Split-Ring Tatting

Day 47: When you say "tatting," most people (at least those who don't think it's the same as crocheting) will picture rings and chains with lots of lacy, single-thread loops called picots in between the stitches, but it doesn't have to be that way. Quite frankly, trying to press hundreds of picots on a doily is similar to climbing a mountain. You take two steps, slide back one. In the case of picots, it's "flatten two, have the first one turn the wrong way while you're trying to flatten the third one." I usually pin picots to starch my pieces, but that's another story. Today, we're talking about split-ring tatting, and the only picots we're going to make are going to be extremely small: just big enough to insert a #13 crochet hook to make joins. Now of those people who understood what I meant when I said "tatting" (the ones who realize it's not crochet), only about one in ten will know what split-ring tatting is. See? We're narrowing this down to a very select group! Split-ring tatting can be done with either a shuttle or with tatting needles, and one way or the other, by the time you've made a few rings, you'll see that you can't leave one thread attached to the ball as you'd do in regular tatting. You're going to be working with two long tails, and you'll be making part of the ring going clockwise, and the other part going counter-clockwise. It's not always half-and-half, either. It all depends on where the next ring begins. I won't explain the whole process. There are plenty of books out there if you're curious. Personally, I like the look of tatting without picots, and split-ring tatting opens up a new dimension on the art.