peony interlaced

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Moving beyond linear designs, my next interlacing project is circular. It is still a work in progress since I want to go beyond a single round. I have an idea of what I want, but the exact number of rounds is still a mystery.

And this time there are 4 shades, one in each shuttle. Here’s how I started the first split rings without any knot. (scroll down to 'C')

A short while back Anita sent me a photo of her peonies, and I have tried to capture the flower as best I can in the shades I have.

Anchor cotton, size 20.

4 shuttles. Shuttles 1 & 2 have the darker reds; shuttles 3 & 4 have pinks.

Basic pattern :

SR1 : 12 / 11, do not close. Pass shuttle #3 front to back through SR1.

SR2 : 10 / 10. Pass Sh3 front to back again, close both split rings and repeat, joining back to first pair.

Peony Wreath pattern

For a floral effect, as seen in the model, the outermost edge has graduated picots and the pattern is as follows –

Refer to Pictorial for front to back interlacing  

SR1 : 1 (–1)x11 / 11, do not close. Pass shuttle #3 front to back through SR1.

SR2 : 2 (–2)x4 / 2 vsp 6 vsp 2. Close both SRs after posting Sh3 again.

Repeat these 2 SRs, joining to the vsp of previous ring, and back to first pair. There are 10 pairs in total.

This can be a standalone project. Add beads and findings for earrings or pendant, or use as a tree ornament. Perhaps a miniature frame? It measures 2" across.

If you wish to continue, here’s the next round with petals….

Peony pattern (DIP)

Folded chain technique or Victorian Sets is used to create the dimples – a set of 1^st half stitches (fhs) followed by a set of 2^nd half stitches (shs) creates a beautiful dent.

Worked with one shuttle and ball, continuous thread. Attach to space between outer split rings.

Chain : 2 vsp 8, 4fhs 4shs, 3 – 5 vsp 2. lock join to next space.

[Chain2: 2 + 8, 4fhs 4shs, 3 – 5 vsp 2. lock join to next space.] Repeat all around.

Note: I count the lock join, followed by 2^nd half stitch as 1 double stitch.

Since the next rounds are going to be in variegated pink, yellow was chosen to break the excess of pink (not a shade I am fond of). However, one can continue with pinks or any colour of your choice, and climb out using split chain.

At this stage it measures 2½” across.

So, what do you think? I’m pretty happy at how it’s shaping out, though there is ample scope for improvement in all areas. But I'll let it be for now. 

DYJ instead of LJ

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Enclosed space medallions, as the term suggests, have a negative space outlined with tatting elements. When this space is large, the lace lacks the structure to hold it’s shape. Early tatters added a needle woven scaffolding after tatting was completed. 

Dora Young Join variation of 

Daniela Mendola's Filigree Stitch Motif

Now Daniela has shared a filling method that is all tatting and can be done with a single shuttle or a needle. It is like mignonette but instead of rings there are lock joins to the bare threads in previous round because we are moving inwards instead of outwards! She calls it Filigree Stitch or Punto Filigrana.

For my first attempt, I chose thick thread (Bliss, size 3?) for medallion and placed it on grid paper to mark the picots and the distance between them. 
Ninetta’s blipless join (without the half stitch) is perfect for variegated threads.

This gave me an idea of the length of bare thread required. It is 7mm here.

For filling I chose finer Red Rose pearl cotton size 8 (≡20) to better see, feel, and control. Single shuttle required.

Filigree stitch is done with lock joins from the back side. I started, but managing the lj was tricky. So I switched to Dora Young Join (DYJ) which is like the Catherine Wheel join but with one shuttle/thread only. This is done from the front, and appears like a double stitch. It locks in the bare thread and holds shape well. It is the same as tatting over a cabone, but only one stitch.

At this stage it started to ruffle a bit. Simple rolling pin blocking flattened it out later.

I thoroughly enjoyed this DYJ filling - it was smooth sailing - though the BTS could've been shorter. This was so much more fun than needle-weaving. And this DYJ filling has created a bit of a different look. 

Apologies to Daniela for not following the letter, only the spirit. But now that I have an idea, I will be trying again with shorter BTS and lock joins to achieve the beautiful pinwheel effect. Might even need more rounds. I will be snipping off this filling to rework the new one. 

Would a variegated or tinted thread filling show off the swirl better?

Related Posts/Pages

introduction to enclosed space medallions

answering a question  

links to tutorials

dancing or flying ?

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free tatting pattern

Peacock is the national bird of India and today we are celebrating the adoption of our Constitution in 1950. Seemed like a good day to share the pattern inspired by peacocks – one of my favourite birds.

Dancing Peacocks

Medallion & Earring patterns pdf

 UPDATE : Dancing Peacock Earrings updated pattern with count 

See blog post here. 

It all started with my desire to make a medallion enclosed with onion rings. If you remember I shared the design process & trials here...

There are reasons for choosing certain techniques and effects, most of which I have already explained in that post. I have detailed my own working in the pdf. 

However, it is left to the tatter’s own preference to work the pattern as s/he sees fit. I have deliberately not tried to work it in one colour, though.

I found it Extremely difficult to take a photograph of the blue/green model alone without having something else beside it. It always turned out hazy. Below is the only pic that survived the dump.

I find that if picots are added to the thrown rings, we can join medallions for a longer lace. Placed side by side, this is how they would look.

The previous post contains some more details and pics of the earring adaptations.

I got back to Inkscape after more than 2 months and it took a few moments to recover my motor memory for icons, etc. But once I got going, it was exhilarating. Which is how the earring schematic came about ;-P

And in the process I figured out another Inkscape hack on how to quickly draw an over-under thread - as a continuous curved line undulating around a previous element. Hope I have time to make a proper post.

Lots of links are included in the pdf. Click on the blue text to go to the source.

There are also suggestions for some variations and adaptations of the pattern.

download pattern here.

Republic Day is also celebrated by flying kites. The late afternoon/evening sky is filled with colourful kites! I don’t know how to string and fly a kite, but I can sure string and let my shuttle fly!!!

hope you dance & fly with this pattern as I have :-)

mad or maddening ?

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am I going mad over medallions ?

do you find it maddening to go through it  with me ?

Well, you are excused ; can’t say whether I can be rescued yet ;-P

Yup, more trials, prototypes and procedural peeks !

Made sporadically over the last several weeks, experimenting with different elements and effects to form enclosed space medallions.

1. Square Wave

Combination of elements -- space outlined with alternating split rings and chains.

I’d forgotten all about this. Lucky to have taped it on the page! Trials start from bottom up and the yellow one is rejected now.

2nd round creates a bit of a swirl wave if seen closely.

Need to decrease the negative space.

I had some time today and worked around the square with small tweak. This one has offset picots and smaller SRs in 1^st round.

Techniques : 2-shuttle tatting, split rings, lock joins. 2 rounds. About 3.5" in Anchor size 20.

2. Dancing Peacocks

Onion rings enclose the space.

This design gave me grief!!! Whether it was getting the innermost JR to lie flat or where to place the picot to join adjacent rings. Also, how many onin rings were needed for the medallion to lie flat, since I didn't want to increase the length of the connecting chains. 

The bits you see above don't show the parts where I un-tatted and re-tatted!

Finally, I did away with joining picots altogether.  Now, I can decide where the adjacent rings need to be attached and place picots accordingly. 

The innermost ring is a FB-JR. The overhand knot in floating beads method Does make the Josephine Ring lie in same plane as the outer rings. 

Although I deliberately made spaced out concentric rings, it cramps the adjacent rings. 

Need to reduce the stitchcount in the 3rd onion ring.

Techniques : 2 shuttle-tatting, Josephine ring using Floating Beads method, Onion rings (faux rings made with chains), dots, thrown/floating rings.

3. Inter-Sections

Celtic or Interlaced center made with lock chains.

This piece is made in pieces ! Hence the name.

Although there are many on my to-tat list, I don't remember tatting any such faux-Celtic pieces. So I'm actually thrilled to get something off the shuttles!

2 triangles make up the 6-point interlaced center.

Then a round of lock chains.

Next a 6-tip insertion through rings.

Followed by another round of LCh.

Need to remove the last round (as already done above) unless more rounds are added. Need to increase the central negative space, and also use different colours. Lots of tweaking required !

Techniques : 2-shuttle tatting, lock chains, interlacing, lock joins.

For the present these are standalones, but can easily function as motifs to create larger lace. 

Medallions are a quick, fun way to design and stop whenever desired.  Who knows I might come back to enlarge some of these at some future date. Meanwhile my medallion stash increases (as does my workload ;-P) ! 

have fun whatever you tat J

charmed cross ?

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Off and on, for the past few months, I’ve been tatting and designing medallions - different shapes and effects. I’ve already shared some medallion patterns/prototypes. 
Here’s my latest, the first of this year - an oval that turned into jewellery .... 

....  Charmed ! - a cross pendant

This post only talks of the design process since it is still a prototype. The final pattern will be shared after I re-tat it. I received confirmation from an ever-enthusiastic Denise that she is test-tatting several versions - I'm just as curious to see what she comes up with :-)

I wanted to create an oval shaped inner space with chains and use trefoils instead of clovers. It is interesting to discover that clovers are more prolific than trefoils for the center.

Browsing the net and antique books didn’t turn up anything within those parameters. Or perhaps I didn’t like the ones that did show up. Either way I set about trying my hand at this shape.

1. First came the one in purple with my basic elements – chains and trefoils.

2. Both elements needed bolstering, hence anchored the trefoils to the chains, and linked ring pairs to each side in the next round and .

3. My 3^rd attempt was more of a cleaning up. I shifted the ring pair to the inner chains - as thrown rings (hence outward facing). 
I now had a decent shuttle shape though a bit obese with all the holiday feasting ;-P

4. Trying to get out of my comfort zone, I tried to spruce up the 2^nd round. While ending, I eliminated the thrown ring at the top to see what it would look like and to give me an option for next trial. This made it look a bit like a cross!

Drew 3 rings at the tips in above pic to create a more cross-like shape - one possible variation. Another could be with a longer lower arm. Lots to keep me busy....

5. Sewed in beads using Anchor size 40 in same colour. In case I didn’t have the same colour, I would’ve followed Jane’s tip here.

In Anchor size 20 (close to a size 10 Lizbeth), this pendant measures 2”x3”. In smaller thread it can be used for earrings.

I call it “Charmed” because one can use a charm of one's choice instead of a teardrop in the negative space. I don’t have any in my stash to show though.

It can be tatted in one pass using a split ring on the side pair to climb out, and Floating Beads method to add teardrop beads/charms. The crystals can be loaded on the shuttles.

I like how this has shaped up. Fairly elegant, even if I say so myself ;-P

However, was the initial goal accomplished?

The medallion is more spindle shaped inside and angular outside, than an oval. 
My next trial will be with a short chain between each of the trefoil rings as in the lone sketch on the left. It defeats the trefoil criterion, but may be I’ll learn along the way … 

happy tatting always :-)

new learning

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The variety and application of techniques in many vintage books is truly impressive. I hope to spend more time browsing through and working some patterns from them.

The Priscilla Tatting Book #3 (free download from Antique Pattern Library) is one such.

Tatted Medallion with Woven Center (Fig 69)

This square medallion is inset in fabric and also linked into an edging for the ‘Centrepiece in Tatting and Weaving’. The weaving between adjacent medallion in the circular edging is even more impressive. 

I chose to tat the square with 3 strands of Anchor embroidery floss. 

The sides are just over 2 inches long. 

There is a central picot common to the 3 large rings at each corner.

Isn’t it a beautiful arrangement?!

But what interested me more was the woven center - something I hadn’t attempted. I chose 2 strands threaded through a tapestry needle for weaving.

Found this interesting and informative article by Georgia Seitz - Tatting with Needle-Weaving Centers  

I tried to follow the Priscilla instructions as well as those in the article, but somehow couldn’t figure out where the needle 'returned to' for the support lines.

So here’s what I did :

1. First, I pinned down the square in order to keep it taut.
2. Then inserted a pearl-headed pin in the center of the negative space.
3. Now, starting with the tail in the center, I went through a picot to create a support beam, and back around the central pin, before moving to adjacent picot in one direction….
4. After the last beam was done initial weaving was easier with the pin still in place. After a couple of rounds, I removed the pin and continued the under/over movement.

This is my one-n-only first attempt at weaving outside of embroidery and will take some practice to get it tidier. But I’ll get there some day!

Combining tools and techniques creates interesting texture and designs, and widens our scope.

hope your new year is off to a creative start!

weave dreams into tatting !

a floral path

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Round 7 of the ‘Pikotek’ or Doily #10 is now completed and sent to Agnieszka.

In Anchor size 40, it now measures 8½ inches at its widest. 

This gives an idea of how deeply set these 1 inch flowers are since round 6 was 8” across.

These little flowers are a joy to tat!!! I can easily finish 3 in just one evening, 

including sewing in tails.

Yet other activities slowed down this round, but not the pleasure.

And in order to reduce the pink dominance, the centers are made in cream.

I dallied whether to use them alternately with all-pink flowers (as in above pic), 

but the 2-colour ruled. 

Which meant I had to cut out and tat 2 extra but who’s complaining! 

See the pic below for comparison.

TIP : If the entire pattern was available, I would've worked each flower separately, 

and joined to the floating ring while working round 6 (as I had done here).
I did a quick rolling pin block without pulling out/shaping every double picot...will do it at final stage. 

3 more rounds to go, but they are mostly chains, so should tat up quickly.

While I have a couple of ideas on where I'd like the colours to go, 

it's up to the shuttles to behave themselves!

Previous Rounds :

Rounds 1 & 2 ; Round 3 ; Round 4 ; Round 5 ; Round 6

shuttles are like pet cats – they rule!

happy tatting always J

layering effects

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I’ve been revisiting a few techniques – both using layered or stacked rings - to refresh my memory.

Ninetta’s modern adaptation using a floating layered ring was my first stop. I converted it into a flower pattern. DH thought it looked like a lotus! Lotus motif is a fairly common sight in temple architecture, decorative ceilings in buildings/rooms, Jaipur-style paintings, etc. That settled the name ....

Lotus Medallion

(prototype)

In Anchor size 20, the finished flower measures 6cms across.

The inner medallion uses the same stitchcount and process as Dillmont’s original motif. Except that I made 6 rings instead of 4 – which meant I had to add 2 more picots to the floating ring. All details here. This center can be made with a single shuttle and a long tail pulled out to work the floating ring and 2ds of split ring.
This is a modern variation of the rosette or enclosed space medallion.

I hadn’t planned anything specific. But this looked so forlorn that I had to do something to cheer it up ;-P

I continued with the layering theme, this time with chains. When did I last use 4 shuttles? Time to set them up :-D Tried out my idea with some scraps and ran out of the red at this stage. 

Starting again, I used light and dark shades of the same colour - this contributes to the 3D effect. 

Yes, those are dot picots in a diamond arrangement! Can't stay away from experimenting ;-P Here's how I worked it ... Dot Picot tutorial links here

Work a string of 3 dot picots with shuttle 2, and 1 dot picot with shuttle 1.

Note : When making this dot picot with shuttle 1, leave a very tiny bit of thread on both sides.

In order to make the make the single picot clearly visible, 

I used the Floating Beads with tatted rings method, tying an overhand knot around the base of the dot picot. 

The faux bead now rests at a slight distance from the chain.

Now start the chain close to the faux beads. 

When the chain is tensioned, the 4 dot picots form a kind of diamond shape. 

If one is using beads instead of dot picots, this round can be worked with 2 shuttles attached to respective balls. Pre-string 18 seed beads in each ball, and 6 seed beads in each shuttle.

Chains on either side of the faux beads have 10 stitches each. But this can be changed to suit one's taste.  

Chains are lock joined to the picots on inner medallion. But remember to overlap the new chain Before making a lock join with the previous one. Also keep the overlap direction consistent throughout. An under/over overlap as in the model helps when making the final chains and joins.

If using single colour throughout, one can climb out of the inner round with a split ring.

So what's your verdict ? And suggestions ? Colour choices? 

Once I have your opinion I will work another model and present the final pattern. 

happy tatting always J