ruffled heart

[penguink789]

Has anyone tried to needle tat Vicki Clarke's ruffled heart (http://victats.blogspot.com/2009/07/ruffled-heart-pattern-posted.html)? i tried and I'm having problems translating some of the elements. how do you do a mock picot with needle tatting? and how do you do a lock join?

[Leeanne]

Hi a mock picot is made when you join the shuttle threads with a lock join of 2 shuttles to start the next row of the pattern. A lock join is one flipped stitch followed by one unflipped stitch.

[crazytatter]

Yep, but that is on the shuttle. I wonder how to do that on a needle. Is it the same principal?

[waterdew]

Using a needle, you can do a lock join by doing a ds using the needle thread instead of the ball thread.

[waterdew]

Just had a look at the pattern. Do the ring with the picots and form the ring. The mock picot is used to get out of the ring and onto the next row, so leave space on your thread(same amount as your picots) and use a lock join to secure the picot. This will then enable you to start your next ds on the next row. Hope this makes sense - if not I will try to do a better explanation. :)

[waterdew]

Alternatively, you could just do the ring with the picots, tie off. Then start the next row.

[Judy]

Mock picot is sometimes done as a "pinch" after a ring or chain so that there's a space you can join in to later or to climb out of one round to the next. The pinch is just that... don't start with your needle on the previous knot as you usually do. In needle tatting there are two types of lock joins. In one, you simply put the needle through the picot and continue with the next stitch. The second type involves the shuttle thread, too. Its sort of fiddly, and you have to tighten it carefully by tightening in the right sequence. To do this lock join, usually used when your picots are on the wrong side of the thread you want to join to.... think onion skin, you will catch a loop of the shuttle thread through the picot instead of the working thread. The stitches come off the needle first of course. I've also had problems translating this. I tried it about 6 months ago before I figured out some of this stuff. I'll try it again and see what other suggestions come to mind. Hope some of this makes sense.

[Judith Connors]

If you are climbing out into a split ring, you won't need to make a lock stitch. Just leave enough thread to simulate a picot before starting the split ring.

I use the unturned/unflipped half-stitch first, followed by the flipped one. This gives a 'half lark's head' which sits better beside the following double stitch.
Experiment and see, as experience is the best teacher.