Tatting Class 7 ~ Split Rings!

Yes! I love split rings! Class number 7 in my Learn to Tat book made me very happy. Well, first it confused me and then it made me happy.

I've been using the dvd that comes with the book quite a lot. Seeing and doing is my preferred way of learning. So I was watching the pretty manicured hands make a split ring and I thought, "No problem. I've got this." Then I tried to mimic what I had just seen only to to find that it wasn't working. It didn't look right and I couldn't close the ring.

Now if you haven't tatted, you are probably wondering what I'm talking about. If you have, you are probably giggling at my rookie mistake. I started over. I watched the video again looking and listening carefully for what I must have missed the first time around. "Wait, what's that? Did she say reverse the stitches? ...and don't transfer the stitches???"

I cottoned on to reversing the stitches fast enough. Over then under instead of the other way around. No problem, stitches reversed. What gave me pause was the don't transfer your stitches comment. The pretty tatting hands just kind of threw that in there like it was no big deal. I've just spent a week getting really comfortable doing classic double knots, transferring my stitches. Can I convince my hands to go back in time?

Seriously, I had a moment in which I wondered if it was even possible for me not to transfer my stitches! Then my brain caught back up and I figured out that if transferring stitches was all about loosening the tension, then not transferring had to be about maintaining tension. My light bulb turned on. I was home again!

After that, it was all downhill for me and split rings. I found a nice skein of orange cotton and split ringed my heart out. I was pleasantly surprised to find that I had enough yarn on my spools to make a chain that would reach around my wrist. I found a couple copper findings and added a clasp. Hello new bracelet.

Class 8 will have me splitting chains. I'm ready!