up, upper, and down

I've been playing with pearl tatting, using tds and ds in various combos. Like the up-and-down with ds only was not enough...

Abbreviations:
ds=double stitch;
tds=treble tatting stitch (it starts always with a vsp, then it's never mentioned);
vsp=very small picot; 

That is a bracelet, it's still a work in progress, tatted using 3 shuttles. It is a chain with equal sections up and down, repetitions of 1ds and 4tds with upper grey thread and down pink thread. One big bead (that is hematite stone) is moved in place from the core shuttle, every each up-and-down sections. I've used 2 strands of DMC Mouliné Metallisé, sold in skeins, and the core thread is cotton, dmc size 10, ecrù.

(For some references about what is Pearl Tatting, please read at the end of this post.)

In the next pic, you can see the "wave" without beads. There is a chain with 3 variations, 2 of them showcase tds. The first group has (like the bracelet) sections of 1d and 4tds each. The second group has 1ds and 2tds. I've finished this sample with consecutive ds on each side.

The second group looks like block tatting, isn't it?

For the bracelet, next pic took the moment I put the bead in place:

... and the next pic shows 1ds and 1tds just tatted after the bead:

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The pearl tatting using tds makes the tatting not only straight or curving, like that one depending on the sequence of only double stitches. The height of the treble tatting lets us playing also with the shape of the line, and also with the bare thread lenght between repetitions:

In previous chain you see 3 variations, actually 2 displaying the tds. The first group has repetitions of 1ds,1tds,vsp,1ds each, and also there is space left between repetitions. The second short group is just consecutive ds on each side. The third group has the same repetitions of 1ds,1tds,vsp,1ds each, but I didn't left a space between repetitions.

I used the last sequence in the next bracelet, putting also beads in vsp. That is a prototype and another work in progress, in fact you see that I started without beads. Thread is a very cheap and thick thread, bigger than a size 10, bought at the market, don't know which brand is. Core thread is dmc size 10.

A close up:

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What if the tds substitute the ds in a chain? Of course you can tat a chain with all repetitions of 1tds up and 1 tds down, exactly the same as you do with ds.

But I think the shape of the chain is made a lot more interesting by alternating ds and tds.

For example, in the next picture the chain looks like a sequence of leaves: it has two groups, one leaf start with a group 1ds up and 1ds down, again 1ds up and 1ds down, then a group with 3 repetitions of 1tds up and 1tds down, then repeat the second leaf from the group with ds.

I also tried to hide the core thread inside the leaf. I don't know if it is useful, I haven't yet a pattern that really asks for that!  Anyway, from left to right and up to down, here it is the sequence of steps:

The trick is to use the core thread doubled, and in my sample the two other threads are in 2 shuttles wound CTM. Then after the leaf, I inserted one of the other threads inside the loop of the core thread, then I pulled that loop from the base of the leaf, in that way it disappeared.

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I put here - also for my personal reference - some links about the pearl tatting technique:

Tutorials:
- by Jennifer Williams: http://www.cariad-tatting.co.uk/page3.html
- by Riet Surtel and Jane Eborall: http://www.janeeborall.freeservers.com/PearlTatting.pdf
- by Eliz Davis (aka Tatknot): http://www.georgiaseitz.com/classes/maltesesnowflake.html

Videos offered by The Online Tatting Class in YouTube:
- (Neddle tatting) Lesson 23 Pearl Tatting or Maltese Tatting: https://youtu.be/lp6AdmkpAfE
- Pearl Tatting: https://youtu.be/gpN4wPvyRYw

Patterns from from The Pearl Tatting Book by Riego, 1866:
Mlle Riego 4 Shuttle Tatting
Nov. 3 Bella Online Newsletter Riego pearl tatting pattern

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That's not all, also I'm sure that you can find more variations.
There's also something to say about tds in maltese rings, but that is for another post!

Ciao,
Ninetta
UPDATE: Please refer to the page "Treble Tatting Stitch - Summary" - https://ninettacaruso.blogspot.com/p/blog-page_95.html for any info about treble tatting stitches, thank you.