captured in pairs – Part IV

This post is part of a series:

Captured Picot VersionA: captured in many ways - Part I

Captured Picot VersionB: captured in a twist - Part II

Adjoining Captured Picots and Captured Join: captured and caught - Part III

Triple and Quadruple Captured Picot: this post (captured in Pairs - Part IV)

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My PIC (Partner In Crime) saw all this series in advance. Playing in pairs is a lot more enjoyable than playing alone, also I needed help to rationalise all the different effects and Muskaan is always generous and talented, giving me a lot of her time. We love exploring tatting techniques together!

Every effect shown here in rings can be applied in chains too.

Continuing from previous post, you’ll read about the (perhaps!) last couple of effects which combine Captured Join (CJ) with Captured Picot (CP). A good pair to end this series.

Thread is Lizbeth size 10, pink 619 and seagreen 686.

Triple Captured Picot

1 - Start with 6 ds, then first long picot and 3ds. I used a picot gauge 1/2”, vertically. The first picot is a normal long picot.

2 - (Here the CJ starts.) Pull up a loop from the front through the first long picot to be joined. Put your fingers inside that loop.

3 - Then, just like explained for CP VersionB, take the loop and twist it clockwise so that you will create the second measured picot (1/4” used vertically), and 

4 - tat 3ds with the thread coming from the loop.

5 -  open again the main loop of the ring, put your hand again inside it and 

6 - leave the space for the third long picot (1/2” used vertically) and complete the ring. The 3rd  picot gets captured through both previous picots.

I tatted 6ds and closed it.

Update: In step 3 the twist is needed to capture the thread in the picot before making the next double stitch. You can twist the loop clockwise or counterclockwise: the final effect is slightly different but really almost unnoticeable! See the next pic: 

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Quadruple Captured Picot

This is another combination of CJ and CP, where the first picot is again a normal long picot:

1 - Start with 4 ds, then first long picot and 3ds. I used a picot gauge 1/2”, vertically.

2 - (Here the CJ starts.) Pull up a loop from the front through the first long picot to be joined. 

3 - Put your fingers inside that loop, leave a second measured picot (1/4” used vertically), and 

4 - tat 3ds with the thread coming from the loop.

5 - Then, just like explained for CP VersionB, take the loop and twist it clockwise so that you will create the third measured picot (1/4” used vertically), and in this way you will have the loop in front of the third picot.

6 - tat 3ds with the thread coming from the loop.

7 -  open again the main loop of the ring, put your hand inside it and 

8 - leave the space for the fourth long picot (1/2” used vertically), that will be captured by both the first and the third picots, and complete the ring. 

I tatted 4ds and closed it.

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I’m tatting a delicate narrow edging, just to show off the quadruple effect. Thread is DMC size 80. I have already tatted about 40cm of it, I think that it would be nice around a little linen rectangle - at least this is the plan. I’ll be back to the blog when it will be finished.

Pattern:
r-A    4 - 4 - - 3 CJ↑ ( - 3 -↑ 3) - - 4 - 4. rw
ch-B    4 - 4. rw
r-C    4 +(to previous ring) 4 - 4. rw 
ch-D    4 - 4. rw
r-E    4 +(to previous ring)  4 - - 3 CJ↑ ( - 3 -↑ 3) - - 4 - 4. rw
    
Repeat from r-C to r-E till you reach your desired length.

Legend:
- -  long picot (gauge 8mm used vertically)
-  short picot (gauge 2mm used vertically)
CJ↑ captured up join
-↑ Captured Picot VersionB, twist loop clockwise
(…) = in rounded parentheses the stitches made with working thread coming from the loop

UPDATE (25 June) the edging is finished:

Update - video: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Tqwy5Jvd6p3qeDJQjQ_t3sWpfgxsr446/view?usp=drivesdk 

Ciao, 

Ninetta.

captured and caught – Part III

This post is part of a series:

Captured Picot VersionA: captured in many ways - Part I

Captured Picot VersionB: captured in a twist - Part II

Adjoining Captured Picots and Captured Join: this post (captured and caught - Part III)

Triple and Quadruple Captured Picot: next post (captured in Pairs - Part IV)

Continuing from previous post. 

Every effect shown here in rings can be applied in chains too.

Adjoining Captured Picots

In this ring the second picot is captured by the first, then the third picot is captured by the second, etc. The Captured Picots are tatted in the same way shown in VersionA, and the steps (pics 2 to 6 in the blogpost for VersionA) are repeated after each long picot. That is (following stitch count in the pic above): 

1 - Start with 4 ds, then first long picot and one ds. For the Lizbeth size 10, I used a gauge of 1/2”, vertically.

2 - Pull up a loop from the front through the first long picot, put your fingers inside that loop (pics 2 and 3 in VersionA) and tat 3ds with the thread coming from the loop

3 - Then, open again the main loop of the ring, put your hand inside it and the working thread will be “captured” by the first long picot. 

4 – Leave a second long picot and tat 1ds

5 - Pull up a loop from the front through the second long picot, put your fingers inside that loop and tat 3ds with the thread coming from the loop

6 - Then, open again the main loop of the ring, put your hand inside it and the working thread will be “captured” by the second long picot.

7 – Leave a third long picot and tat 1ds

8 - Pull up a loop from the front through the third long picot, put your fingers inside that loop and tat 3ds with the thread coming from the loop

9 - Then, open again the main loop of the ring, put your hand inside it and the working thread will be “captured” by the third long picot.

10 – Leave a fourth long picot and tat 1ds

… Etcetera. If you like, it can be continued. Complete the ring (after the 4th picot I tatted 4 ds and closed the ring). 

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The picots in the “adjoining capture” can have different lengths, it’s not mandatory to make them all with the same gauge! And they can combine up and down overlappings - this variety can create some different effects, for example in next pic:

In this ring, tatted using Lizbeth size 10, the 1st picot is a medium length picot (1/4” used vertically), the 2nd is a long picot (1/2” used vertically), and 3rd is a medium length picot (1/4” used vertically). The “Capture” was tatted as shown in VersionA, and the first capture was made pulling up the loop from the front through the first picot, while the second capture was made pulling down the loop from the back through the second picot.

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Captured Join 

A technique similar to the Captured Picot can be used for joining.
In the next pic, the first pink ring is 6-3--3.

In the second pink ring, you see what I call “Captured Up Join”:

1 - Start with 3ds, then pull up a loop from the front through the long picot of previous ring to be joined.

2 - Put your fingers inside that loop, leave a first measured picot (1/4” used vertically, for the Lizbeth size 10),

3 - tat 3ds with the thread coming from the loop.

4 - Then open again the main loop of the ring, put your hand again inside it and 

5 - leave a second measured picot (same size in this sample) and complete the ring. I tatted 9ds and closed it.

Note: in step 1. if you pull the loop down from the back, then it will be called a “Captured Down Join” (I haven’t a pic)

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This is the same Captured Up Join, but I joined back to a previous long picot in the same element, and also the third picot is the same length of the first one. Nice effect, isn’t it? 

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From now on, I’ll use the abbreviations:  CP = Captured Picot; CJ = Captured Join

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In how many ways can I join to a CP? I made some experiments, and I feel that my list can grow. Till now I have 3 nice types of joins:

Types of joins

pic 1 - I tatted first the pink ring with CP, and later I joined the seagreen rings with normal up join in both picots.

pic 2 – I tatted first the pink ring with CP, and later I joined the seagreen ring with normal join to first long picot, 1ds, normal join to second long picot.

pic 3 – I tatted first the pink ring with CP, and later I tatted the seagreen ring with Captured Join, taking the loop in the space where the pink CP is crossing. The long picots show off the effect very well.

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Mixing captures

The next is another effect, in fact I tatted first the pink ring with a normal long picot. Then, I tatted the seagreen ring with two picots which join to the same pink picot, and the second of them is “captured”:

I combined CJ with CP (VersionA) - that is, in the seagreen ring, when you want to join: 

1- pull up a loop from the front through the pink picot to be joined (CJ), then - working with this loop,

2- start a CP VersionA (from pic 2 in the tutorial), that is: first long picot, then tat 1ds, then pull a loop through the first picot, etc.etc.

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If the CP captured your interest, if your threads aren’t caught on your fingers and if I haven’t bored you yet, maybe you are willing to read the last post in this series, so… see you soon!

Ciao, 

Ninetta.

captured in a twist – Part II

Continuing from previous post. 

Every effect shown here in rings can be applied in chains too.

I found another way to tat the same Captured Picot. The difference between VersionA and VersionB is in a little “bump” of thread present in VersionA (see the black arrow in the next picture), that disappears in VersionB. In this collage I put side by side all rings tatted in the two versions, hope that it is clear what I wanted to put in evidence.

The ‘bump’ in Version A is caused because the first picot gets encapsulated in the next half-stitch and the thread is visible in the front when the loop for the second picot is pulled UP through first picot:

Note by Muskaan:  In VersionA, when the loop for the second picot is pulled DOWN through the first picot, this bump/extra thread moves to the back and is NOT visible in the front. This effect is well visible in the “Single Ring Butterfly”, already shown in previous post, where both captured picots have been tatted following VersionA.

Captured Picot – Version B

In this version the first picot will be created by the same loop that forms the second picot. The following collage shows how I tatted Version B (note that stitch count is only for the scope of this tutorial):

pic 1 - Start with 3ds. 

pic 2 and drawing - Take the loop around the hand and twist it clockwise so that you will create an “8” shape, this movement will create the first picot and will take the loop in front of the first picot in this way: bend the upper loop of that “8” toward the last tatted ds and put your fingers inside that upper loop. NOTE: This is to ‘trap’/capture the thread in the first picot. Leaving it in place, work the next steps using the right side of the loop. 

Note that if you twist the ring loop counterclockwise the loop will be turned toward the back of the first picot, and the thread will overlap in the opposite direction.

pic 3 - Leave the space for the first long picot, then tat next ds with the thread coming from the loop. 

The height of the long picots were eyeballed in the thai thread, but with the Lizbeth size 10 I used a gauge of 1/2” vertically. 

pic 4 – Tat a total of 4 ds with the thread coming from the loop. 

Note that the stitch count in this step/pic is sort of “strategical”, because the effect will be more evident if the second picot is “captured” at a distance. Hence I would not recommend to tat only 1 or 2 ds in this step. 

pic 5 - Then, open again the main loop of the ring. Put your hand inside the main loop of the ring and the working thread will be captured by the first long picot. Leave the space for the second long picot, I used the same picot gauge.

pic 6 - Complete the ring (I tatted 3 ds in the big ring) and close it. 

Muskaan’s note:
- The main difference between VersionA and VersionB is in pic 2. In VersionA (pic 2 in previous blogpost) the first picot is made complete followed by one ds and then the thread is pulled through the picot to start the second picot. In VersionB (pic 2 in this post), the first picot is made after the thread for second picot is folded into position.

Captured Picot Version B (twist loop clockwise):   R: 6 - -↑ (4) - - 6

Captured Picot Version B (twist loop counterclockwise):   R: 6 - -↓ (4) - - 6

Legend:
- -  long picot
-↑ Captured picot, Version B, twist loop clockwise
-↓ Captured picot, Version B, twist loop counterclockwise
(4) = 4ds tatted with working thread coming from the loop 

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Muskaan already tatted some of the various possibilities, for example the adjoining captured picots using a dark thread, and so I noticed a little small picot (highlighted with the white line on the left in the pic below) that gave me ideas to go further in exploring this new decorative picot. Muskaan is the best for tatting techniques, she’s always generous in sharing ideas, encourage, dissect, motivate, and she is my “Partner In Crime”!!

Well, so the exploration continues and there will be two other posts in this series …

As a sneak peek, here is the “Quadruple Captured Picot”, I will explain this effect too. Now I have a lovely edging, a WIP with a good chance to be finished! Thread is DMC size 80. The pin in the pic is to visualize the actual size of the edging.

Ciao, 

Ninetta.

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This post is part of a series:

Captured Picot VersionA: captured in many ways - Part I

Captured Picot VersionB: captured in a twist - Part II

Adjoining Captured Picots and Captured Join: captured and caught - Part III

Triple and Quadruple Captured Picot: captured in Pairs - Part IV

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captured in many ways – Part I

 

thread is Lizbeth size 10, pink 619 and seagreen 686

This decorative picot is something new. Many thanks to Muskaan who suggested the name: "Captured Picot". We’re discovering together that there’s a full range of possible effects and two ways of tatting it. But, sorry, I’m going too fast. Let me start from the beginning.

For the #PicotMeEndrucks April 2024 game in the Endrucks 1920 Project FB group, Muskaan compiled a list (only pictures) of Decorative Picots in Tatting - https://drive.google.com/file/d/1D6l4gQWeGu1Se1ZXAhP2vWLQMd4lfzMJ/view

She’s always very inspiring (the visual compilation is coloured and brilliant) and I started a personal study/refresher of both Butterfly and Wide Picots, referring to the list of links of tatting tutorials in Muskaan’s page - https://tipsaroundthehome.blogspot.com/p/tatting-resources.html 

It’s always a wonderful moment when you “see” old things with new eyes. I love Rhoda Auld’s (1974) words – “Part of the time at least think of the activity of tatting, not the tatted piece, as an enjoyable end in itself. Don’t concern yourself with making something but only with doing something, in just the same way that a game of solitaire is an end in itself.” And so, I played.

Every effect shown here in rings can be applied in chains too.

Playing with the Butterfly Picot technique, devised by Lenka Hašková, I obtained a long picot that interlaces with any other picot (it can be in the same ring or chain, or on an earlier element). Of course, I first asked Muskaan if she had seen this effect before, and she suggested sharing a picture in Facebook with the same question. The post is public, posted on 7th May in my Fb profile, and I think that you can open it, even without logging in - https://www.facebook.com/ninetta.caruso/posts/7903614906337830 -. 

(Fig.1)

Actually I found two ways of tatting the basic version of the Captured Picot, and this gives rise to two versions, as shown in Fig.1 above, in pink and seagreen thread. I don’t mean to challenge you to spot the difference, I promise to reveal all details in this post and in the next.

Captured Picot – VersionA

In the comments of the Facebook post, I shared a video showing how I tatted my very first version, the ring tatted with pink thread. 

>>> This is the very short video, that I shot the same day of the Fb post: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1qSx3w3sSOS-x_5IhA55-RLqLS5K24FkQ/view?usp=sharing 

Unfortunately, I didn’t make new videos, because my thumb has been “captured” too … it got stuck in a drawer, and, oh well… I'd rather don't make videos with a black nail in the foreground!

However, I prefer visual stepwise pictures to videos, so I prepared a collage for it. I used a thick thai lanyard used for crochet bags.

pic 1 - Start with 3 ds, then a long picot and one ds. The height of the long picot was eyeballed in the thai thread, but with the Lizbeth size 10 I used a gauge of 1/2” vertically.

pic 2 - Pull up a loop from the front through the long picot. This is the same movement that we do when joining. And when you join you put your shuttle inside the loop, right? But - IMPORTANT - in this case the shuttle won’t pass through the loop. 

pic 3 - Put your fingers inside that loop, in a way similar to what Dan Rusch has shown in his (2003) pictorial for the Wide Picot - http://pages.suddenlink.net/tatmeister/widepicot.html? . Also Muskaan did a pictorial on Dan Rusch’s method - https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Ejb7tVOk15VQHV0omhUt-HIb1CzYAI7I/view .

pic 4 – Then, tat 3ds with the thread coming from the loop.
Note that the stitch count in this step/pic is sort of “strategical”, because the effect will be more evident if the second picot is “captured” at a distance. Hence I would not recommend to tat only 1 or 2 ds in this step.

pic 5 - Open again the main loop of the ring, put your hand inside it, and the working thread will be “captured” by the first long picot.

pic 6 and 7 – Leave a second long picot and complete the ring (I tatted 3 ds and closed it). I used the same picot gauge used for the first picot.

Note that there isn’t encapsulation: the first long picot is not encapsulated in the next stitches.

Muskaan tatted it almost the same day of my Facebook post, and left this comment: “I was also thinking of symmetry. If we pull down the loop instead of pull up a loop through the previous picot, we should get the opposite overlap”. She’s very right! I tried it and here it is a “Single Ring Butterfly”. Who’s the designer? Muskinetta? Lol!!

Single Ring Butterfly - Pattern

Ring: 1 - - 1 +↓ (3) - - 1-1 - - 1+↑ (3) - - 1

Legend:

- -  long picot
+↓ Captured picot, VersionA, pull down loop
+↑ Captured picot, VersionA, pull up loop
(3) = 3ds tatted with working thread coming from the loop  

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Muskaan contributed with many samples and observations, among these:
1.    the size of the long picots can make a difference in the overall look and how well the interlacing is visible.
2.    Important – the captured picots are both decorative as well as functional. You can easily join another element to either or both picots.

tatted by Muskaan (VersionA, pull up loop): Ring: 5 - - 1+↑ (4) - - 5

tatted by me (VersionA, pull down loop): Ring: 5 - - 1+↓ (4) - - 5

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In the next post you will find another way to tat the same captured picot, shown in Fig.1 above as “VersionB”.

Ciao, 

Ninetta.

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This post is part of a series:

Captured Picot VersionA: captured in many ways - Part I

Captured Picot VersionB: captured in a twist - Part II

Adjoining Captured Picots and Captured Join: captured and caught - Part III

Triple and Quadruple Captured Picot: captured in Pairs - Part IV

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