How I put my beads with some sort of dental floss

I shared some time ago a pattern of an tatted element having a bead strung on a chain.

I saw from a looong thread in FB that, apparently, there are some struggling to work this element, but do not understand really how I placed it. Not that difficult and I did not discovered America again.

First of all, the bead must have a hole big enough to let pass the chain. So you should first search for that bead fitting to what you want to go. Me, personally, I work only with very thin thread, so part of my problem is solved. But if you try to work the pattern with a Lizbeth 20 or even 40, you might should reconsider.

This for a start.

Because I wanted it like this, I started, instead of a ring (the bigger ring in the middle of the element), with a chain, placing a paper clip to make sure that I can close it when I'm done. When I finished the chain, I used my special tool. Not a dental floss but a better one. My son plays guitar and I am always demanding him to bring me the broken strings. The tiniest one is perfect for me: it is thin, even thinner than my thread, made out of steel, so it is resistent. Just perfect. (by the way, if I do not pay attention, it gets easily lost...)

This is what I use to place the beads between the picots, because it lets me a tiny part of the picot available and the join is really clean. Working with a thin tread, so I need it, instead of a paper clip.

This seems to be the problem:

So, the sequence was the following: start chain (paper clip, of course, like this you will have a picot when you remove it), work your chain. And then you have 2 choices.
1. Remove the paper clip, use the "tool" to secure the picot, place the pearl with the large hole ON the chain, make the join and close the ring.
2. Place the bead on a fine crochet hook, remove the paper clip, use the crochet to place the bead...

I made really quickly some pictures to show how I use this tool I have, there is no tatting in there, just the instructions.

Of course, you must be a bit familiar with tatting with beads but this is not that difficult.
I hope this helps the tatting friends from Italy. Better to explain it in my blog, that to write novels as comments in threads.
Titine did a gread job with this pattern: She tricked it nicelly. Her picture is here.

Pattern for the beaded flower

As I told before... beads phase im my tatting.
I just made this flower and someone wanted the pattern. It is not a big deal, it is not difficult at all.
Starting element is the most common 6 petal flower done with 1 shuttle. There are some beads on it. The second round just goes around the flower and the beads. This is the part wich gives a nice shape.
I guess someone else wiser and smarter tham me has to have found this idea before, but I never saw it. If it is the case, I apologize and I will be grateful if someone can point me the author, if there is one.

The pattern is done for a 12 Anchor Freccia  thread (like the 60 DMC, if I remember it correctly).

What you need: 30 seed beads.

Wind your shuttle and put the 30 seed beads on the thread.

Take 4 seed beads and start the ring. 8ds - 8ds - 3beads from the loop and 1 from the shuttle 8 close. The fourth bead from the loop will remain at the base of the ring.
Repeat 5 times, making the joins to form the flower.
Cut thread.
Easy.

Second round: all chains. (marked red)
Begin from the join picotsof the flower.
Chain 12ds, make lock join to the thread between the 2 seed beads.
Chain 4 ds - 4ds lock join after the bead on top.
Chain 12 ds lock join at the picot from the flower.
Repeat until the round is complete.

What I noticed while playing with this pattern.
For the outer round, you shoud add not more than 4 ds at the amount of ds used as a base for the flower. My case here: 8 for the flower, 12 for the outer chain. Less ds do not bring a nice shape, more ds will make a nasty join with overlaping chains.
When you make the lock joins for the outer round, you should consider passing the thread through the picot and not bellow the picot from the flower. Result: a smoother transition. When I made the join fom the lower part of the picot, I had a knottier join and a longer part of the thread was visible. Not nice.
The nastiest part: the join where the flower was closed... Patience needed.
If you use beads bigger than 1mm -1,5 mm, you should replace the 4 - 4 sequence with something fitting to your material.

Swap fever

I got the first introduction to the swap idea some time ago. I wanted to give it a try, so I put my name on the list. The hard part was about to come, working for it. It is one thing to give life to your ideas freely, just let my shuttle to make the ds as they fit better and a completelly other thing is to think: does it fit? does it bring some joy?
Preparing a present for someone you know is sometimes hard, but for a complete stranger is for me even harder.
I put up my head and hands to work ant I made a shy tatted necklace and a bracelet. Simple lines, no picots, just pearls and golden chain. The necklace is not symetric and the pearl in the center floates somehow but that's the charm of it...

 

 

For the second swap (yes, there was a second one too), I got bolder. A white and royal blue neclace with pearls. All tatted, Ankars style, ring on ring method. It was not the first time I used this pattern. My wrist watch has it, in a more complexe variant. 

There are 5 elements all put toghether. The flowers and the split chains, the lateral sides and the central element (the one from the pattern from the last blog post).

Result? 

The pattern for the central part is here, I just added a small blue flower underneath, a bigger white one to give it a nice aspect on the backside too and I left 2 petals on the upper part of the element. I sewed them togheter, joined the chains with a pearl element and this was it. Chouchoutte loved it... I hope. 

I forgot, of course, to write something about the technique... It was taken for some sort of macramé, not that far away, I would say, also knots, wright? And we can also finger tat... 

Now I struggle with pearls... all the way... I made some test patterns, I will have to make some research if they are not already done. I miss somehow a good personal library with all kind of elements nicely organized. I always am affraid that the ideas I have may have been published already... The white flowers are similar to the camelias pattern, without the use of teh seed beads... 

The orange flower is to be disregarded... it is just a test to see how this thread works with white glue for fixing... So far, so good. 

Game of beads

I make all kind of tests, I play with a lot of ideas... Sometimes I end up by spoling thread and time, the beads I can always re-use. I should, once, take a snapshot of my table (it is the coffee table in front of the TV)... It is full of cut ends, tests, loose seed beads. A mess, I have to admit.
I learned my lesson the hard way: I play, learn, test with bad thread. When I am happy with the result, I will make the same pattern with a better thread.
The last two pieces are a bracelet and a necklace. They wait for the clasps and I will make them in other colours too.

For the bracelet you can recognize the starting pattern idea. I am pretty happy with the small flower, it enhances a bit the effect. 

The necklace started a a test and the idea got somehow body. Guess I am now in playing with beads mood. Still thinking about a pearl for the pendant...
Both of the patterns I will make them in white and in black for sure.

Pattern for a small element

I am still in the search of patterns... all day long. But the ones I want, the Ankars ones, are nicelly hidden, for a good reason. I found some, like all of the ones interested in it, but just copying is not that funny.
The patterns wich really helped me understand were the one I call "for dummies"... the picture ones. I guess they have a name, did not find it yet.

So I played with my tatting and my phone camera. I put the result toghether in a pdf file. It is just an element of a bigger piece, the tricky part of it. It involves the ROR, both of them. It is not that difficult, but there are some parts where full attention and a lot of patience are needed.

Pattern and instructions for a small tatted element. I used it as a lower part of a earring pair.

The thread used for the pattern is not the ideal one, a polyester thread  brings a better effect. 

Here you have the link, since I have no idea how I can upload a PDF file in the blog. 

Please let me know if there is something to correct. 

Necklace "Joie" pattern

I wanted to made some time ago a tatted bracelet. I saw a nice Ankars bracelet from Maranta and I want to do something similar. Of course it is far away from the original, I am not at that point ... yet. Short story: I started as a bracelet, after the beads it shrunk somehow so it ended up as an asymetric necklace:

I made it out wit orange silk thread and then sewed the beads (cristals, pearls and coral beads).
It is a 2 shuttles pattern, because it has split rings in.
Here is the rough pattern:

The first part is easy, if you are familiar with the complexe ring on ring method. The difficulty comes at the second part of the chain. In order to make the rings on the same side of the work, you have 2 possibilities. You work the bigger ring (the one marked with red) and then:
a) you don't turn work and work the rings 20 - 20 and 15 - 15 and join them with reverse join..
b) you turn the work, and work the rings (making sure that they are aligned UNDER the big ring) with normal join.
The second way was difficult for me and the rings did not close as I wanted them to close... You could make it better, I'm sure.
It will happen every second element...
As you see, for the trefoil you can choose to make or not the picots (8-8-8-8 or 8-16-8). After the split ring,  do not reverse work. The chain should be like this:

Of course you can change the number of ds as it pleases you, especialy for the chain. If you have a good thread wich allows you to work a stiffen lace, you will have no problem with larger chains. I was also tempted to join the bigger ring to the chain, but I did not like the effect.
Once you have the lace, you can play with the beads.

Template attempt

I was asked to post the template for some of the small things I make. I never really bother to write down my ideas, I just tat them as they want to come out.
So I choose the Elements set and tried to make the pattern for it.

This is not that complicated. As you see, the element repeats itself. This is the reason I choose this one. 

To make the lace, you can use this: 

R1 : 10 - 7 - 39 - 15 close ring

turn work

R2: 17 join to R1 17 close ring

R3: 10 - join to R1 through R2 10 close ring

R4: 15 join to R1 15 close ring

Turn work

Use the same sequence for the second part of this element. 

Make sure that your picots are made at the right place.

If it is easier for you, you can work the fourth ring on the upper side of the lace, but you will need to to make an inverse join. 

I would advice to let both 15 - 15 rings at the end, like this the element closes nicely. 

As you notice, there is no bead added yet. According the Ankars technique, you will sew them, as many as you want, where you want. 

Mine was like this, sewed with the same thread as tatted. Make sure your sewing will be like for the hiding the ends. As for the beads choice, I would do the lace first and then pick the pearls. or you can tat the first ring so your preffered bead fits in. 

Please let me know if there are some mistakes in the pattern, it is my first attempt.