Magic simple knot, or how to make life easier for yourself.
Hello everyone! First, I want to address my subscribers – participants in the competition for the best name for a doily (posts dated September 11 and 15). The validity period of the discount coupon for the Galaxy Flower doily tatting pattern has been extended until October 30. I sent the coupon code to ALL members. Please check all your email folders.
Now let’s get back to the topic of today’s post. Have you noticed how simple actions sometimes help us make our lives easier? I won’t get too philosophical, LOL! I just suggest that you check whether the SIMPLE knot is truly magical. Yes, yes, I’m talking about the very knot with which we tie our shoelaces. You will be surprised, but it really works!
Shuttle and ball threads
I have already written in previous posts how tatting elements have different names in different languages. One such example is the name of shuttle and ball threads. You might be very surprised. But in my language there are NO such names. The shuttle thread is called the leading thread. Because she seems to direct all the nodes of the work, leading the pattern along with her. And the ball thread is called working thread. Apparently because she forms knots, that is, she works hard!
I do not at all pretend to be a “HISTORIAN OF TATTING”, but I have a theory. At the beginning of the emergence of tatting, the patterns were simple and were made with one shuttle, or a shuttle and a ball. And by the time tatting spread to Eastern Europe, the patterns became more complex. There was a need for two or even three shuttles. In order not to confuse tatters, Europe and America left the same terminology. But the Slavic countries introduced new names, which in my opinion are logical if we use two shuttles.
Just in case, I want to remind new taters, shuttle thread is always on the right (if you are right-handed, of course!).
And now we come to the most interesting part!
You can make many patterns with one shuttle and ball. The trick is this. For example, you need to make a pattern like in the picture. As you can see, this is a pattern for two shuttles. Because the Rings here are made with the second shuttle (this is the shuttle with ball thread).
Try taking one shuttle and a ball! You can swap the threads of the ball and the shuttle using “magic” simple knot! I made a short video to demonstrate this simple but absolutely magical technique! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q9c7uiCt3jE&list=UULF3dn4_9pp7tIKA2k564wLBQ
Multicolor patterns
This works if you are making a single color pattern. What if I want to use two colors? I’m sure you remember a simple rule: the color of ball thread determines the color of the Ring or Chain (Wow, I definitely need to write philosophical treatises!). In this case, I take two shuttles with two different colors of thread and make simple knots however I want, LOL! Yes, I received 12 heart options where the color was NOT REPEATED. But I have 12 more options in my head! I liked the result so much that I decided to use this technique to create bookmarks. Of course, you can take threads of any other colors and create as many of your own color options as you like! Experiment, creativity is welcome. The pattern is available in my store. https://fairylace.kozinenko.com/product/pattern-bookmarks-tenderness/
Thank you for reading to the end. I hope I didn’t bore you too much!
