Interlocking Rings made with Shuttle - Part 2 of 2

HAPPY INTERNATIONAL TATTING DAY  2013!

 It dawned on me yesterday (Easter Sunday) that Monday, April 1, would be  INTERNATIONAL TATTING DAY.    So I pushed a little harder to get this TUTORIAL done today!

 

Part 2 - TATTING THE FINAL RING.

 As you can see in Photo 12, I have completed five rings and am preparing to tat the last ring.

 

PHIOTO 12   

First, you have to UNWIND THE SHUTTLE. so that you can put the end of the thread through the first ring (the yellow one here), coming UP through the ring.    This sets up the foundation for the last ring to go ‘over’ the yellow ring. 

Please ignore the  thread going out of  the  picture  on  the  left.   It is still attached to the ball and it’s  just  sitting  there, waiting to be cut off  later)

 Keep pulling the unwound thread up through Ring #1  all the way through.  (Obviously, it’s coming from the base of Ring #5.)    I like to pull the thread through all the way through before I start rewinding my bobbin.   

 

PHOTO 13    

My rewound bobbin is back in the shuttle  

 You’re not worrying about the hand-wrap yet. Just concentrate on rewinding the shuttle

For the photo, I’m showing the shuttle wound very close to the rings. But after rewinding the shuttle,  you will then pull some thread out to give it some slack.

 

PHOTO 14   

 

You then  reach in with the hook on your shuttle (or a pick or crochet hook) to pull that thread out from behind the base of the fifth ring and bring it over top of the fifth ring, as shown here. 

 

 

PHOTO 15     

You again capture that loop as if doing a ‘down’ join, the same way you did before.    You will then make the loop larger to put onto your left hand, as you did before.  .

 

PHOTO 16     

Remember that the part of the thread going under the bottom finger is attached to the shuttle, so that when you tug on the shuttle, that thread moves with the shuttle.   

You are ready to tat the final ring!

 

PHOTO 17   

When you start the final ring, the ‘fussiest’ part is to get the first knot as close to the base of Rings 1 and 5 as possible,. This will come with practice. I like to use a looser tension for that first knot.

 

Shown here are several stitches on the last ring.

PHOTO 18     

Ring 6 ready to be closed!

　

PHOTO 19    

Ring 6 almost closed. . You can see the last bit  of the foundation thread is showing through. 

The hook of the shuttle is merely pointing to the last stitch as it is closing. It is not hooked over

the thread in any way! Of course, I would be pulling the ring closed to the left.    I’m just showing the positions of the ball and the shuttle thread here.

 

 

 

 

PHOTO 20  

 

Ring 6 finally closed.   

You can still  tug it a bit (but not too tight) and pop the ring up over the top.

 

I know that the first ‘orange’ stitches seem a little twisted, and that may be something that can be solved in the future. I’m just happy this works as well as it does!

 

 

　

Sure hope these instructions are clear!    Good luck!!

 

*  *  * 

 Our group is getting ready for the Maple Syrup Festival this weekend, and it looks like we’ll have some decent weather for it, which always helps with getting ready.   Thousands of visitors attend this event!

 

Interlocking Rings made with Shuttle - Part 1 of 2

Last summer, thanks to the inspiration of other very talented tatters (see story below),   I discovered a way of doing  the Celtic interlocking rings using the slip-and-slide method of manipulating a shuttle.  ( I happen to prefer a bobbin shuttle with a hook, but that’s just my choice.)  

 I  explain my interest in and obsession with these rings at the end of this post and also in my own post of Aug. 6, 2012:  http://kathysvictoriantattedlace.blogspot.com/2012/08/success-at-last.html

 

Although I haven’t updated my blog for a while (partly because of  ‘blogaphobia’ due to my difficulties with posting, even after four years!) ,  I am coming out of hiding because I want to share my ‘discovery’ with my fellow shuttle tatters, especially Fox!   : )   

This is my first tutorial, and I will be doing it in two parts.   (I’m holding my breath as I upload a total of  11 photos in this post! )      I hope to do the second part ASAP, which, of course, shows connecting the last ring to the first ring - (the part you’re really waiting for!).

In the meantime, you can practice making the rings. 

 NOTE THAT FOR THIS TUTORIAL I DID NOT USE TWO DIFFERENT THREADS.  I used a VARIEGATED THREAD (Lizbeth size 20, #621), and it just happened that my first ring was yellow, and the next ring was pink, etc.  ALSO, I LEFT THE THREAD ON THE BALL, as I found when I was learning to do these rings, it was a way of keeping track of the  first ring, especially if I used a single color thread.  It will just sit there and wait to be cut off later.  For the PHOTOS, I put double-stick tape on my board to keep the rings under control  

So here goes!  

 

Wind shuttle and BEGIN BY TATTING A RING  IN YOUR NORMAL WAY. 

The rings I’m making are 10 – 10. 

THEN TURN RING TO FACE DOWN

 

PHOTO 1  

Bring shuttle thread OVER THE TOP OF THE RING and DOWN, forming a straight line.

(My thread is now pink).     Leave a distance of thread going to the shuttle.

　

\

PHOTO 2   

This is the key to  creating an interlocking ring:

Pretend you are doing a ‘down join’ :    Reach behind the straight (pink) thread in Photo 1, and pull that thread from front to back of the ring, creating a loop.  However DO NOT PUT THE SHUTTLE THROUGH THE LOOP.   You will ENLARGE THE LOOP SO THAT IT FITS OVER YOUR LEFT HAND, in your normal tatting position  (see next photo)

 

 

 

 

 

 

PHOTO 3   

Secure the loop around your left hand, in your normal tatting position  (I  use the ‘crochet hold’, but that’s my preference)

VERY MPORTANT: The bottom of the loop which goes through the ring is ‘near’ the  shuttle.

When you pull the shuttle upwards, the thread at the bottom of your hand moves with it. That’s when you know you have put your hand into the loop in the correct way. 

 

PHOTO 4

Start tatting the second ring near the BASE of the first ring.  (All the rings will be done from this position, and will start in this area at the base of the rings)

Don’t leave a thread space,  snug the first stitch near the base, but not too tightly.

In this photo, I’ve tatted three stitches on the second ring.

 

 

 

 

PHOTO 5 

 Finish tatting the second ring

　

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

PHOTO 6

 

Start closing the second ring.

You can see that it will close ‘under’ the first ring,

creating the interlocked effect.  Pay attention to closing the ring by keeping the shuttle thread under and behind both rings.

 

 

PHOTO 7

The second ring is almost closed, and is going under Ring 1.

(The start of the ring is going ‘over’ ring 1.)

Remember to keep the shuttle thread BEHIND both rings and tug to the left to close the ring, the way you would normally close a ring.

　

　

 

 

 

 

 

 

PHOTO 8   

 

Second ring is fully closed.

 

You can ‘jiggle’ the ring to

’pop’ it into the ’over’ position.   

Shuttle thread is now in position to be brought forward over the front of the second ring, which is pink.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

PHOTO 9   

 

 This is similar to Photo 1.   

 

Here the thread is in position to be pulled from behind to form a loop to go onto your hand

 (See PHOTOS 2 and 3)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

PHOTO 10   

This photo shows the beginning stitches of Ring 3

　

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

PHOTO 11   

RING 3 CLOSED

This shows the position that the rings are held as you tat all the rings counter-clockwise.

　

　

 

 

 

 

 

 

CONTINUE PRACTICING MORE RINGS.

 I usually do five rings, then stop to do the sixth one, WHICH CONNECTS THE FIRST.    I WILL EXPLAIN THAT IN PART 2. 

My ’history’ with interlocking rings.  

I’m very interested in Celtic, 3-D and layered tatting. I first became aware of interlocking rings when I noticed them on Rachel Jackson’s blog (“Piney Woods Tatter”) around February of 2012.  I was fascinated with her use of them as a ‘center’ for her beautiful  motifs and pendants, and her VERY unique and ATTRACTIVE way of  building ’layered’ effects on those motifs and pendants.   Rachel is a needle tatter, and she generously shares her instructions for these rings - using a needle.    And it did seem that they could only be efficiently made with a tatting needle.   I CAN needle tat, but I prefer the shuttle.    

 

Therefore, I took notice around June 2012 when I came across Karen Cabrera’s blog (“Entre Lanzaderas”, in both English and Spanish)   and I discovered her amazing tatting tutorials (an astounding 100+ videos!), with #77 showing how to use a SHUTTLE to do the interlocking rings.   Therefore I realized that they CAN  be done with a shuttle, even though there may be a little fussing to join the last ring to the first.   My only stumbling block with Karen’s video was her Reverse Riego method of manipulating the shuttle, so I set about trying to figure out how I could use the slip/slide method of shuttle tatting.  After many experiments, I finally  developed a way of  making them fairly quickly – after a LOT of practice!  I have MANY sets of these sitting around waiting for enhancement into larger motifs!)

 Karen:  http://entrelanzaderas.blogspot.com/2010/10/clases-de-frivolite-tatting-lessons.html

Rachel:  http://pineywoodstatter.blogspot.com/

 Without Rachel’s amazing inspiration and Karen’s showing me the way,   I doubt I would have come up with achieving these rings on my own!