Suzann Does It All

This is part one of a series on making different types of tatting joins.

Here is a tricky way to get rid of the bump on shuttle joins. Place the picot over the thread, as you would in a normal join. To make the shuttle joins flat; you need to have both threads on shuttles. Draw the shuttle thread through the picot but instead of passing the ring shuttle through the loop;
pass the ball or chain shuttle through. The join is now tightened up using the ring shuttle. This has the advantage over regular shuttle joins in that there is no bump and it can be easily opened up if you make a mistake. It is still a shuttle join in that you have pulled the ring thread through the picot. Really it is just the opposite of a normal join

The Lock Stitch

A lock stitch is the unturned half of a double stitch. It can be used to break the curve of a chain and change direction. Another useful way to use the lock stitch is in joining long chains to a center ring. If you have ever made snowflakes or flowers with long chains you may have noticed that when you join to the center ring the stitches seem bunched and don’t lay flat.

Try this. Make your chain up until the last double stitch. Pull up and shape your chain as desired. Make the first half of the ds as normal then do not turn the second half of the ds (a lock stitch). Now do your shuttle join, which is also a lock stitch. If you use the two-shuttle join I mention in the “shuttle join” instruction, you won’t have a lump at your shuttle join. To start the return chain after the shuttle join make another lock stitch then a normal second half. Finish your chain as directed. When you look at your work you will see that your chains lay next to each other nice and flat.In fact the ends of the chains will look tapered as they go into the ring join. Giving a much more graceful look then before. The important thing is to maintain an even tension when making the lock stitches.

Don’t make them tighter then the full double stitches. Otherwise your chains will look like they are standing on their tippy toes instead of tapering down to a graceful finish. As I work my chains I pull up the stitches as I go. When it is time to make a chain to chain join the stitches will be even on both chains and the join will be nice and neat. I don’t make a half stitch after a join, especially if I am using heavy thread. I make the join then tighten the thread to bury the join and then make a full ds.

Rebecca Jones Complete Book of Tatting has lock stitches with pictures. Either make the first half of the ds as usual and do not turn the second half. Or do not transfer the first half and do a normal second half. You may find the second method better as the normal stitch is next to the rest of your tatting and you don’t have a little dip. The lock stitch counts as the first ds on your chain.