Accident Becomes Inspiration!

Are you a Mary Konior fan?  I am!  I'm the happy owner of her tatting books (Tatting, Tatting In Lace, Tatting Patterns, and Tatting With Visual Patterns) and would like to draw your attention to "Leaf Braid," found in Tatting With Visual Patterns (on page 18 in the 2002 softcover edition published by Lacis).  It's a one-shuttle lace; if you're not familiar with it, it's two rings, joined, reverse work, two rings, joined, reverse work, etc.  MK calls it "the easiest pattern in the book and probably the most useful."

In my previous post, I discussed working the Leaf Braid in size 40 Lizbeth "Grape Splash," and wondering how long a piece of lace 15 yards of thread would yield.  It's about 13" - but there's a *gotcha* - it's not a straight piece of lace!  It turns a corner!!


I'm bad about not paying strict attention to my tatting - I'll be tatting and chatting, or tatting and reading, or tatting while watching a movie (at home), which generally leads to frogging.  This was the case when I was working on the Leaf Braid the other night - I turned over my work to start a new set of rings, and found that I had only done the first of the two rings the last time I worked on that side of the braid.  The braid had a definite bend to it, due to the missing ring; this started me thinking - could this be the way to turn a corner on this edging?  I worked another single ring (the first of the set), then reversed to work the "outside" where I worked another set of two rings, joined.  I reversed it again - the bend was at a more noticeable angle.  I kept working.

Three single rings were needed to make a nice, square inside corner.  I turned just the one corner and kept going straight - so one side measures a bit over six inches, the other over seven inches.  I found I could get a nice, flat braid by leaving a bare thread space of about 1/8" when I reversed work; and a very small 1/16" bare thread space between the pair of joined rings.

I like to experiment in tatting - and what if  starts me off on a new adventure.  What if you tatted the Leaf Braid, with the corner variation, but just did all first rings of the set on one side?

Merry Christmas!!

Of course, I got all bead-happy - but it would look pretty with just the beads in the middle of the circles of rings.  I may make another, with just those - if I do, I'll post it so you can see it.  I used four yards of thread for this - didn't have to cut it from the shuttle, as I was finger-tatting the last ring!  Nine points works fine - it lays flat - but if you wanted ten, I think that would work as well.