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!!

 

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 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!