bridge tatting

Pin It now!

 Like I said in my recent posts, expert and experienced tatters have graciously come to my aid whenever I asked for it. And some have gone a step further by sharing their work and/or discussing techniques and terminology even before I asked.  One such is Judith Connors who has been instrumental in guiding and inspiring me through this past decade. My presentations have been influenced by her despite not being a perfect student.

Early last month, Judith sent me her article on 'Building Bridges' along with a pic of her Fan motif (If you are a member, you can see her model in the Queensland Tatters 2025 group post here - https://craftree.com/forum/threadfs/40423?page=1#258577). We had discussed bridging some years back, too. I was in a state of tatting inertia when this motif instantly spurred me to wind my shuttles and tat since this decorative/functional bridge had been on my trial list since 2019 (https://craftree.com/forum/threads/39159), but never got down to actually applying it. I did do the Rose Motif from Priscilla Tatting Book No.3!   

Bridging Flower Motif - based and adapted from Judith Connors' Fan motif

sharing my process, pattern, and tips/tricks

How many rounds does this motif have? 

Do we cut after the inner 'rosette' round?

Were Celtic shuttles or needle used for the Celtic effect?

Or were 4 shuttles used for the interlaced/overlapping chains? 

Getting back to the present motif, it occurred to me that I could use the element to create overlapping or interlaced chains instead of single lines! So off went my shuttles to confirm. 

Now this post is only about the adapted motif - process, pattern, and tips/tricks. I have pics for a pictorial, along with the background and explanation, terminology and history. Part of it is already explained in the link above (https://tipsaroundthehome.blogspot.com/2022/01/bridging-gaps.html). The rest will be shared in a few days to avoid stepping on Judith's class despite her permission. For the curious, we know the technique as split chain, which is a misnomer and limiting, meant mainly for climbing out.  

My first attempt. I ran out of thread and also realised that if I continued around there would be cupping (I had increased the count in some parts). Moreover the thread had a tendency to unravel, even though it is Anchor mercerised cotton. Cut my losses and started over.

Design Tip starting with a magic circle: Since I wasn't sure how big the central ring should be, I preferred to use the  magic circle (the multiple threads are to make the picot large enough to join to later). Wrap the thread around the magic circle and start the first inner chain. End each chain with a lock join around the circle. 

TIP to keep last half-stitch flipped: The marker on the right - since each bridge is a long chain, by the time it was completed, the last half-stitch often unflipped and locked the core thread below. This temporary marker on the core thread prevents it from happening. 

After a few repeats, I pulled on the magic circle to see whether it was working well. Successful; no cupping or ruffling.

Bridging Flower Motif pattern

1. Only 2 shuttles are used with continuous thread and the entire motif is worked in one pass. 
2. 8 repeats and all chains in this prototype. No space for a central ring. In Anchor mercerised crochet cotton size 20 (equivalent to Lizbeth size 10), the motif measures 6.5cms in diameter.
3. In the image above, I have split the sequencing (A to F) to indicate where there is a change of direction , shuttles, or element. 
4. The entire motif is worked clockwise from the front.
5. Chains C & E are bridging chains aka bridge, bar. 
6. I used a 2cms folded picot gauge to measure the bare thread for bar/bridge before lock joining it to a picot on the previous element.  TIP:  I found that making a lock join by pulling the loop down instead of up through the picot makes a neater start to the bridge.
7. These bars are covered with Dora Young's Knotless Method or tied stitches worked from left to right. I worked them all from the front, though there are several variations of the method. 
8. NOTE: The arrows for bridges indicate where the thread from shuttle2 goes, not the direction of working the stitches. 
9.  While making each subsequent bridge, keep it in FRONT of the previous chain so that the overlapping is synchronised.  

10. For the bridges on the last rosette chain, TWO each had to be made! The above image shows the first pair done and the 2nd pair is being bridged.

After working the first bridge exactly like ch-C, then one more bridge is made joining to the first rosette on the right, at the base of the very first bridge. The stitches are then worked using the Australian method. This, too, is worked from the front, but in the opposite direction (right to left). Repeat this for the 2nd pair of bridges. 

Important: To maintain overlap, pass the shuttle under and over the last bridge both times.

11. After the motif is finished, and both threads are in the center, I threaded them together and inserted the needle through the picots held open with the magic circle, and kept removing the threads from the circle. Final tie, cut, and hide ends.

Option: One can use metallic thread or colour-coordinated thread for the magic circle and leave it be after tightening the slip knot. Then hide all ends - from the motif as well as the circle.

 

Possible Variation: However one can use a central ring of 10 small picots separated by 1ds and make a 10-repeat motif. 

Future Idea: Can we use this bridging technique to work block tatting over or across an element?

I will try to write the pattern in a more lucid form when I share the pictorials and other details. Here I wanted to focus more on the process.

Technique Option: Also, instead of the bridges going from right to left, we can move forward. Thus from chain A we can work the 'bridge'  like a floating chain or single shuttle split chain, leaving a picot open with a paperclip to join to later. 

Bridge tatting or bridging encompasses a lot more, not all of which is outlined here. In this post and motif, the bridges are ornamental - a design element; they can be functional too. Hopefully I will be able to cover it all in the pictorials post. 

I cannot thank Judith enough for her valuable mentorship and guidance since we 'met' at InTatters a decade ago! We may not always agree but the discussions are always lively and passionate!

game antics

Pin It now!

 The saga continues from my previous post (https://tipsaroundthehome.blogspot.com/2023/11/flaky-antics.html). 

We chose the Antiks Snowflake pattern for our November 2023 game in our Endrucks FB group - Snowflake Me Endrucks. This name was chosen to indicate that we can try to adapt a pattern into a snowflake. We've derived snowflakes with E17, E3, E37, E31, E12, (see Snowflakes and Stars Directory)  but not as a game. We wanted to open the possibility of repeating the game in future with a different pattern.

Antiks Snowflake pattern (an E42 adaptation and extension by Muskaan) - https://drive.google.com/file/d/1U5J5sjuAA7D0qGPOGnK9RJ83MKdNkWSZ/view

We have a wide spectrum of skill levels in our FB group be it tatting or linguistic. Hence visuals become important. This flake has a few tricks. Ninetta offered to take stepwise pics! Hence we prepared an entire Supplement which has the detailed pictorial as well as a lot of other info, options, and links. 

Snowflake Me Supplement - https://drive.google.com/file/d/1VFk4ZnBT9ObJxnEKgI6hUkk2wtd_gOD4/view

  

Ninetta's version in Lizbeth 10, colour 686. Hmmm, I wonder how her fingers, used to dainty threads, worked on this large thread, LOL.

Ninetta also uploaded a video demonstrating how to make the Split Chain!

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1hKfqa3LHnUor9UAen7sdqPgzZe0elU2I/view . 

She had actually done a couple more videos but this was the best. This is the kind of backroom activity we are engaged in to provide a wholesome experience!

Like I said before, we are beginning to use this as a platform for learning and bridging any gaps in tatting knowledge, while making it easy and accessible to all levels of tatters.

The Antiks snowflake uses Split Chains to climb out, and we already have some tatters who learned to make them for this pattern after watching Ninetta's video!

However, in case a tatter does not wish nor have the time, there are a few optional paths one can employ to climb out to the next round.....

 

Three such options are explained in the Supplement and each of these can be worked with a ball and shuttle, just like for split chains : 

How to Avoid Split Chains -

1. Bare thread space with a double lock join - an extension of what Mlle Riego did in her Bunch of Grapes (1850) single shuttle pattern.   (yellow model)

2. Shadow Chains - Frau Endrucks (1920) method   (purple model)

3. A continuous spiral - this one is more visually organic. (green model)

Pattern for this Rose Motif is also included for practice.

The main pattern pdf as well as the Supplement has more tips and links, including to the original ANKARS site (https://ankars-club.ru/). It is worth reading, given the common misconceptions about this technique.

Coincidentally, in November, The Online Tatting Class (TOTC) also did a few classes on ANKARS. You can access their articles and patterns here - https://www.theonlinetattingclass.com/ankars-patterns. Their YouTube site - https://www.youtube.com/c/TheOnlineTattingClass

Many many thanks to Ninetta for all her contributions!

bridging gaps

Pin It now! I have some great news! Our Endrucks 1920 Project will be featured in the February issue of ‘Talking Tatting’ issue 50! Along with a short bio of Frau Endrucks and the doily E28 pattern (modernised version), all by Judith Connors. This is a quarterly newsletter of Queensland Tatters, Australia.

 

[E28 pattern PDF: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1vG2g0JCVsy8cy2DfGKHEhxleq_7Rveba/view]

While this doily has already been tatted by several others, they referred to the diagram rather than the text. Hence it was left to Judith to point out a couple of errors, which are now corrected in an updated pdf.

Impeccable tatting from the inspiring teacher, researcher, and historian who was honoured with the Order of Australia Medal last year! And as you can see, she has managed to retain the octagonal shape of the doily after blocking.

We discovered that my tatting tension is way too tight! Worked in Coats No 40 cotton, Judith’s doily is 9cms in diameter to my 7cms in Anchor No 40 (which is also a Coats subsidiary).

“My tension varied from yours in places. I managed the fluting, and when I blocked the mat it turned out to be quite octagonal.” – Judith

Alternate Path: “I worked it completely from the front side, not as you have suggested for Rounds 5 and 6. This means that the small rings of Round 5 were tatted in RODS (with a posting of the shuttle before closure).” – Judith

While enlarging the pic for posting, I noticed another thing about Round 5 in Judith’s doily. It appears the chains on either side of the ring are 8ds each instead of 5ds, creating a graceful arch instead of a flattish line.

Bridging/Mock Chain and Split Chain: Several ways to climb out of rounds for continuous tatting are indicated in this pattern pdf. However, Judith pointed out that what I termed split chain to climb out of round 4 is actually a bridging chain (b-Ch) and I should use this as a “teachable moment”. Got me thinking and this is how I see it:

The technique was invented by Dora Young for rings and then applied to chains – the knotless method (km or KM). Decades later, the term split chain caught on and became more popular. But the stitch and movements are the same in both – mock stitches or tied/manoeuvred stitches.

A Bridging or Mock Chain is functionally and structurally the same as a Split Chain. Each chain spans a space and emerges at a point to the left instead of the far right, and is made over a bridging or foundation thread. 

The difference lies in the Where the threads emerge/exit or where the point of climbing out is. A bridging chain is made completely of mock stitches and threads emerge at the ‘beginning’ of the chain. A split chain, as the name suggests, is split - partially made of double stitches and partially of mock stitches. Thus, the threads in this ‘hybrid’ chain exit somewhere along the length of the chain, not at the start.

Among the several beautiful versions of this doily tatted by enthusiastic lacers, I would like to show Stella Marina’s version in lovely metallic threads because it is yet another example of how we can alter our path. In a moment of distraction, Stella forgot to tat the 2 large twin thrown rings in Round 3. Instead of cutting back, she continued. She then tatted them as normal rings, facing inward, in Round 4! This happened by accident, but could easily have been a deliberate choice to make the rings red instead of silver. Planning ahead gives us so many bridges to cross smoothly!

Now I want to tat the doily again and bridge all my gaps!

UPDATE (Nov2025): In Mar2022, Daniela Galli mistakenly tatted only 5 repeats of the E28 doily leading to a lot of cupping, which she converted into a cute little gift box. More pics and details - https://tipsaroundthehome.blogspot.com/2025/11/ep-medley-2.html

 

Many many thanks to Judith and Stella & Daniela - keep inspiring!

Related Posts/Resources –
For more tutorials and details scroll down to Techniques & Effects » CHAINS » Split Chain/Dora Young Knotless/Bridging https://tipsaroundthehome.blogspot.com/p/tatting-resources.html
Knotless Method in split SCMR - https://tipsaroundthehome.blogspot.com/2018/10/scrappy-doily-and-scmr.html
https://tipsaroundthehome.blogspot.com/2021/07/continuous-paths.html

https://tipsaroundthehome.blogspot.com/2021/10/bagatelle-to-bagaball.html

Pattern: https://docs.google.com/document/d/17LEVftXweztBIOWh4sL4BB7bX65ssoOsOn4oXIgCepY/view

knot stitch stepwise

Pin It now!

I'm not sure whether I will be using this stitch, but it does not hurt to have options. Never say never! It is not difficult and I soon got into a rhythm where the knot stitch, first seen in 1924, could be accomplished in one smooth movement. So, though my pictorial has numerous steps and detailed instructions, it is best to simply pick up your shuttle and tat along. Choose a thick thread in light colour for your first attempts.

The original diagrams in Priscilla Book 3 (free download from http://www.antiquepatternlibrary.org/html/warm/tatting.htm) are very clear. Snapdragon has shared the scans here - http://www.snapdragonlace.com/?p=183   More links in my previous post - https://tipsaroundthehome.blogspot.com/2021/01/old-in-new.html 

Rose Motif from the same book, in Anchor pearl cotton size 8. Bridging elements (chains) use the knot stitch. I am so much happier with this one and the thread behaved itself! More at the end of this post.

At the end of the pictorial I have also compared the knot stitch chain with a split chain, which was a later invention.

KNOT  STITCH  Pictorial

( https://tipsaroundthehome.blogspot.com/2021/01/knot-stitch-stepwise.html )

Shuttle and ball, continuous thread. Shuttle with a hook (or pick) is preferable for fluid movement. 

I start with a backside ring and reverse work, so that the shuttle is in position, to the right of ball thread. 

Always keep the ball thread taut; all movements are with the shuttle and there is no transference.  

1.  Wrap the ball thread over your left hand as when working a chain. In this method, ball thread becomes the core thread over which we make the knot stitches.

Move shuttle to the left Over the ball thread. Let's call this loop a , 

2. ...and bring the shuttle back towards the right to create a second loop on the other side of ball thread.

Important : The black arrow tells you to keep both threads in your pinch (between left thumb and finger) through to figures 6 or 7.

3. This becomes loop b. Notice that the shuttle thread is still over the ball thread as well as above a. 

4. Bring shuttle over a, but under the ball thread, and hook b 

5. With a slight rotation of the shuttle, it is easy to pull b through. Let's call this loop c. Keep shuttle tip under c. Note that loop c is under the ball thread and is pulled over a.

6. Pull all of b into c. Keep pulling c outwards, while keeping your pinch where the black arrow is. Notice how the shuttle has moved and rotated smoothly.

7. As c is being pulled out, you can simultaneously tug on the thread indicated by the crochet hook. This will shorten a. When c is large enough, pass shuttle through the loop. Then loosen your pinch on the left.

8. The shuttle has fully passed through c, and keep tugging to close a. 

I actually use my right hand (with shuttle still in hand) to pinch the indicated thread to ensure all slack from a is removed ... 

9. Notice that a has disappeared and only c is left. Now keep pulling shuttle thread to close c.

Important : Close all of a before closing c.

10. All loops are closed and 1 knot stitch is complete.

11. 7 knot stitches made. We have successfully climbed out of the central ring with a chain.

12. After the 7ks chain, I continued with a normal 4-4-4 chain using double stitches.

Then leaving bare thread of same length as the previous ks chain, make a lock join on ring picot.

13. With ball thread in left hand as if making a chain, cover the bare thread with knot stitches.

14. Another ks chain is complete, followed by a regular chain.

Comparing knot stitch (ks) and split chain (SCh) -

I wanted to compare these ks chains with a split chain (the 3rd segment on the right). At a glance, there is not much difference. 

SCh looks exactly like a normal chain, with exactly the same thickness and curvature. The simulated double stitches are made using Dora Young's knotless method.

The ks chain is slightly bulkier or denser/compact and just that tiny bit straighter. The ks does not have 2 distinct half stitches - it is more like one loop is nestled within (see fig 10 above - notice where the shuttle thread is emerging from). This creates a lovely texture along the edge which might be slightly more evident in lighter shades. 

Knot Stitch can do everything a Split Chain can - climbing out for continuous tatting; bridging between elements in any direction.  

It would be interesting to use ks as a design element, with perhaps a bit more slack on a to look like picots. What about curlicues (single shuttle split chains), floating chains, and filet tatting? Playing with colours? See more links for variations here - https://tipsaroundthehome.blogspot.com/2021/01/old-in-new.html

Read Judith Connors' comments here - https://tipsaroundthehome.blogspot.com/2020/07/splitting-mesh.html

Rose Motif from Priscilla Book 3. As in my first attempt here, I made graduated picots along the outer chains, but kept to the original pattern in all other respects. I started with a backside (RODS) central ring, reversed work and continued to next round. Both rounds are worked from the front in clockwise direction. The ks chains have thrown/floating rings; so remember to reverse work before and after each ring.

In Anchor pearl cotton size 8, the motif measures 3.5cms after 1st round and 5.5cms final. Worked with one shuttle and ball, ctm.

The one below is from Anita Barry. I roped her in and she readily agreed to refresh her memory. Her first one was years back. 

I hadn't noticed till she pointed out that all her ks chains do not face the same way. There is a tendency for the ks chains to twist a bit especially if the joining picot is long. But her picots were very small, as directed in the original instructions and seen in the 2 WIP pics. Hmmm. Any ideas?

Many thanks to all tatters who have shared across time 

so that we continue to have options and ideas!

splitting the mesh

Pin It now!

My Italian Connection is at play again, splitting chores! Couple of days back Elisabetta De Napoli shared a picture of her filet tatting in an Italian facebook group. On request, she readily created a series of pics and explanation to share through my blog. Ninetta, ever gracious, did the translation and added her notes. Yours humbly had the privilege to assemble, 'polish', and present. So without more ado, here’s her split chain method of filet tatting.

At the end is her Italian version, verbatim.

Filet Tatting (split chain method)

by  Elisabetta De Napoli

Two shuttles, continuous thread (CTM).

Fig1) Foundation Row: Start a dead end chain, holding a picot space. work for desired length, finishing with 4ds. The above model has 6 picots separated by 4ds.
       Ch: picot, 4ds, [1 picot, 4ds]x5 

Fig2) Turn the Corner: Reverse Work and switch shuttles or do a shoe lace trick (SLT), then continue with a chain to move to the next level or row.

Row 1: consists of 6 split chains, joined to the foundation row picots.

       SCh: 4ds, 1 picot, 4ds / 4ds.

To make a Split Chain (SCh) leave bare thread just enough for 4ds, lock join to nearest picot of previous chain, tat 4ds. 
(see tutorials - https://tipsaroundthehome.blogspot.com/p/tatting-resources.html )

Fig3) Make split chains for the entire length/till the end.
       [SCh: 4ds / 4ds]x5

Fig4) Repeat steps 2 and 3 for as many rows as desired.

This creates an Open Filet or mesh.

To Fill a Square: Plan ahead in the previous row to include small picots for joining. As can be seen in the image, the 2^nd and 5^th chain segments in Row2 have very small picots. This is how it is done here …

Picoted Chain segment (pCh): To fill a square in the next row, in the previous row a plain 4ds chain includes tiny picots as follows -  

       pCh: 1ds and 1fhs, 1vsp, 1reverse order ds (1shs and 1fhs), 1vsp, 1shs and 1ds.
(basically, 4 ds is divided into 1.5ds at the ends and 1rods in the center flanked by 2 small picots. The picots are made within a ds rather than at the end of a ds - as in backside chains)

Fig5) Row 3: Of the 6 squares, the 2^nd and 5^th squares will be filled here, which means there are 2 extra split chains within the square.

       Make 1^st open square:  4ds, 1picot, 4ds, SCh: 4ds.

       Filled square: [SCh: 1ds / 4ds]x3

       2 open squares: [SCh: pCh / 4ds]x2

       1 filled square: SCh: 1ds / 4ds.

       Last open square: SCh: 4ds / 4ds.

       Move up to Row 4.

Fig6) Row 4. We planned ahead in Row3 which squares we want to fill in this row. Hence picots were included and accordingly in Row 4, squares 1&2 are open, 3&4 are filled, and 5&6 are open.

For Filled Square Over Filled Square:

If next row has an empty square over this filled one, tat normal ds between split chains (total 4ds). If next row has a filled square over this filled one, tat the same sequence as in the picoted chain segment in this way: 
       the chain is 1ds and 1fhs, 1split chain (4ds), 1reverse order ds (1shs and 1fhs), 1split chain (4ds), 1shs and 1ds, all in place of 4ds.

∞∞∞

This is what Elisabetta says, for our Italian friends –

Ciao Ninetta, ti invio le foto che ho fatto e le spiegazioni:

2 navette e filo continuo

1° lavorare un arco di 1 pip  4 nodi fino a raggiungere il numero di spazi vuoti

 che occorrono;

2° girare e lavorare 4 nodi 1 pip 4 nodi e agganciarsi al primo pip  lasciando lo spazio per uno split chain di 4 nodi e ripetere, 4 nodi e split chain di 4 nodi, fino all'ultimo piop;

3° girare il lavoro e ripetere come il primo giro agganciandosi al piccolo pip che si crea tra i gruppi di 4 nodi;

4° per avere degli spazi pieni occorre prevedere, nel giro precedente dei piccoli pip nei gruppi di 4 nodi. (*)

Spero sia sufficiente, in caso contrario io sono qui.

Ti abbraccio e ti ringrazio anticipatamente **

∞∞∞

Filet Tatting - some other methods (with updates):

I have little experience with actual filet tatting. But here are links to a few other methods –

• 'Reversing Chain' method in John’s and Jeff’s blog. Read the comments, too, for answers.
• Mary Konior's rings/floating rings and chains method in Margaret's blog (image only).
• and a similar 'Filet-Ochhi' rings and chains method by Christel Wutzmer and Agnes Focke from "Doppelknoten" Nr. 7 (2005) in Jeff's blog (image only).
• Shoe Lace Trick method by Mandatory (my notes on this method here- https://tipsaroundthehome.blogspot.com/2016/06/something-new-something-old.html ) She has done quite some experimenting with filling effects (pics in her Craftree album)
• Sue Hanson's tiny split chain basket (taught at Spokane, 2008 and pattern shared in many facebook groups) is a bit similar to the above method and uses 2 colours. 

I have been working on a tutorial series about lock join and chains, and this fits right in, especially if you take up a 2-colour challenge – I had forgotten about filet tatting! Life has intervened major-ly hence the delay in polishing it up. But soon – Anita has been proofing it …

Many many thanks to Elisabetta and Ninetta – share the joy!

meet me and continue

Pin It now!

Meeting with Tatting

Skip over to Anetta's blog to get to know me a bit. If you are interested, that is! 

As I mentioned earlier, Anetta has started a monthly series where readers get to meet a different designer each month. Said designer shares her/his tatting journey along with a free snowflake pattern. At the end of the year, at least 12 snowflakes will be ready compounded by the joy of tatting along with friends, and learning new techniques. It is also her endeavour to educate about copyright and giving credit even when a pattern is free.

Everybody is invited to play along. Before the end of the month, send a pic and link of your snowflake by clicking the 'blue frog' button. Anetta will further summarise all entries in a separate post the following month.

Renulek opened the year with a beautiful snowflake, followed by a couple from Anne Orr (due to unavoidable circumstances), and I was invited to share in March for which I chose the Rosette Enchained Snowflake & Ice Drop. 

Check out Anetta's beautiful 2-colour version. She even prepared a lovely pictorial for split chain, leading up to the pattern. 

And don't forget to visit the post again at the end of this month to check out what the talented tatters send in.

Seeing the patterns shared so far, I am tempted to tat and send in entries, too. May be I’ll catch up later in the year.

{{{

Continuing with the topic of continuous tatting ….

Mock Picot to climb out and Changing chain curve

In my previous post, I spoke about Sheetal’s question on facebook, which led to 2 methods of climbing out with a mock picot when there is a bead at the base (down bead or bead on core thread). {If the beads are on the picot (up beads) and we need to climb out with a mock picot, then I described it for the Sitka Rose}.

Sheetal uploaded a pic of her 2^nd round – a flower motif {! The petals are very similar to the rosette enchained ones where the chain changes it’s curve. But her brilliant stroke was adding beads on picots to the concave segment! Thus the beads face inside. Love it!!! If you are a member of the Just Tatting facebook group, you can read and see the entire post.

{{{

…and about continuous threads...

Extending thread in CTM or CTM with Extra Shuttle 2 thread!

A post without a pic is like a faceless body! So here’s a little trick to extend the length of shuttle 2 thread when winding continuously. 

Pony shuttle bobbins are fairly small. For the Split Ring Heart I didn’t want to have to reload later. 

So, after cutting and winding the Sh2 bobbin fully, I wound the remaining length of Sh2 thread on a spool between the 2 shuttles (red is Sh1 & yellow is Sh2). Look closely and you can see which thread goes where.

I started with the inner clover, working it as mock rings, thus saving on Sh1 thread.

{{{

a heart in spring

Pin It now!

I do love a challenge! And this time it was kind of a double challenge with Jane McLellan suggesting the use of more colours. It is Sharon Briggs’ 1-31-2019b Heart and read the comments there. I certainly wish the heart had a better name ;-D

In order to get a feel, I worked the first one in single colour (except for the dimpled heart motif). 

TIP : Leave some space between the dimpled heart and ring at it's base in order to accomodate 2 lock joins later. 

 Also took a few in-process pics in case someone would like to reference later. 

Wondered whether a smooth outline would look good; so I decreased the count in the outermost chain and used Catherine Wheel join (cwj). Nope, I don't think it works!

Having tatted many of Sharon’s patterns, I’ve come to realise that my chains (and tatting in general) are more taut than Sharon’s and I need to factor that in to avoid cupping.

Now for the coloured spring impression.

I started the yellow flower on the right, climbed out to the left, then added a short 10ds chain between the yellow flowers in order to get back to the right side and follow as per diagram. (indicated as 1 in pic below)

BUT I realised after completion that this short chain is not required IF one starts with the flower on the left!!! Work left flower, climb out to right flower, and then add green to continue working as per diagram.

Work counterclockwise to complete the left foliage (2). Notice where the split chains and rings are. The lower SR that links to the heart is worked last, so as to continue along to the next round (3).

Interestingly, I got to work split chains in both directions - left to right & right to left! Check out the tutorials here.

Another change – omitted the little ring in the dimpled heart motif. I think this stands out much more as a tiny heart framed by the large one.

In order to frame & highlight this spring-y impression, I added the beige for final outline.

Can’t say how much is evident, but a couple of my split chains are incongruent making the overall heart a bit lopsided.

So, Sharon & Jane – your thoughts ?

Both are worked with size 40 threads and measure around 5cms X 6cms.

Anchor 4054-40.

blue – 00130 ; teal – 00528.

red – 00046 ; yellow – 00293 ; green – 00229 ; beige – 00368.  

With these hearts, I have now officially used every size 40 colour bought recently ;-D