Tatting

Since this blog is also about tatting, I thought that I would include a book recommendation for anyone interested in learning the technique, or improving your current technique.

One big problem with tatting is, if you are tatting in the round, joining the last ring to the first picot leads to a twisted picot that doesn't lay right.  It is also a dead giveaway as to where you started/finished the round.  There is a way to correct this, other than simply not doing the final join.  The book I am linking to this post is my favorite technique book.  I got my first copy right after I learned to tat while I was living in Australia.  When I got home to the USA, my book was packed up in a box, so I bought the book again.  That's how good it is.

This book is worth every penny.  I have the page marked that shows how to join the final ring to the first picot, creating a seamless round with no twisted picots.  You also learn a nifty way to hide the ends without having to glue or sew them down to the outside of the work where they are visible.  I hope you will find this book as helpful as I have.

Happy crocheting and tatting!

Russian Join

I just tried my first Russian Join!  If you don't know how to do this, please click the link.  It will take you to another Blogspot blog with great pictures.  Thank you to Maria who posted this link on the Magic Ball discussion on Crochet Spot.

I am crocheting a Market Bag from 100% cotton worsted weight yarn.  The body of the bag is mesh.  Hiding the ends when joining the new ball is problematic in this situation, so I decided to try the Russian Join.

Russian Join

 Here is the chain loop containing the Russian Join:

 Here is the next round worked into the chain loop containing the Russian Join:

So, it isn't too obvious, and I won't have to weave in any ends.  I will post pix after I launder the bag, and will let you know how it holds up.  The cotton will shrink, so we'll see what happens.