Split Rings

[Hannah Mackin]

Hi :)

 

I am new to the site, but have been tatting and making lace since i was a teenager. I have recently had a short break, however, and need some clarification.

 

I have found some patterns that I really like, but they both require 'Split Rings'. The problem, is, that both sites give a different way to do them.

 

Site #1 says go to 'A', leave the ring open, then do another ring, close it, then complete the 1st ring, leaving a 'ring on top of a ring'.

 

The 2nd site says to go to 'A', then complete the ring with just the 1st half of ds's.

 

I am confused! which way is it, and if they both are right for different circumstances, how do you know which method to use when a pattern says 'SR'?

 

Thank you :)

 

Hannah

[Diane Cademartori]

Hi Hannah,

There are excellent videos on YouTube of how to make a split ring. I learned from Honeybeesbliss... 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DfmcjYHBJr4

I haven't mastered the split ring yet. Some day I will. I hope this helps.

Diane

[Jane Eborall]

Does this help too?

http://www.janeeborall.freeservers.com/SplitRings.pdf

Split rings are the BEST!!!  A bit of a learning curve to start with but after that you'll wonder how you ever lived without them!!!

Jane

[Marilee Rockley]

Neither of the site descriptions that you've quoted, Hannah, sound like they're describing split rings, actually. The first one sounds like it's describing a "loop tatted ring" as some call it - not a split ring at all but a totally different thing that is much harder, in my humble opinion. The 2nd site sounds like it's describing a Josephine ring. It would help if you could show or put in a link to the pattern that you're working on.

Anyway, to tat a split ring, you need 2 shuttles (there's another method that uses only 1 shuttle, but that's another story entirely). Basically you tat the first half of the ring normally, then for the second half you use 2nd shuttle to tat unflipped stitches on the back side of the working circle (left hand thread). Then, when you close the ring (by pulling the original shuttle thread (shuttle 1, the "core") the ring will close and both threads will be exiting the split ring at the same place.

It's a very useful technique!

Marilee

[Georgia Seitz]

The first site is referring to a single shuttle split ring. The purpose of this technique is to stack a ring on top of a ring, as in making a line of rings on one of the six arms of a snowflake. You leave the first ring half closed, throw off the last ring, the use the same single shuttle to wrap (not tat) ds to cover the bare thread that is showing still from the last ring. There are at least three methods to accomplish this. The last one is the easiest.

http://www.janeeborall.freeservers.com/SSSR.pdf

or

http://janeeborall.freeservers.com/loopfloatring.pdf

or

http://georgiaseitz.com/2002/sssr/rietsssr.html

Site two is referring to a split ring which is used to either progress the tatting moving from point a to point b (remember a regular starts a point a and closes/ends at point a. This type of split ring requires the use of two shuttles and is not only decorative but also has an important function in construction as it allows the tatter to move from one row to another, or from the center out without cutting the thread. In this split ring you tat the first portion of the ring with shuttle 1 normally, then reposition the hands and use shuttle 2 to wrap (not tat) the necessary ds onto the bare thread of the ring. The ring must be closed using shuttle 1.

http://www.janeeborall.freeservers.com/SplitRings.pdf

http://www.georgiaseitz.com/2002/ringssplitrings.html

http://www.georgiaseitz.com/classes/splitring.html

http://www.georgiaseitz.com/newtat/allsplitt.htm

[Robin DeSpain]

http://tatsaway.blogspot.com/p/how-to.html

That's the "How too" list that has helped me the most.  I actually take the ring off and turn it around in my hand rather than the "Dead Spider" way some people do...I just can't old it well enough with my hand turned over. (and I hold the thread like a crocheter not the "traditional" tatting way *eye roll* what ever works I say)

Without seeing the pattern I'm not sure if what you need really is a split ring.  *shrug* But you should learn and love them.

Here is a great bookmark that's made with split rings.  It's how I learned and now it's an old stand by pattern.  http://janeeborall.blogspot.com/2009/03/bookmarks-from-jane-in-sout...

[Lorelei Halley Administrator]

Thank you all for your responses.  Hannah let us know if these have enabled you to do it.  Show us a picture when you succeed.

[Lorelei Halley Administrator]

By the way, we do have 2 split ring tatting videos among the videos on our site. On is by Linda Davies, the other by Tatman.

[Karla Barraza]

How are you supposed to document split rings in a pattern, more specifically, when you're supposed to switch shuttles?  

[Jane Eborall]

The method that most of us use is to write the first half as usual and then put a forward slash like this / to denote where you change to using the second shuttle.  If you look at this pattern http://janeeborall.freeservers.com/ButterflyNoBeads.pdf you will see that when it gets to SR2 that the first half is written as a normal ring and then the forward slash tells the worker to change shuttles.  I think this is one of the very few 'standardised' notations in Tat Land!!!  

Jane

[Karla Barraza]

Thanks!!!