11 August 2012

A conundrum

Many many times during my life in Tat land I have tried to get my head round the 'folded join'.  This is the join used by so many when the final ring is joined to the first ring - see picture below.  This is a much needed technique when the chains are facing towards the centre of the motif.

Now i have a confession.  I've never understood this folded join and have never found the 'need' for it either.  I suppose I've never 'needed' it because the way I do it instinctively means I don't get a twisted picot anyway!!  This is the reason so many people want to learn the join - to avoid the twisted picot!!

Well I've been trying to put a page together to show how I avoid the 'painful experience' of the folded join.  Here it is.  This page is NOT on my site properly yet as I'm still working on it.  I'm appealing for help here and suggestions.

I THINK this only applies to the 'up' join but I'm not sure.  I've never used down joins very much except on rare occasions to avoid 'blips' of colour.  PLEEEEEESE, pretty please take time to look at this and tell me what isn't clear and what can be improved.  My email address is in my profile.



20 comments:

Jenni said...

I'd have to get my shuttles out and actually try it to know for sure, but it seems clear as crystal. And, may I say, it's just one more proof of how brilliant a tatter you are!

Jane Eborall said...

Thanks for the compliment, Jenni, but I don't consider myself that good, actually. If you do have time I'd appreciate your comments on that page. The more who do offer suggestions then the better the page should be.

Lace-lovin' Librarian ~ Diane said...

I guess I've done the folded join for too long! I understand your diagram, but I think I've tried joining that way before with no success. I'll try again. Thanks for your instructions!

goudenregen said...

Thanks!!! I am going to try it this weekend for sure! It looks very easy. This is so great, I got so frustated with the experience. Thanks again.

Susie said...

I've always joined this way as well (9+ years). In part, I use a lark's head join relatively often, and folding that is worse than getting the last ring in the right place. The join works exactly the same way for a regular down join...you pull the loop down and then push the shuttle through in the direction you want to tat next. (Every time a try a "folded" join, I end up with a twisted picot!)

TAT19540 said...

So need to see this in person because the twisted picot and I are sworn advisaries! I untat more when it comes to joining than anything else! I have tried several ways and when I get it don't know what I did right to repeat.

rsmre said...

Correct me if I am wrong. The only difference between this join and a regular up-join is that the shuttle is passed through the loop from left to right instead of from right to left. If that is the case, then THANK YOU SO VERY MUCH, JANE!
Rosemarie

rsmre said...

I'm not sure if my last comment went through. It looks as if this is an up join, but the shuttle is passed through the loop from the "left" and "under" the left strand of the loop. Is that correct?
Rosemarie

** jess! ** said...

I understand the diagram, but I am a little confused on how to continues after the join. Wouldn't you need to "fold" the work after the join so that you could hold the ring in your hand to finish the ring?
Is it folding it at that point not an issue?
<3

Anonymous said...

This is the way I've made that join since I learned to tat. I did finally figure out the folded join, but it took a lot of thinking to do it. The only confusion I had with your description was "pull a loop of core thread up hrough picot." To me, the core thread is the one running through the base of the stitches. But I was only reading the words and not looking at the diagram, plus it was 3:00 am at the time.
It will be nice to have diagrams for use in teaching, as I tend to show as many ways to do something as I know. Thanks.
Patti - WA

Jacqui Southworth said...

Like you Jane I have never understood the way the folded join works, and success seemed to depend on how I held my mouth! THIS WORKS - thanks so much Jane.

Jane Eborall said...

Well you guys are certainly awake on this Saturday! I don't usually get many comments on a Saturday but thank you all.
goudenregen - I look forward to seeing how you get on.
Susie - thank goodness there's someone 'out there' that knows this works. Is there anything else I can do to make it clearer?
TAT19540 - I'll bring the motif to Tat Days and make sure we have time for me to show you how.
rsmre - this is exactly the same as an 'up' join so please let me know if there's anything that I need to do to 'unconfuse' you!
jess - no you don't need to do any folding at all. All your threads should be at the front of the work when you've done the join and you just continue. If you get time and try it then it should work. If there's anything unclear there then please let me know.
Fox has also commented privately and as she has problems understanding things like this I'm hoping that she's 'on the case' too.
THANK YOU EVERYBODY for taking the time to comment.

Jane Eborall said...

Anonymous (Patti) you're right - that's confusing and I'm off to change it now.

Jane Eborall said...

Oh, Jacqui - you crack me up!!!! SO funny!!!! My mouth is usually full of my foot!!!!

picotsnkeys said...

As always, you have found a good way of expressing a tricky tatting situation. Congrats!!! I too just muddle through such joins without "folding" my work. I never manage to get it right. I guess I do push things out of the way....that said, the only comment I have is:
In your drawing, it would be a bit clearer to me that the shuttle thread is on top of the work if we were directed to rotate our work 180 degress (flipping the drawing) and the shuttle were off to the side with the thread drawn over the last ring (kind of like how you draw the loop over the first ring). Does that make sense?

Then it is a bit clearer how to continue to my brain. But then, we all know tatters' brains work differently, don't we?

Melanie

Jane Eborall said...

Patti - going back to your comment. I've marked the core thread pretty clearly, I think. Do you think it needs re-naming?
Melanie - I'm not quite sure what you mean by rotating the work. I'll try it again myself!

rsmre said...

After several "fails" I got it to work, but I'm not sure how I got it to work. :) Whatever I did, it seemed easier than the traditional folded join. I will try it again later.
Rosemarie

Jane Eborall said...

rsmre - thanks to Suzanne and others I've now amended the page several times so it might be easier for you. SOOOO glad you've managed to understand the ramblings of an OG!!!!

Anonymous said...

Jane, you're awesome! I tried the piece and joined with no twist in the picot. Wow. How cool is that? I've tried so many versions of the join of the untwisted picot. This one may stick--and work consistently!! Thank you, thank you!
Katie V in NC

ninetta said...

Thanks for the tip, you're brilliant, as usual.
Ninetta

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