So I tried different things:
1. Josephine Knot done with the first half of a double stitch (10 halves). When I was first making JKs, I used the first half of the double stitch repeated. For some reason it took me ages to try it with the second half instead! Anyway, the first half is much more difficult to work with, causing lots of twisting and making it difficult to achieve a nice looking, regular JK. So second half is definitely the way to go (I bet you knew that already!). But just to show you, the first JK is done with first halves.
2. Josephine Knot done with the second half of a double stitch (10 halves). A much smoother, rounder looking JK. But the last half stitch twists towards the back too much I find and it appears to lean left.
3. JK done with second half of the double stitch but adding a full stitch at the beginning and at the end (1ds, 8 halves, 1 ds). Yes, that's better.
4. KJ done with second half of the double stitch and just an extra first half of a double stitch added at the end (10 second halves + 1 first half). Trying to prevent twisting again but that didn't do the trick.
5 and 6. JK done with second half of the double stitch but before closing the ring, pass your shuttle through the ring from front to back. Yes, that did it. Passing the shuttle through from front to back means that the thread now exits the back of your ring so the next stitches pull slightly on the thread and help bring the stitches in line for a much more round and full looking JK.
I'm happy with those last two versions and that's the way I'll be making my JKs in future. Here is the new pattern I'm working on with lots of JKs! It's evolved quite a bit from the very first version but I felt the centre was too crowded and the whole thing was quite tight with three rounds so I opened up the centre and changed the second round a bit. Any good? Criticism welcome!
I'm still giving it some thought, trying to get spacing between the chains more even, I'm adjusting that on the next sample. I'm also not too happy with the split ring I used to make this a one pass design. It ends up having a strange shape and I wish I could find a better way. I really don't want to cut and tie and make this two rounds. Can I live with a slightly strange shaped small ring? I don't know. I'm sure you can spot which one it is? It's the one to the left of the top point. Oh! I got it! I was just re-reading myself before publishing this blogpost and looking at the photo above, I just found where I need to start so that I won't have the problem of the misshapen ring. Quick, I'll tat the next sample and post again.
The photo below shows some of the gradual evolution:
Best wishes,
Frivole
I love seeing the evolution of designs. At a glance, the green one is my favourite, I'm not sure why. The information on Josephine knots is very interesting, thanks. I hope I'll remember it when I need it!
ReplyDeleteThank you Jane! I think I agree with you about the green. It's only small differences but I think I'll try to aim to reproduce that one in my final design. It could be just I stretched the white one a bit too much when I blocked it (the white one is the only one I completely finished and blocked).
DeleteI found your pist really interesting about JK rings, I love your new design, it looks really pretty and will be a beautiful snowflake.
ReplyDeleteI've used the second half of the double stitch for Josephine knots for a long time. Like you, I didn't really like the way it sat. Thanks for the tip. I'll be trying it!
ReplyDeleteI wish I'd thought of this when I did the quatrain runner! It makes complete sense. I'm with Jane on the white one and I think it's because the two round around so beautifully parallel? I see what you mean about that split ring too. More to come privately.
ReplyDeleteI love all your designs. I have a suggestion. Do you remember the Mary Konior design, Posies? That split ring has just a few stitches to shift over and begin the chain. Could you just do a short bare thread on the backside to get to that small picot? I think it is worth a try and might solve your issue.
ReplyDeleteHi Sherry, thank you for your suggestion and that is what I did on one of the samples (just to be quick though I don't really like any bit of bare thread showing unless it's actually part of the design) but I actually solved my problem by starting somewhere else on the pattern. I hadn't spotted that possibility the first time around :-)
DeleteGreat snowflakes!! :) I love seeing the design progress!! :)
ReplyDeleteThanks for the JK info - and all of your experimental details! I, too, like the green one best, and then maybe the last white one. Such a pretty design!
ReplyDeleteLove the snowflake and JKs are a favorite. I just finished your little maple leaf and found that if I use the second half of the DS and then dropped my shuttle through before closing, I didn't need to do any extra stitches. Thank you for sharing!
ReplyDelete