the onion dilemma

Every time I run into a pattern with onion rings, I feel as I'd start from my beginnings, with a dilemma, wondering which method I should use to tat it: concentric rings? mock rings? in which order? I need - every time - a little brush-up.

What happens then, it is that now I have a lot of notes that I'll try to share here, in a series of posts. I hope that you'll appreciate my effort and you won't be too strict if my English or my tatting have some flaws. Please leave me any comment, I will love it. 

 

Onion Rings - Part I

I will use a simple pattern, and with those arrows I'm trying to indicate the front side  of the work, that doesn't always mean that it is the working direction.

The dotted arrows indicate the joining point between the two rings and one picot that you will see in my pics but it is not mandatory for tatting onion rings.

I tatted with two coloured threads, to better show the steps and to make it clear when I switched shuttle.

All methods can be worked with one colour only, with 2 shuttles CTM. Everything remains valid, except - of course - that if you switched shuttles, it won't be evident in the finished piece. But, knowing more than one method, it can be handy in case you need to plan thread's length, so you can, for example, choose to switch shuttles or change method when in shortage of thread.

When I worked from the back side (for example those chains that are between onion rings), I worked stitches in reverse order (that is first the second half and then the first half), but this is just my personal choice and you can ignore it.

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Many thanks to Muskaan for everything she shares in her blog  (https://tipsaroundthehome.blogspot.com). 

In fact, I found many of the online resources and tips that are listed here, thanks to her previous posts.

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In the next:
First shuttle = core shuttle (warning: when I switch shuttles, core thread will be a different color!)
Second shuttle = "ball" shuttle.

For the sake of simplicity, I started with one ring (5ds,picot,5ds) and one chain (3ds, 3 picots separated by 3ds, 3ds).

At this point, the core shuttle is that one with the red thread.

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Introduction:

Onion rings are concentric rings, two or more, that can be tatted with:

1. all true rings
2. one inner true ring and outer (one or more) mock rings
3. all mock rings

These rings may be joined with one picot (like in the pattern here, but it is not mandatory), this join can be:

• a join that let the core thread sliding
• a lock join (but not for true rings)

The way these rings are closed at their base depends on:

• the type of rings (true ring or mock ring)
• the thread (color) that we want tatting with next.

Whatever is the method, a SLT (Shoe Lace Trick) can be done at any moment, to change the position of shuttles and then the threads (colors).

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1. Onion rings with true rings

You can find this method explained in:

• a drawing by Jane Eborall: in her site http://www.janeeborall.freeservers.com (direct link: http://www.janeeborall.freeservers.com/MakingOnionRing.pdf )
• a page by Georgia Seitz: http://www.georgiaseitz.com/2002/onion/onionhow2.html
• a drawing by Jennifer Williams, “Onion ring joins” in her site https://www.cariad-tatting.com/techniques  (direct link: https://2e0d4c9c-322d-402e-a524-b0e9c70fea88.filesusr.com/ugd/c32622_01bd357d7b034aca9db8148c2e293fdc.pdf )

The join used to join outer to inner ring is called “onion ring join”, it is similar to the S&RJ – slope & roll join -, but there can be different names for similar techniques, depending on where they're used. The original link for a drawing by Debbie Arnold that explains the S&RJ is here: https://www.ds9designs.com/patterns_free/Joins.pdf

This method is showed in pictures from 1 to 5.

With the first shuttle, make the loop around the hand and work the inner ring from the front side.

Then:
(fig. 1 e 2) For the second ring (tatted from the front side too), take the loop around the hand, passing the thread in front of the inner ring, around the hand and then again in front of the inner ring. Take care that the inner ring should not be reversed.

(fig.3) The "onion ring join" is quite a normal join except that the picot to be joined is under the current core thread (that is: take a loop of the thread around the hand and pass it through the picot, then pass the core shuttle through that loop). Then, be careful, you must not pull the thread around the hand, in this way the core thread is still free to slide.

(fig.4) Leave the space for one picot and continue with the pattern. This picot is optional, it depends on the pattern.
In (fig.5) there's the onion ring finished.

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The "true rings" method can vary slightly, depending how you tat the outer ring, which join you choose to attach rings together, or if you tat the inner ring after the outer ring, or if you need to tat the onion ring from the back side. But these are for the next post in the series.

... To be continued!

Ciao,
Ninetta

Update:
This post is part of a series.

• the onion dilemma – Part I  (this post)
• variations on the onion recipe – Part II 
• peeling the onion without crying  - Part III
• onion rings - not fried yet  - Part IV
• mock and split but still genuine – Part V
• the onion takes dimension - Part VI
• whichever way you choose - Part VII