never say die

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Serious readers of my blog may recall my inexplicable difficulty in working Aurora's onion rings, despite the fact that I understood the concept and she had laid out a stepwise pictorial with instructions here. Yet based off that method, I easily accomplished Kathleen's variation as seen in this pictorial.  Judith left a couple of comments there today and I decided to give it one more try.

This time I did not follow Aurora's pdf. I went with her concept in my mind and Voila, I got it!!! Yup, never say never! So here is my take ... a quick comparison of 3 methods which includes Judith's suggestion that lies in between.

Specs :

• All rings are true rings, worked with single thread/shuttle.
• Each segment is 6ds.
• Ball thread join or Slope and Roll join used to link outer ring to inner ring. (scroll down to JOINS for tutorial links here)

From left to right :

1. Kathleen's captured onion rings (Variation #1 of Aurora's onion rings method). The inner ring is captured within the base of the 1st half stitch of outer ring - within the leg of the half stitch.
2. Judith's half-hitch capture (Variation #2 of Aurora's onion rings method). The inner ring is trapped between the 1st and 2nd half stitches - between core and working thread. 
3. Aurora's onion rings (original method). The inner ring is trapped after making 1ds. Thus it is trapped between 2 stitches - between core and working threads.
4. Kathleen's method repeated for sake of consistency.

My first thoughts :

• I found it easier to maneuver and position the inner ring using Kathleen's method.
• In Aurora's method (#3 OR) I worked only 5ds in the last segment since 1ds had been worked while trapping the inner ring at the start.
• This also causes a slight offset or perhaps I need to practice more.
• I can barely detect any difference in the bulk in either of the 3 methods, although I understand that technically Judith's comment is right. 
• They are all fairly flat.
• I think Judith's variation is visually best, though Kathleen's is easier to implement. 
• Judith also mentioned posting the shuttle. I tried it, but didn't like the result, and pulled the thread back to 'normal'. To be sure, I post shuttle Only for backside rings - works for me.
• More practice and application required, along with experimenting with 2 colours.

UPDATE : I forgot to add a slightly different type of "captured rings" - Floating Beads method used to capture the inner ring with the flexibility that it can lie flush against the outer ring, or can float at a slight distance. Here are a couple of pictures showing the diversity -

 

Floating Beads method with Tatted Rings 

It is not as elegant as the above methods, obviously.

Dancing Peacocks medallion was adapted to become the center of my Design Round Robin doily. This is the center where Kathleen tatted the floating inner ring using her captured OR method instead of the FB method and I learned it from her.

Many thanks to all three tatter-designers ; 

love to have options and multiple paths toward improvement!

captured onion rings

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Ninetta has been posting a comprehensive study of Onion Rings – their construction and variations – along with pictorials and tutorial links. A must-read for anybody wishing to learn, explore, or improve. A sumptuous dish!

My guess is that Marilyn followed one of those links to my blog and left a comment for help with captured onion ring. 

Ever since I tried it here for the first time, I have been hooked to this method and have used it consistently with good effect. I think this is a good excuse, and opportunity, to present a stepwise tutorial.

Captured Onion Rings

Kathleen Minniti's method

BACKGROUND :

Captured Onion Rings are a pair of concentrically placed True rings. These true rings can be tatted with the same shuttle, or with different shuttles for a 2-colour version.

Aurora Lozada first shared her Perfect Onion Ring method (pdf) in 2014 with the Online Tatting Class. She captures the inner ring between the core and working thread After making 1ds. Thus the inner ring is captured Between adjacent stitches of the outer ring. After closing the outer ring, the emerging thread is offset by the 1^st ds. 

Kathleen Minniti improvised Aurora’s method to capture the inner ring Within the 1^st half-stitch of outer ring. After completing the outer ring, the thread emerges from the center.

I can now understand Aurora’s method, but am still unsuccessful at executing it! Kathleen’s method is like tatting over tails, substituting the inner ring for the tail. I can do that - and if I can, You certainly can!  

Captured Onion Ring Pictorial - FRONTSIDE

I have used a single shuttle for the pictorial. 

Inner ring : 6 – 6.

Outer ring : 10 + 10.

1. Tat inner ring. Close ring and loop the thread around to start outer ring.

2. Hold in pinch.

3. Start 1^st half stitch – under ….

4. …..over

5. 1^st half-stitch seen clearly after the flip, but do not snug.

6. Pass the inner ring through the open leg of this 1^st half-stitch. Follow the core thread (just as in tatting over tail).

7. Bring the leg to the base of the inner ring by wiggling your left index finger, and

8. snug tight. Make sure the stitch is as close to the base as possible, and that the core thread slides freely.

9. Make the 2^nd half-stitch (over-under) and

 10. snug normally. 1^st ds complete.

11. Tat around the inner ring, joining to the picot. I used the ball thread or onion ring join. 

12. Close the outer ring normally. A pair of concentric or onion rings is ready.

In the above ConcentriCITY snowflake, there are 3 concentric rings where the outermost is a chain or mock ring. To bring the shuttles in position, the middle ring is worked backside. This is what Marilyn was referring to. Hence here are a few pics showing the backside working of the captured onion ring.

Note: In directional or frontside/backside tatting, the sequence of half-stitches in a ds is reversed (hence called RODS – reverse order of double stitch) working 2^nd half before 1^st half-stitch. 

Captured Onion Ring Pictorial - Backside

In this pictorial, both rings are worked backside, but this is not compulsory.

1. Inner ring worked backside. Loop the thread around to start outer ring, and pass shuttle over-under to make the 2^nd half-stitch.

2. 2^nd half-stitch made, but do not snug.

3. pass the inner ring through the open leg of the half-stitch, following the core thread.

4. Snug the stitch as close to the base of inner ring as possible.

5. Make 1^st half-stitch. 1RODS complete.

6. Continue around, joining to the picot, and close the outer ring normally.

7. This is how it looks from the front. (There is some inadvertent space left at the base - the ring should've been pulled close more tightly to avoid that pink line).

Note : This method is so basic that it can be used even for chains/ mock rings, etc. , either in onion rings or in other situations. 


Hope this answers your question, Marilyn?

Many many thanks to Aurora & Kathleen :-) 

My onion rings have certainly improved!  

UPDATE : Comparison of Captured Onion Rings - original and variations!

Ice drop Enchained

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A few days back I bought assorted glass pebbles in order to make Jane McLellan’s Elana. Didn’t get to it (yet) but I had an idea when I made my charmed cross pendant. It has a large open space in center – ideal for an ice drop makeover!

Finally got around to experimenting with it this morning.

Ice Drop Enchained 

(a prototype experiment)

My idea was to have long picots all along the chain in front, then link to these picots when tatting the chain at the back. Well, it didn’t quite materialize due to my laziness – didn’t want to leave the warm winter sun to get a picot gauge ;-P

The picots turned out to be too short. 

This is the price I paid for being lazy and not leaving the warm winter sun to get a picot gauge!

But I improvised….by using a lock join with shuttle 2 (also called a ball thread join) leaving enough space to create a mock picot when encasing. Just like we do in Inverted Tatting.

I must say I’m not unhappy with the textured edge this creates.

This is worked in Anchor size 40 and is easily adaptable to any shape and size gem.

But all is not well.

• The stitchcount needs tweaking. I had to substitute the original gem.
• Worked in one pass, but I let the chains make a single point at the tips instead of having an all-round encasement/pocket.
• The picots need to be longer still.
• I ended up keeping the medallion at the back and working the other chain from front. Not that this should be a problem.

The fact remains that it Can be done ! A gem caged between chains within picots ! Even normal picots with regular picot joins. Some dexterity is required to hold the piece when joining, though. I held it sideways, ie., the side faced me, thus making it easy to pull loop through picot and make joins.

I had more ideas for this –

Tat the clovers on both sides – front and back – and join while tatting, inserting a large bead/gem within the space. This would create a nice pendant when chains were inserted at both ends later. For some other day….

Another idea based off Diane’s recent ice drop – tat a twin split ring braid, folding it along the middle to encapsulate the gem. Then add any more rounds as desired.

Also for another day. I do have nice glass pebbles now :-D

happy tatting !!!

Related Posts

my magnifier & mirror drops

my sea shell with pearl drop

my space ship drop

heart to heart to heart to ...

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... and soon we have a bracelet !

Presenting the free pattern and a pictorial for my

Y Block  Heart  Bracelet Y

Click here to download pattern

Who would've thought a little heart in the corner of a collage would make it's way to so many hearts ! A journey that started in 2014 ends here. 

Georgia has graciously published this pattern in the latest Bellaonline Newsletter and has included it in her Feb 13th Online Tatting Class ! 

It is difficult to include every little detail in a pattern. Through a pictorial, I can include my reasoning, alternatives, and tips. You are free to choose your favorite method of block tatting and hiding ends.

materials required

a knotless start :
1. ‘wrap’ the 2 threads around each other

2. tat over shuttle 2 tail, hiding it in the starting ring.

3. close ring & snip off extra tail later. (this ring is smaller – only for pictorial purposes)

4. start Block I, tatting over shuttle 2 tail.

5. leave a very small picot at the start of row 1

6. complete row 1 and continue. Don’t pull too tightly on the tail end yet. 

7. begin row 2 with a very small picot, 1DS, another vsp
    NOTE : I like to use 2 fhs at the beginning of even (DS) rows, instead of 1DS.

8. 2 picots seen at beginning of row 2

9. lock join (LJ) to row 1 and continue with row 3
    NOTE : all DS rows worked from left to right, end in a lock join.

10. row 3 is tatted with reverse stitch. After LJ, make 1 RS, vsp.

      NOTE : I make 2 unflipped 2nd half stitch (ushs)

      Now tug at the shuttle1 tail from #3 and snip off the excess. Both tails hidden !!!

11. At end of row 3, I make a “block/ball” join (BJ) (UPDATE: this is the same as ball thread join in onion rings or Teiko Fujito's outer thread join)

      NOTE : all RS rows worked from right to left, end in a "block/ball" join

12. block I completed  

13. start Block II with a DS row

14. working the block

15. a BJ at end of row 7 (UPDATE: this is reverse join)
     COMPARE #11 & #15 : the loop that is pulled up through the picot will determine which colour is visible at the end of that row.

16. snug the BJ

17 Make another BJ (reverse join) in vsp of row 4

18. depending on which colour you want to highlight, choose the loop from that thread. The difference is visible in #22 below : on left both loops were from light colour ; on right pic, the BJ to row 4 was made with darker colour thread,  thus giving a dark center.

19. block III starts with a RS row

20. BJ to the free vsp on block I

21. Catherine wheel join (CWJ) on vsp of row 11

 22. one heart complete. Now to make a split ring with bead in center.

23. start first half of split ring (SR), joining to chain below.

24. hold bead in picot

25. complete second half of SR, joining to the bead picot.

      NOTE : the number of stitches on either half of SR will depend on the bead size being used.

I still don't have bracelet findings. Hence I strung more pearl beads through both threads and made a simple knot. Keep them a bit loose.

Then I joined a metallic split ring and wove the thread tails back into the beads to hide.

The bead tail can be inserted through the starting ring and the length of bracelet altered to suit any wrist. Marie tested this for me, wearing it for quite a while and she confirms that it works.

I've read/seen a tip somewhere - insert a hair pin through the split ring ; then insert through the tatted ring and pull the beads through. No need to ask anybody for help ;-P

 Y  Block  Heart  Brooch/Pendant  Y

                                                                                (WIP)

The heart motif pattern is generic. As long as block I is a square and the number of rows is even, the heart can be enlarged to any extent, while still keeping shape. The above model is tatted in size 3 or 5 thread. It has 8 stitches per row and 6 rows per block.  

I am halfway through adorning it. Will share that pic in another post or upload here, too.

UPDATE : Completed pattern (pdf soon) - Spring is in my Heart pendant

UPDATE : published in De Frivolite(k)ring 2018 #1 (35)

Sorry for not keeping my promise of short posts ;-D But hopefully a stepwise pictorial will help some of the beginners. Enjoy Valentine's Day !

YA grateful thanks to Georgia, Melanie, Marie, Ninetta, Corina for their invaluable contribution in terms of feedback, suggestions, and test tatting. 

I was equally touched when my other friends offered to set aside their own work if I needed their help. What’s not to love about Tat Land ?! 

Y happy tatting J Y

connecting with joins

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Wanting to get back on track last month, I chose a ‘simple’ one like Day 10. But as always, I have a penchant for complicating everything ! I have continued to play with colour combinations & placements in this snowflake, too.

The Tenth Day of December Snowflake

Lene Björn

from 24 Snowflakes in Tatting

for 2016 Snowflake Challenge on Craftree

Con-joined !

Visualization : The USP of this snowflake, for me, is the elegant curves of the long chains, which I wanted to highlight in a single colour (yellow here), keeping the rest of the pattern in the background. Could this be accomplished without an overhand tie, since the SLT would create a slight dent or break in the chain ?! If not SLT, then what else ???  

Round 1 – measures just over 1”

3 strands of Anchor embroidery cotton : 0325 .

Techniques : single shuttle, rings-only, join last ring to first ring, hiding ends with SSSR, and hiding ends with whip stitch.

Simple round. To avoid hiding ends, I used SSSR for last ring . And hid the other tail with whip stitch on pink segment of 1^st ring. 

The whip stitch really works !!! Much easier, too, and I have been using it this past month. Thanks Carollyn !

Round 2 – measures 3¼” final

Anchor Size 40 yellow 4054-0293 in shuttle 1

Anchor Size 50 lavender 4054-098 in shuttle 2

Techniques : 2 shuttles, mock rings, Reverse Join (RJ), outer thread join (otj) , ball thread join, folded chain, picot joins (PJ), floating or thrown rings (FR), decorative & graduated picots.

fhs - first half stitch ; shs - second half stitch ; vsp - very small picot

To fold chain, start with a very small picot followed by seta (2fhs) or by setb (2shs). Folding the chain automatically reverses work, re-positioning the shuttles/threads. The same is true for reverse join, where shuttle positions get switched. Hence, one may have to continue to tat from the back side, even though this has not been indicated in the pics. (Please note : all pics, except #6, are taken from front side, even though work may have been reversed)

Working Round 2

Except for the lavender floating ring, all tatting was done with shuttle 1 .

1. Mock ring in order to split it into 2 colours. Reverse Join used to link to Rnd 1.

I also experimented with outer thread join, but preferred RJ. 

2. Fold chain (vsp, seta) at end so that lavender thread comes to the left ; 

normal picot join to vsp of previous chain to make a 2-coloured mock ring (inset)

 3. Make last picot of floating ring very small ; fold chain (vsp. setb) at end .

 4. Reverse Join to Round 1 ; again complete 2-coloured mock ring, but with reflected colours.

 5. Ball thread join to vsp on lavender floating ring. 

Now there are yellow picots on either side of lavender ring !

6. (as seen from back) Make normal picot on chain; fold chain ; 

Reverse Join to Rnd 1, and continue from 1.

  

My notes :

• To compensate for difference in thread sizes, I added a few stitches to size 50 lavender in Round 2.
• The picots on both sides of the lavender floating ring should’ve been longer. This would’ve prevented the yellow chains from being pulled into an angular curve. The yellow chains stayed continuous, no breaks or colour blips, but the elegant curves were lost due to the picot lengths.
• It was only after the 2^nd join, that I realized that the picot colours on either side of the lavender ring were different !!! (arrows in pic below show the mismatch on either side of lavender rings)
  
  The ball thread join came in handy here. I chose yellow picots, but the alternate is equally possible – keeping all picots lavender. (pic #6) Hmm, yes, I should've gone with lavender picots ! 

Outer thread join is something I have used (& spoken of) in my patterns for a long time, without knowing the correct name. It is Teiko Fujito's "outer thread joining method". I even confused it with the slope & roll join since it's construction is basically the same, except that one ‘pops’ the shuttle thread through the picot. This ‘pop’ encapsulates the core (SH1) thread, giving a blipfree join. The formative movements are the same as split ring joins . 

And the fun part is that shuttles can be switched in function, but the result will remain the same !!! (more on this in a future post - Part IV of Joins in Shuttle Tatting series)

My visualization did not take shape, but the happy note is that I could figure out how to choose a path(s) in order to reach the destination. Learning never goes to waste, and my growing repertoire of tatting techniques & diverse joins afforded me this freedom. I may tat this one again.

I have completed Day 7 using 3-coloured onion rings a long time back, but haven't been able to put together a post. Am currently on the last part of Day 17, where again I have used the running scroll to create mock rings in same colour, without SLT. That takes care of 10 snowflakes. To be on par, I still need to tat 2 more snowflakes this month.

Renulek's Wiosna Round 10 is over, but needs to be blocked before photographing.

happy tatting :-)

Related Posts : outer thread join in Tiny Heart Poppy

Joins in shuttle tatting Part II

Lene's Snowflakes Day 1 , Day 2 , Day 3 , Days 4 & 5 , Day 6 , Day 11