Curious about split ring/split chain

[janet6567]

Does anyone (or everyone but me!) know who invented with the split ring and the split chain techniques? Just curious

[kcabrera74]

I believe it was Ann Orr who introduced the concept of the split ring back in the 1930s but it wasn't fully developed until much later. And I'm not 100% sure but I believe it was Dora young who presented the split chain - then known as bridge stitch - to the tatting community back in the 1970s. And the split chain as presented by Dora young is the only tatting technique to have been granted a US patent!

[shannon_in_love]

http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art26800.asp maybe?

[janet6567]

Thank you!

[PattyD]

These are all documented records regarding split rings and split chains and Dora Young's patent. Dora Young is credited with inventing a join where the joining thread is above the picot to join to, as in a Catherine Wheel, however, that join was not described in the patent. I know I have seen split rings using the current method of 2 threads, the first worked normally and the second working unflipped stitches in a pattern that rather casually said to work stitches on the core thread of a ring.

But the record is so incomplete! These are just known bits; what preceded or even followed them are unknown and uncredited. It would take quite a research project to get more of a picture of the development and history of tatting.

[Ireneho]

So they didn't use split rings in the dark ages? Was that Dora not happy with a plain old ring?

[kcabrera74]

So they didn't use split rings in the dark ages? Was that Dora not happy with a plain old ring?

They were not happy with so many loose ends to tie, cut and hide. To this date, hiding ends is an obsession among tatters; so the less ends to hide, the better.

[Ireneho]

Oh! It's so interesting to find out new things! Well, its new to me!