This information was found in the actual public patent application entered on July 24, 1922, and published on April 15, 1924. #1,490,176.
The tools:
The needle shown in the patent info is repurposed from other crafts such as needle punching and a method of making rugs. It shows a strangely formed needle acting as a ball thread and a crochet hook formed like a bullion or cro-tat hook as we know them today acting as a tatting needle. At first glance it appears "strange," but as one tatter noted perhaps strange is an understatement. If you are not a needle tatter then just be aware that the thread is wrapped onto the needle and then slid off onto the crohook and formed into rings or chains.
However, there is no mystery about manipulation. It is good ol' needle tatting with the ball thread being placed on a tool, the strange needle, to "help." We know that the tool is not absolutely necessary as you can see in the photo of needle tatting. So looking at the photo, imagine that funny needle tool taking the place of my finger to manipulate the strange needle just as you move your forefinger up and down in normal needle tatting.
The other crochet hook is used to pick the thread up and move it over. Then the needle is used again for the second half stitch.
I think the thread positioned inside the strange needle tool was an inducement to knitters to try this method
In fig 6 you see the ds moved off the needle to the thread. Looking back at Fig 4, you can see that the double stitches slid down the crohook/tatting needle over the eye and onto the carrying cord/thread. The ds are gathered up into a circle and this ring is tied.
This patent was a hoot to study as it seems so absolutely astonishing now. I think this was just an in-between moment in the development of the needle tatting movement as we know it today. Still, the crohook/tatting needle is a cut thread which limits the length of the working sections and requires the frequent addition of more thread.
http://www.freepatentsonline.com/1490176.pdf
Here's the latest article from the Tatting site at BellaOnline.com.
DY Knot Stitch, Unraveled During the May 7, 2018 meeting of the Online Tatting Class, this knot stitch method was discussed intensively. As a result, we have the solution!
http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art305290.asp
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