Part 2

Starting the last leg of our picot tat-along, with a treat.

Method 3 picots of Mituko Ikuta (from her book "Shuttle Lace - Tatting & Bead Tatting 3", is the effect that, to me, distinguishes it from all others. I haven’t come across this intertwined overlap so far. The picots are not just layered and overlapping, but also snake in & out through each other. This effect is more visible when the picots are spaced apart. (Please read discussion at end)

We have made them on a chain in Part 1 - Sections III & IV. 

We will now try that effect on rings.

We start and work exactly like the layered picots in Part 2. However, there is one extra step involved : POSTING THE SHUTTLE THROUGH THE RING. Hence TWO shuttles become necessary here. That’s all there is to it.

OVERLAPPING PICOTS ON RINGS

(inspired by Mituko Ikuta)

PART 3 of tat-along exercise

To refresh memory, the pic below shows how to wrap & position the threads. (it is fine to drop the ring loop while working on the chain, & pick the loop again) .

In my first pictorial pdf I have used the terms ring segment for the blue stitches since these are made on the ring loop; and chain segment for the yellow stitches since these are made on the chain thread.

And this combo pic below shows the parts that the text will refer to …

VI. Over-Under Overlapping Picots on a Ring

Each overlapping picot on the ring interweaves with adjoining picot. It lies over the previous picot but under the next picot.

Load 2 shuttles and Start ring for each section with blue thread (SH1) and make 3DS.

Make 3DS on the ring loop with the blue SH1. 

Post SH2 back to front : Pass yellow SH2 through the ring loop from back to front , but …

... keep yellow thread Between ring loop and blue SH1 thread.

Thus we have SH1 thread in front, followed behind by SH2 thread, and the ring loop right at the back.

Leave picot space and tat yellow chain of 3DS (with SH1 as core thread). (notice that the ring loop is not active in this step & remains at the back)

Let yellow SH2 remain to the left.  Leave picot space and tat 3DS (blue) on ring loop. 

Post yellow SH2 back to front again, as in Pic 29 ; leave picot space & tat 3DS yellow chain.

Continue to make alternating segments for required pattern, posting shuttle back to front before each chain segment, and close ring.

Yes, that's all there is to it !

The Treat !

Are you confident ? Then here's a treat. Try out Ninetta’s Butterfly pattern which uses over-under overlap.

I tatted this in embroidery thread - 3 strands 0325 and size 40 Anchor 0185. 

It measures less than 1 inch

Please refer to Decorative Alternatives in this pictorial for hiding tails when starting and ending (Sec III) ; continuing with the next ring (pics 21-22 on p4) ; and for the faux picot (Sec IV). These are on pages 5-7.  

Now that we know that the chain shuttle (SH2) needs to be posted, I encourage you to try the alternate effect of under-over picots without reading Section VII. Only remember to do the opposite : post the shuttle from front to back, in order to get under-over overlapping picots. 

VII. Under-Over Overlapping Picots on a Ring

Each overlapping picot on the ring interweaves with adjoining picot. It lies under the previous picot but over the next picot. 

(This was covered in Sec I of pictorial pdf )

Start ring with blue SH1 and make 3DS (blue). Then leave picot space & make 3DS yellow chain with SH2 using SH1 as core thread . At present both shuttle threads are in front of the ring loop.

Post SH2 from front to back through the ring loop.

Notice the position of threads – blue SH1 thread is in front, the ring loop is in the middle & SH2 thread is behind.

Compare with pic 30.

Leave picot space & tat 3DS (blue) on ring loop.

Leave picot space & tat 3DS (yellow) on SH1 core.

Remember what to do next ?

Post SH2 from front to back as in pic 36/37. In above pic, the shuttle has been posted & threads re-positioned. SH1 is all set to tat 3DS in ring loop...

Continue to make alternating coloured segments for required patterns, posting shuttle front to back before each chain segment, and close ring.

This completes the tutorial. But so much fun can be had by trying out 

variations of the picots  ...

different picot sizes ;

spaced by a single double stitch or more ;

in single or different colours ;

with addition of beads ;

interspersed with normal picots - within or between ; etc.

These picots, besides being decorative, also provide two (or more) joining points if required in next round, with slight Celtic effect !

DISCUSSION

sources of confusion

the name

The name Ikuta’s Picots has confused many, and also been challenged.

Method 1 is what we commonly know as Double Picots ;

Method 2 is a variation of the Double Picot where the very long Double Picots are joined to adjacent rings, creating a criss-crossing Celtic effect ;

Method 3 is a variation of the pearl tatting picots described by Mlle Riego’s, where instead of simple layered overlapping (as in Riego’s Raised Tatting Book, and covered in Part 2 of tat-along), there is also an interweaving between adjacent picots.

The reason why Georgia Seitz chose this name, in her own words : 

“I used the name Ikuta out of respect from Mrs. Mituko Ikuta from whose book I learned the method and it was to honor her memory that I taught the class in Spokane . Ok so no disrespect to anyone, this was just my way of indicating the type of picot.”

She has now decided to discontinue the name, and hence in this post I have used only Overlapping Picots. The term gives some idea of the effect created. I will be updating previous posts, too. But changing the notations on the pics will require a major overhaul, so I will have to let that be.

the Daisy Picot

Another source of confusion was the Daisy Picot . Now that you have successfully completed the exercise, what do you think ? Is it similar to or the same as the Daisy Picot ? 

Section II of the Pictorial pdf also shows how to use direct tatting for the chain segments in ring.

Here's a collage showing the main steps of making a Daisy Picot, and a couple of variations.
For easy comparison, the thread/shuttles remain the same – SH1 is blue thread, SH2 has yellow thread.

and to add some more confusion .....

the Dizzy Picot

Now consider Mark Myers’ Dizzy Picot. And Sherry Pence’s variation of the Dizzy Picot.

How similar or different is it from the overlapping picots discussed in this Part 3 ? The effect, the construction ?

This is your homework :-)

I have a few more interesting picot effects to share (some already shared on Craftree), but that will have to wait. I’m kind of tired with all these picots snaking in & out of my blog, aren’t you ?

So it’s tata to the current tat-along 

Happy tatting with a :-)

Related Posts : Tat-along Part 1, and Part 2 

Pictorial of Picots pdf 

outlining the picotorial pdf 

Method 2 collage

Part 2 present and past

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continued from Part 1 - Ikuta's Picots on a Chain

Here is the second part of the tat-along exercise on Method 3 of Ikuta’s Picots.

But besides this, there is something wonderfully interesting at the end !

After the 1^st exercise, we now have some understanding of how each picot effect looks (layered and overlapping) and how it is constructed on a chain. The same basic principle follows for the ring.

IKUTA’S PICOT EFFECTS ON RINGS

PART 2 of tat-along exercise

A ring, unlike the chain, is a closed loop, increasing the difficulty a bit. Yet, we can still identify the commonalities between the chain and ring arrangement, as shown in the combined picture below. 

On the left is the chain which we have already made ; on the right is how the elements for a ring will be laid out.

In the ring,

1. think of the ring loop as the blue scrap thread of chain
2. yellow scrap thread remains the same - a chain thread
3. the blue shuttle thread in ring replaces the red core/shuttle thread in chain

For the sake of continuity, clarity, and comparison, the same 2 visible colours have been used. 
The red core thread of chain has been replaced by the SH1 blue thread.

ALL TATTING IS DONE BY THE BLUE SHUTTLE 1 THREAD, ALTERNATING BETWEEN THE RING LOOP (blue) AND THE CHAIN THREAD (yellow)

The above picture shows how we can loop and hold the threads taut. Holding the threads in this manner, we can work alternately on the ring loop and the chain thread without having to drop & pick repeatedly.  

Personally, I had to drop the ring loop when making the yellow stitches, since I am used to wrapping chain thread very loosely once around the pinkie. So, do whatever is comfortable. (Please read related discussion on how to construct below)

To start each part of this tutorial, make a ring loop with SH1 blue thread, 

and attach SH2 yellow thread to the base.   

We will follow the same sequence as in Part 1, starting with the easier layered effect.
Download my previous pictorial on Ikuta's Picots (Method 3) for tips and suggestions on how to start & end a ring, how to connect, and much more.  

V. Layered Picots on a Ring

As the term suggests, the picots are in two distinct layers, just as we saw in the chains in Part 1 of the tat-along. This is in Section V (page 8) of my pictorial pdf 

These picots do not require a 2^nd shuttle (unless using 2 colours) and can be replaced with a ball and single shuttle, without cutting off the thread, ie. by continuous thread method.  

Start as shown in Pic 21, and make 3DS on the ring loop with the blue SH1. 

Leave yellow picot space & make 3DS chain with yellow stitches. 

(this was termed 'chain segment' in my pdf) 

Keep yellow SH2 to the left, pick up the ring loop, leave blue picot space & tat 3DS . 

(this was termed ring segment in my pdf)

Again wrap yellow SH2 thread around pinkie, leave picot space & tat 3DS , as in pic 22.

Repeat these alternate blue and yellow segments till end. Close ring.

Notice the placement/layering of picots : each picot is separate, but yellow picots lie in front or above, and the blue picots lie behind throughout the ring.

These colours can be switched. So how about a bit of homework before we proceed further ?

homework : 
For practice, make another ring, but this time have blue SH1 picots lie above & the yellow SH2 picots lie below. Compare with previous ring. 

And for the sake of interest, let’s turn the previous ring over to see how it looks from the back side ....

The colours are switched ! But the homework is to tat this colour effect so that it lies in front.

Just playing around .... the central ring has only 1DS separating the picots. 

Thinking of an aster, in the right colours, of course ?! So many tatted flowers are possible !!!

And here, all I've done is added a normal picot in the center of each segment. 

Each segment between the overlapping picots is [2DS,p,2DS].

I will continue and conclude this tutorial with the overlapping picots (Method 3) with both over-under & under-over overlapping picots. There will also be a comparison with Daisy Picots.

DISCUSSION

Techniques

how to construct ?

With reference to the wrapping of the ring & chain threads, this paragraph was included on p9 :

"Some experienced tatters have compared Ikuta Picots with Shuttle Brothers’ Alternate Thread tatting or AT Rings technique from their book “Tatting Alternate Threads”. Gina Butler’s video for Alternate Thread Wrap is inspired by this technique & is a practical way of holding both threads in position : 

Mituko Ikuta’s book “Shuttle Lace - Tatting & Bead Tatting 3” was published in the late 1990s & 

Shuttle Brothers’ published their book in 2009.

I do not possess either book, hence am not qualified to determine."

BUT , instructions for this construction have been around for a century and a half !!!   Mlle Riego, in her 1868 book "Raised Tatting Book", details how to use the ring and chain thread to make layered picots, all facing the same side (p10). She has a beautiful star insertion pattern (pp10-12) using picots of differing lengths. 

This is my first practice trial, following her instructions only for the ring. The lower flower is seen from the back side. I will be tatting the entire pattern as a sampler.


is this pearl tatting ? 

Instead of a direct answer to the question asked in Part 1, to which a few answers have been ventured, let me first delineate what I consider the characteristics of Pearl Tatting.

As I understand it, pearl (perle) tatting has 5 main characteristics :

1. picots or perles or pearls
2. multiple threads
3. core thread slides freely
4. double-sided tatting ("double pearl")
5. encapsulation (implied in #2) usually with reverse stitch (direct tatting/wrapped/unflipped stitches)

Some of these conditions are essential and basic to pearl tatting, while others are merely a ‘by-lane’ - one of many paths to reach the destination. It is these by-lanes that lead to variations (& confusion !).

Let us examine each characteristic in relation to the layered picots ... 

# 1 - yes, picots are definitely present.
# 2 - In a chain we were clearly using 3 threads. And as the comparison picture (2nd pic from top) shows, the same reasoning can be applied when tatting the ring. So yes, we are tatting over 2 threads.
# 3 - yes, the core thread slides freely.
# 4 - no, all stitches and picots face the same direction - all are on one side. 

# 5 - encapsulation exists, but so far in the tutorial direct tatting or reverse stitch (RS) is not used. However, in the overlapping picots to be tackled in Part 3 (which are the "real" method 3 of Ikuta's Picots), we Can use direct tatting in the chain segments. Refer to Sec II - Using DS-RS & under-over picots on p.4 of my pictorial pdf. 
On the other hand, Mlle Riego also does not use direct tatting in her 1867 "Pearl Tatting Book". She works pearl tatting (or pearl beading) by reversing work for each segment worked with the extra shuttle(s) or worked on the other multiple thread(s).
So this direct tatting feature of pearl tatting can easily be considered as "optional".

Based on the above, is this form of one-sided or "single pearl" not a variation of pearl tatting, with picots & stitches all facing the same direction instead of opposite directions ?
Your verdict ?

For those who do not attend Georgia's Online Tatting Class, I will talk a bit about how the name "Ikuta's Picots" came about. 

Many thanks 

to Eliz Davis for her valuable feedback on the comparison pic ;

to Judith Connors for patiently guiding me, which includes leading me 

to the wonderful world of Mlle Riego's tatting ; 

to Georgia Seitz for introducing me to these beautiful picot effects ;

and to all tatters who have shown an interest in this tutorial.

to be continued

Related posts : Part 1 - Ikuta's Picots on a Chain

Ikuta's Picots Method 3 Pictorial

The first post