Jolly Sun Paper Clip © Ellen Lai, Sept. 2009
From the files of the Online Tatting Class.
An Exercise using the Catherine Wheel Join.
Material: Size 20 thread (small amount wind on 1 shuttle in CTM),
1 large paper clip, 1 pair of plastic eyes (5 mm diameter).
Notes: The face of the sun is tatted using Catherine Wheel joins (http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art56959.asp)to create the perfect joins for a coiled chain. If one can’t manage this Catherine Wheel join, go ahead to join the coiled chain with normal shuttle join.
In order to create the bends, the concave and convex
curves of the sun rays, decide which direction each chain
will face and turn your work accordingly when tatting the
respective chain, and use lock stitch at the turn to create
the point.
For the lock stitch, Ellen only tats the first half of a double stitch unflipped.
All the picots are very small and meant for joining only.
Tat the face of the sun first, starting at the center of the face.
Begin with a loop of thread pinched with your left hand and to the left side of your left hand (you will need to pass the shuttle through this loop later).
Chain: 2 - 3 (the picot is for the Catherine Wheel join later)
Bring the shuttle up through the loop and pull the shuttle thread such that the chain will form into a ring. Leave a small space for the Catherine Wheel join later.
Continue chain, always in a clockwise direction and working the Catherine Wheel join between double stitches wherever you think necessary to maintain a nice firm coil. Work about 4 rounds, and on the 5th round, put in a small picot on every 3, 4 or 5 ds, and remember to tie to the large paper clip.
[ To tie to the paper clip, pull up ball thread and pass the shuttle through the loop. Tighten up and make sure it does not flip around the clip, make second half ds. ]
Continue tatting with one final round, tatting concave and
convex chains (average chain is about 8 ds, lock
stitch, 8 ds) and shuttle-join to the picots on the
previous round to create the sun rays. Play around
with the stitch count to make some chains longer
and some shorter, and the direction the chains are
facing.
Join to the beginning of the final round. Cut & tie,
sew in the ends. Block it first, and glue the eyes on.
The sample is tatted with size 20 thread & 5mm eyes.
