ring as a fish

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you don't take the bite ?
Is she daft, you ask ?! A tatted ring is tear drop shaped and everybody knows that !!!

Tatted Ring as a Fish

Ah, but when we tat a ring, what do we call the 2 threads dangling beneath - the ones we dread coz they need to be hidden ?
Tails (thread tails, tail ends) , correct.
And what does the opposite end look like - the one that is broad ? Add an eye Picasso-style, and what have you ?
Head - of a fish :-D
And this broad head determines how the rings are facing in a medallion or in a motif.

Inward and Outward facing rings

download  pdf  here

Being able to identify whether rings are facing inwards or outwards, can be of help in knowing 

• which joins to use (for instance, do we need to know the folded or twisted picot join when we need to join to the right),
• which shuttles to use and how 2 colours will be positioned, 
• how to orient our diagrams, 
• how to read tatting diagrams, etc. 
• It also makes it easier to explain to others – see images below.
• This is applicable to medallions which enclose a space, and also to rows and rounds in larger patterns - how are the rings joined - inwards or outwards. This also determines the overall Direction in which we work that row, round, or medallion - left/right; clockwise/counterclockwise. This in turn can help us decide what to tat backside in case of directional or fs/bs tatting.

The pdf shows how to identify inward and outward facing rings in a medallion or pattern, using fish as an analogy for a tatted ring.

The pdf is largely graphic. While it is important to know and understand tatting terms, the future of tatting is going visual. Be it books in languages we do not understand and rely only on the diagrams they present, or videos, it becomes important to understand, at a glance, what skills and tools we require.

So, head in the right direction -  follow the head of the fish ring !

If the heads are facing outwards in a motif or medallion, it is outward facing medallion -

are the fish trying to get away from each other or from a fisherman's bait ?!

If the heads are facing inwards, it is an inward facing medallion -

the fish are in a huddle, with their heads knocking each other !

With a fish analogy, it becomes Quick and Simple to tell at a glance and in a couple of words!

While I was working on the pdf, unknown to me, Sandra Figg was working on this video to show us the difference (we both saw the need, generated out of the same discussion thread!). 
Like I said - the future of learning to tat lies in graphics :-)  

The pdf has a few basic terms such as motif, trefoil, clover, medallion, scroll, etc. Hopefully beginners will have no problem in understanding them, and others in identifying which is which.

In case help is needed, I will explain them briefly, with comparative images/collages in next post. Your feedback is awaited. Please leave a comment or email.

whether you like to be in a tatters' huddle or running away from life's bait, 
keep tatting happily always :-)

layered revelation

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tatted snowflake with Celtic effect

Has this happened to you ? Some patterns tend to reveal themselves gradually, layer by onion layer, despite the fact that the designer has presented the pattern clearly, with superb diagram, instructions and a tatted model ?!

This is one such . And each layer brought clarity, simplification, and joy :-)

I had to retro-tat segments a few times, until the elegance of this design gradually made it into me thick skin.

Celeste

Sparrow Kelly

I love the Celtic effect and elegance of this pattern! Not for the faint-hearted, but one soon gets into the rhythm & I enjoyed the challenge.

The diagram and presentation is very appealing & the layering of chains is clearly visible in her diagram.

I had started with the maroon and blue, but made a mistake in the 2^nd repeat. Following the diagram exactly, this is what we get on the 2^nd repeat – an extra chain and a visible picot. Unlike what the diagram says, Ring J is the equivalent of Ring A, where the repeat starts.

I started again, this time with pink hoping that the crossover layers will show better in a lighter colour.

My Notes

• Overall, the snowflake is worked counterclockwise.
• For frontside/backside tatting, all grey coloured elements are tatted backside.
• Ring J is actually the equivalent of ring A, hence next repeat starts from ring J.
• Her tatted model has one extra ring in the inner circle (13 instead of 12, which caused me a lot of confusion. 13 didn’t make sense, yet it was difficult to locate the extra ring - found it finally at 10 o'clock position).
• Always remember to bring both threads to the front after ring H so that the chain is above Ch3 (this is a note to myself, coz I had to retrotat on many occasions!)
• Also important skill required - how to join last ring to first. It is a bit tricky in this pattern, especially when the ring is small (more below).
• Some rings and chains require switching shuttles to get colours into position. SS after ring B, Ch3, Ch4, ring G, ring H, ring I, and Ch9 .
• I used direct tatting (reverse stitch) for some of the short chains, especially between the three rings at the tips.
• UPDATE Shuttles are numbered & colour-coded according to the colour of stitches that show up, not necessarily the shuttle that forms the core thread. Hence green rings will use the green shuttle, but green chains will be made with the grey shuttle. 

Thesee layers revealed themselves gradually. The one layer that remains hidden is how Kelly came up with this synchronised design. Simple rings and chains, no SLTs or Celtic shuttles…. Would be interesting to get a peek into her gray matter, right ?!

Incidentally, I had to peel off layers to find the source of this pattern, too, which I had downloaded a while back. Googled Images, then found Kelly’s blog, (but pattern is no longer there), and her post where she mentioned it was being shared with the OTC. Got the date/month/year and hunted the 2011 OTC index. No image, but thankfully the pdf link was there (April 2011).

Last to First Join

There are many ways to avoid the folded join (and I always avoid). Some of these tutorials are listed here.

But this pattern had a different dilemma. (Not sure whether it was due to frontside/backside tatting, a small ring, or fine thread, hmm or my thick-headedness). :

1. the ‘first’ ring was on the left of the current ring ;
2. the rings were facing outwards
3. avoiding a colour blip and using an up &/or down loop

I rotate the work such that the in-progress ring is on the right of the ring to which it will be joined (and the tapering end is away from me), then pull up/down a loop thru joining picot, pass shuttle through, & snug. It is Still Basically the same as the many tutorials out there, but needs some orientation.

UPDATE (May 10, 2017) : A video showing last to first join has been shared by Sandra Figg. Note the way she rotates the motif to orient the 2 rings correctly.  This same concept of reorientation is applicable to outward facing rings or rosettes.

Many many thanks to Kelly for this wonderful pattern !

 happy tatting :-)