itch scratched

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 From April 2019 to May 2026 - took all of seven years for me to put up the pictorial for curled ring connectors! I had a one-page graphic prepared in 2019 but kept putting it off. The 7-year itch proved advantageous because now I am sharing a comprehensive tatted ring connectors presentation which includes two main types of connectors as well as numerous applications and variations along with tips and options! You no longer need to rummage through your stash of motifs wondering what to do with them, or to worry about finding the right findings for your tatted jewellery! No preplanning, no joining picots needed!

Since this is an image-heavy post, I will try to keep the text to a minimum. You can read all details in the PDF and the links provided below.  

Tatted Ring Connectors

PDF: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1vHuQjgEgH2vWSUX8JO5svG737jMM4Q9n/view

Two main types are the Curled Ring Connector (CRC) and the Tatted Ring Connector (TRC) as seen above.

Curled Ring Connector

All you need is a single shuttle to tat picoted rings and a lock join to curl each either individually or simultaneously at the end. 

Curled Ring Connector in progress. These are single shuttle rings curled around desired motifs to connect them.

Collect all your motifs or lace and arrange as desired.

My CRC SOUP bracelet. Here, I have added beads in the center of the 3-way CRCs. 

The large ring at the bottom left will be curled and will act as a toggle for the bracelet.

Detail of the beaded CRC.

First sneak peek here - https://tipsaroundthehome.blogspot.com/2019/04/pattys-square-pattern-and-peeks.html

This is my Italian Connection bookmark made by linking Patty Castagno's Square Motifs.

Notice the 3-way CRC decorating the tassel and its 'empty' counterpart at the other end.

First shared here - https://tipsaroundthehome.blogspot.com/2019/04/my-italian-connection.html

Not merely tatted motifs, these connectors can be used to link sequins! There are even 4-way connectors here tatted with metallic thread.

First sneak peek here - https://tipsaroundthehome.blogspot.com/2019/04/pattys-square-pattern-and-peeks.html

Ninetta Caruso's E37 Iris Pendant uses a triple onion ring to curl around the necklace. And on the other end she worked a curled ring to link to the tatted motif with a split ring between the CR and OR!

First shared here - https://tipsaroundthehome.blogspot.com/2023/10/rabbits-multiply.html

Tatted Ring Connector

All you need is a single shuttle to tat picoted rings and a picot join between them, encapsulating  two motifs/pieces. 

Some of my E37 Eye Spy Hearts #2 motifs left over from my trials and prototypes are now linked with TRC or tatted ring connector. More hearts here - https://tipsaroundthehome.blogspot.com/2025/09/timeline-and-play.html

Detail of a TRC in progress.

My E37 SOUPy Vine bookmark with E37 Eye Spy Hearts #1 has a variation of the tatted connectors where the two rings are not joined to each other but to the motifs! More details here - https://tipsaroundthehome.blogspot.com/2023/07/soupy-vine.html

My E1 Happy Hands Linked Bookmark uses the main motif 'hands' to link the tail to the body! More here - https://tipsaroundthehome.blogspot.com/2022/03/linked-hands-trial.html 

My E1 Happy Hands Linked Bracelet has two motifs and the linkage to the body is made with the crossed long beaded picots. https://tipsaroundthehome.blogspot.com/2022/08/a-bonanza-of-happiness.html  

Detail of the crossover picots between the two motifs.

Ninetta Caruso's E1 Happy Hands Necklace uses 3 individually tatted interlocking rings to link the clasp to the lace! Lots more pics and details here - https://tipsaroundthehome.blogspot.com/2022/10/not-just-edging.html

Ninetta uses a similar technique to attach the clasp to the lace in her E2 Fishbone Bracelet. Her pattern pdf also has a detailed pictorial of the process and she has shared two important tips for our presentation as well.

I hope you are sufficiently impressed by the variety and will want to assemble your practice and prototypes pieces to create useable articles and jewellery!

Many thanks to Ninetta for her feedback, input, tips, and proofing!

tree in time

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Digging through my tatting stuff for another project, this tree pattern sprung up! I had sketched the pattern in January, but didn't get around to uploading.  

Wonky  Spunk  Tree   

free pattern pdf

This was the final motif of the 25 Snowflake Project from last year. All patterns are listed in my patterns page, as well as in the Snowflakes' Google-Docs file (which needs a bit of updating).

This is tatted in 3 parts, though one can climb out with split chains to avoid cutting and joining. It is based on a sketch I showed here.

Worked with one shuttle and a Red Heart size 20 ball, ctm. 

Final measurements : 6 cms wide and approx 8.5 cms tall.

This is a prototype, but worked quite well the first time round! It is very wobbly since most rings are unattached. It was deliberate, so that I could insert a string of beads later, as desired.

Under fairy lights, shadow play gives it a 3-D appearance. Despite being floppy, it is good to glue down on a card or to sew as an applique.

Here it is with a string of assorted size 10 to 12 beads. Notice that there are 2 strings. I used a sewing needle with firm thread, joining to each free ring, as well as at other points.

Finally, these larger size 4 beads in assorted colours were sewn in. I thought they would work as baubles :-) With a bit of pre-planning, some of these 'baubles' could be left to dangle. However, in this case I needed them to join the free elements between layers.

It can be used as a tree ornament, but will require stiffening.

This time I simply inserted a couple of the model pictures to my pattern image and converted it into a pdf. Each of the 3 parts (A, B, C) is in a different colour. Here's the pdf link again.

This is kind of freeform - easy to change size and shape. making each model exclusive and unique, as in Nature! Hope you enjoy tatting and gifting.

magical patterns

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A few eager tatters had requested the diagram-only pdf which I sent privately and Usha Shah’s lovely rendition in metallic thread has already reached my inbox.

Finally, after a lot of self-editing over several evenings, the pattern is ready to be published.

Magic Square Cross pattern. Click to download the pdf.

I had started it in Anchor size 20, in single colour above. But it was turning out so large, hence stopped and switched to Anchor Pearl cotton size 8 in 2 colours and reduced the count as well.

Instead of the pattern in my deconstruction series, I used the concept shared by Halibut04. It eliminates the central picot and rings are linked on either side.

And using only 2 decorative picots for the inner chains – this idea is taken from this exquisite Japanese Tatting Square Doily.

Huguenot Cross Pendant

The square in the center kept looking like a emblem or insignia, except I didn’t know where to start my search without a term. Fortunately when I accepted someone’s fb request, there it was in bobbin lace – Huguenot Cross! What a huge coincidence.

My intention was to have 2-coloured split rings all around. At the last moment I switched to a black chain edge so that the blue ring clusters look complete. This, unfortunately, decreased the indent. I do want to try the SR one later to highlight the Maltese Cross.

There are a lot of symbols within this cross (heart, fleur-de-lis, Maltese cross, 8 Beatitudes, dove), some of which are recreated in a stylised form. Since I don’t have any dove charm or sequin, a butterfly sequin is used at the base, and converted into a pendant. Hope there is no religious sentiment being hurt. 

The Josephines are 8 half-stitches and extra chains are 5 or 6ds.

A Tiger Face? Perhaps a butterfly!

Wondering how only chains would look, for a deeper notch, I started another in green/black. Midways, it started looking like a butterfly, and then like the face of a tiger (focus on the negative space enclosed by the black chains above - they look like eyes and the rest of the facial features magically emerge)! 

There were 2 green rings where the top picots are. I had to untat one, and snip off the other and reattach black thread to make it symmetrical. Want to see how it looks after I complete a long black chain outlining the top of the head.

So many possibilities! If you wish to play, check out the ideas in this series - Part 1, Part 2, Part 3! Derivative patterns that have already been shared include heart, bracelet, and bookmark.

Magic Square Cross pattern. Click to download the pdf.

Best wishes ....

finito

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#24 & #25 in Land of Laces' 25 Snowflake Project.

Phew, it's done! The last 2, in the nick of time. And yet, I feel, actually I find, there are still so many ideas on my drawing board yet to see the light of day. And a couple midway on my shuttles.
Anyways, plenty of time for all that.

First, season's greetings to all my readers. Almost everywhere I see/read, the weather is playing havoc or is pretty 'un'seasonal. Hope good cheer prevails over and above the weatherman's predictions.

#24 is a throwback idea from 2016. This stacked adaptation is called Double Dotted Snowflake. I had liked how the twin dots appear close together, forming a virtual circle,  under the arches. I need to tat one more to confirm that it works as neatly as when 2 separate motifs are stacked. But more details, along with pattern, later.

And the final, #25, is a deliberately wonky tree which has spunk to be seen as crooked ;-p 

I came across this graphic card with this sketch in one of the blogs a couple of months back (can't find that blog now), and Loved the freeform sketch with character!

It was easy to convert to tatting, but beading took me a lot of time.

UPDATE : Pattern for this tree motif is posted in pdf here.

Now I need to take a group photo of all 25(+) models for this project. Wonder how I'll fit them all in one frame ... i have an idea, but like so many, execution belies imagination ;-D

Daniela's effects

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playing some more with Daniela Mendola’s effects - filigree stitch and mimosa knot...

I couldn’t snip off the Dora Young Knot/Join filigree center from the large motif; but found a medallion I had used in one of my pictorials and finally tried Daniela’s original filigree stitch. 

This time I had no difficulty doing it with lock joins! But I deliberately ended off without completely filling the space – thought it looked good. Also didn't want to risk messing it up ;-P

This is the best close-up I could manage; all others are hazier than this.
Medallion was worked in Anchor 20 while filling in Red Rose Pearl cotton 8.

The filigree stitch with lock joins and my variation using Dora Young Join/Knot together.

While rummaging in my sequin stock for the butterfly in my previous post, I found this star and was drawn to work petals around it. Mimosa knot was ideal for the pointy tips. I winged the stitch count. Chains of [3 - 6 Mk 6 – 3] linked to previous petal and lock joined to sequin.

Anchor size 40 thread scraps were used.

In the lead composite pic, I included Jeanne Lugert's 3D rose because of the mimosa knot leaves I shared here. 

And besides Daniela's own video for mimosa knots, I shared my stepwise instructions here, and Karen Cabrera has promised us a video on this for next month (see comments)! So keep your shuttles ready!

floating beads PART 4

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edited Sep 7, 2017

This floating beads (FB) method I’ve been boring you with, arose out of a specific situational and visual need.

I was working on a 3-row necklace tatted in one pass (Tat Days attendees will get to see it way before I can post it here!). And instead of a bead in the center of a ring attached at both ends, I wanted it to dangle freely from the base.

The Swarovski bead was 4.5mm and the ring was a thrown ring. At least 3 such beads were needed (perhaps even 5) in the very 1^st row itself. And in later rows there were pre-strung seed beads with more tatting and teardrop beads too.

I tried out some established methods and had to reject them because -

pre-stringing – more than 1 bead and too large for a Pony shuttle – they jutted out.  

down picot (2fhs B 2shs) – if made at start or end of ring, bead would not lie in the centre. But more importantly, it also required pre-stringing.

beaded fringe – as in Corina’s beaded stem - again required loading on to shuttle!  OR

Nina’s single file beaded picot using a needled tip/thread. This could work since bead was loaded only when needed. But it required unwinding, loading bead (with stopper bead) & rewinding shuttle every time. Not only would I have to unwind an almost fully loaded shuttle, but there were pre-strung seed beads for other elements in the way.

These alternative methods increase our range of options and each has its benefits and limitations. Specifications of each project and of the individual can determine our choice.

Starting with Nina Libin’s recommended method –

Floating Beads - Beaded Fringe method

My adaptation of Nina Libin’s explanation

I have taken the liberty of using some of Nina’s own words here.

Materials – 2 shuttles, bead

Additional Materials – a stopper bead (tiny seed bead), white glue or clear nail enamel to make a “needled tip”.

Needled Tip/thread – the tail end is sliced diagonally and dipped in diluted white glue and twisted along the grain of thread. Keep repeating till the glue dries and a stiff, pointed tip emerges. This acts as a needle! 

 1. A thrown/floating ring large enough to accommodate bead is made off a chain.

 2. Unwind/unload the shuttle. This thread has a needled tip.

TIP: I use clear nail enamel for a needled tip since it dries much quicker. 

 3. String the large pearl bead and a smaller seed bead …

 4. and go back through the large bead. The green seed bead acts as a stopper.

 5. Move the 2 beads along the thread length, to the base of thrown ring, evenly tensioned.

 6. Rewind the shuttle and continue with the chain.

(Repeat the above procedure if more such thrown rings with floating bead are required).

7. Floating bead in thrown ring using the beaded fringe alternative

Bit of a hassle for the bigger necklace project, but great for small earrings, etc. or if the large bead is needed towards the end or is the last to be added. 

If core thread length is manageable, one can resort to finger tatting – no shuttle hassle.

Undoubtedly, despite reasonable limitations, the method works splendidly with any level of expertise!!!

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Adding a bead with CWJ in split ring

Ninetta Caruso

After seeing the bead under a chain, Ninetta sent me this link to the method she uses - a Catherine Wheel Join on the 2nd half of  split ring, after flipping it over.

Well, I had to try it ! See, one more option and this time in a split ring.

I need lots more practice, though. The last large ring is where I tried to dangle the bead lower – it doesn’t show clearly from this angle.

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Floating Beads - Sequins

If beads, why not sequins, right ?

Exactly the same method and steps – one with 3 sequins on chain and another with a star sequin inside a ring.

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Floating Beads – with Tatted Rings 

You know my preference for beadless tatting. I had been thinking about trying to ‘dangle’ tatted rings within rings. Would the substitution work? Before I could work on it, Ninetta again sent me some links.

This beautiful Berry Wreath pattern uses the same half hitch/overhand/half knot at base of Josephine rings as in Step 2 of the FB method ! This led me down memory lane – I had used the same half hitch to stabilize JR in this 2-colour edging a couple of years back.

In the blue-green one, the inside ring is a 4ds dot. In the larger heart ring, they are Josephines.

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Jane M suggested an idea when she did a quick trial of the FB method – would it work on her lovely Cascade earrings? I’ve been meaning to tat a couple of her earring patterns for ages. Time is ripe !

Started this morning, following her method to get a feel of it. I love it! (No pics yet, though I’m almost through).

The next one will use FB. As I worked it out I my head, the order of working the 9 rings will be completely reversed – instead of bottom to top, we’ll have to move from top to bottom, using SRs! Well, that’s my thought process – tomorrow will tell.

So yet another post (are you keeping count,  Nin ;-P) on FB but this time with earrings.

Many many thanks to all the generous and innovative tatters above

happy tatting as always :-)

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(all links to previous posts & pictorials will be updated on the My Tutorials page)