Some years ago "celtic" tatting began to be popular. Originally, many tatters felt that celtic tatting required three steps:

1. A tatted motif with negative space, or "holes," 2. A second motif with "points" which are inserted in the holes, 3. And a third round of tatting which "sews" the two separate pieces together.

Although this definition remains valid as a description of celtic tatting in general, today there is a style of celtic tatting which involves one piece of tatting intertwined in some way. It may or may not be generally stabilized by additional tatting either on the outer edge or the inside. The lines of tatting may be interlaced in any manner or direction desired to create a design.

This unusual heart is a workout in Celtic tatting and split rings. Birgit Phelps tatted with two colors. The use of the dark color on the outside really framed the figure. When adding the center part, she recommends finger tatting the last few elements.

Finger tatting requires only thread and hand(s.) The tail end of the thread is held while the normal over/unders are worked. Wrap hand as for a ring. Grasp the thread tail at the very end. Lay the thread over the fingers of the right hand and take the tail under the working thread of the left. Continue in like manner tatting normally. The only difference is that you are not holding the shuttle but the tail end of the thread.

There are 3 more heart patterns posted on Birgit's blog site. Please visit http://birgitstatting.blogspot.com/search/label/Heart for more info. This celtic heart disappeared from the web with the closing of a website but was retrieved by the wayback machine. The way back machine is a handy resource tool for finding lost patterns.


Celtic Heart by Birgit Phelps