Onion Ring Join. Fact or Fiction?

[Judith Connors]

Tatters who make the onion ring formation (whatever type), could you describe/name the join by which you link to the tiny picot at the top of the inside ring?

Please do not list any sites/videos for referral, as some of these can be totally misleading.
Judith.

[Krystledawne]

hmmm. this should be very informative! I'm afraid I haven't done many onion rings, but I'll be watching this thread.

[PattyD]

I picked up my shuttle immediately and this is what I did

Inner Ring : 3 - 3
Second Ring: 6 DS
hook under the core thread, then front to back through the picot, pull a loop of the working thread through, take the shuttle through the loop. Take the shuttle underneath the thread that goes from the last DS to the loop that was pulled through. Adjust the tension on the thread and snug up.

I think this all amounts to a Dora Young knot, but I do get confused a bit.

[yarnplayer]

What I do is pull the auxiliary (shuttle 2) thread through the picot, under the core (shuttle 1) thread, then put shuttle 2 through the loop from front to back. Then I tighten slowly, pulling on the auxiliary thread (it's the one attached to the chain). I pull till the join "pops" through. Then a "hump" appears. Next, I pull the "hump" - up - that's when the first half of a double stitch appears, and a large loop. Then, I put shuttle 2 through the loop (from front to back) and tighten. The core thread slides inside this completed join.

[wezyus]

Thnks for sharing ...its of gr8 help

[Judith Connors]

Thanks PattyD and yarnplayer. It appears that you are tatting chains to form a mock ring around the outside and that you use the Dora Young Join with the auxiliary thread. (This is similar to one join used for the Catherine wheel.)

What join would you use if you had to tat a small ring above the onion ring?
Judith.

[yarnplayer]

Well, I might do the same thing, if it seemed important to the design for the outer ring to keep a smooth curve. I'd use shuttle 2 for the small ring above, after the join. But, this type of join (Catherine Wheel) adds another double stitch to the count - so, it appears to me that the extra double stitch should be counted with the first set of double stitches (if tatting "chain 6 ds", this join would be the #6). Then, the small ring above the onion ring (using shuttle 2), and then, resuming shuttle 1, chain the second set of double stitches to finish going around the inner ring.


Thanks PattyD and yarnplayer. It appears that you are tatting chains to form a mock ring around the outside and that you use the Dora Young Join with the auxiliary thread. (This is similar to one join used for the Catherine wheel.)

What join would you use if you had to tat a small ring above the onion ring?
Judith.

[mica]

I was obsessed with onion rings a while back and I tried all sorts of permutation. I actually prefer to use mock rings around the central ring, using the core thread to join. However, if I wanted to make all the rings with true rings, I obviously cannot use that join. What I did was to bring the ring thread (wound around my hand) to the back of the central ring. Then I pulled the thread through the picot from back to front and continued with the second half of the ring. I have no idea what that join is called. Hope it's clear.

Onion rings are so much fun to make!

[PattyD]

Mica, I think the join you use is the slope and roll join by Debi Arnold of DS9Designs. I think it is a good solution, too. I use it at times. The pseudo-double stitch it creates is pretty good and a little simpler to make. It also works well with different colors of thread for each layer of the onion ring.

[Judith Connors]

yarnplayer,
If you make the link (Dora Young Join/Knot) with the main shuttle, this would leave the auxiliary shuttle free to tat the ring on top. No extra stitch count would be involved, leaving both sides of the mock ring even. Using the main shuttle will lock the tension around the outside, so the first chain will have to be tensioned before making the link. The visual effect is OK. In some patterns, the ring on top can be replaced by a picot.

mica,
Seeing you make your onion ring formation with true rings throughout, try Anne Dyer's 'join to the smooth side' as found on p.24(?) of her book, 'To boldly go where no shuttle has gone before'. This join results in a link with 3 'legs', but it is visually smooth.

Has anyone tried linking with lock/shuttle joins?
Judith.

[Judith Connors]

Thank you to everyone who has shared the joins he/she uses when tatting onion rings. Five have been mentioned, depending on what the situation (pattern) requires. While the innermost layer of the onion construction is usually a true ring, e.g. 10, very sm. picot, 10, (very sm. picot = X), the outer layers can be (1) mock rings made by chains or (2) more true rings. The outermost layer can bear picots and decorative rings, depending on the pattern and the join applied to X of the previous layer.

To summarise the effects and the joins applied to X:
Mock rings (using 2 shuttles)
1. a perfectly smooth outer layer - use the Dora Young join with the auxiliary shuttle, encapsulating the main thread:
2. a decorative ring or picot over X - use (a) the lock/shuttle join or (b) the Dora Young join with the main shuttle, leaving the auxiliary shuttle free:
3. lock/shuttle join into X, chain, lock join into X again, converts the chain into a mock on top.

True rings (so the core thread runs)
4. the slope and roll join, so-called by Debbie Arnold
5. Anne Dyer's join the smooth side.

So, it is obvious that there is no 'onion ring join' per se. Tatters do not have to learn something new. They just have to apply joins they already know to different situations which arise. The choice is personal rather than prescribed.

Cheers,
Judith.