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.)
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!)
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!
