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How To Do A Thrown Ring (Floating Ring) In Shuttle Tatting

In a nutshell, a thrown ring is a ring that comes off the body of a chain. A thrown ring is also called a floating ring. Any piece that is tatted benefits from the addition of these beautiful embellishments. Above is a video showing how thrown rings/floating rings are made using two shuttles. I will do my best below to provide written instructions for creating a thrown ring in tatting. 

Thrown rings are rings that sit “on top of” tatted chains. Additionally, they can also be done on a ring, but they are much more commonly included as a component of a chain.

It is important to note that you will need two shuttles to do a thrown ring – you won’t be able to do them with just one shuttle and a ball.

So, as part of preparation for doing a thrown ring, you will first need to tat the first part of your chain with shuttle #1, which will include however many double stitches your pattern calls for.

Then, after that first part of your chain is complete, you will leave your chain the way it is – in other words, do not turn or reverse work.

At this point, wrap the thread from shuttle #2 around your hand, in preparation for tatting a ring.

Then using your “working” thread (the thread on shuttle #1), do the first and second halves of a normal double stitch. It is very important that this first double stitch is secured tightly and as close as possible to the chain that the thrown ring is on. A completed thrown ring that does not have the first double stitch secured tightly, with no bare thread showing, is the key to getting a thrown ring to lie flat rather than twisting around.

Even after you have completed this first double stitch, it is very important to still hold, very securely in place, the first double stitch while you add more double stitches to your ring, as the first double stitch can very easily, by itself, become loosened.

Proceed on with doing the remaining number of double stitches your pattern requires for the thrown ring you are making, continuing to very securely hold that first double stitch in place, in order to prevent loosening of the first double stitch, which will result in bare thread in between your chain and the thrown ring.

Particularly pay attention to the first double stitch of your thrown ring if you need to pull out thread to make your ring’s core thread larger. You will need to very securely grasp all stitches, especially that first double stitch, of the thrown ring, as pulling on the core ring thread can very easily cause loosening of the first double stitch, which will result in bare thread between your chain and the thrown ring. The image below shows the correct versus incorrect ways the finished ring should appear. The image on the right (not correct) shows a bare thread between the ring and the chain.

After you have completed the required number of double stitches for your thrown ring, it’s time to pull the thrown ring closed. This is done just like the way you would normally close a regular ring. However, make sure to shift the completed chain/thrown ring combo. as you pull the core thread to close the ring, so that everything stays “together” and is not pulled on. Even after you have completed all of the double stitches needed for your thrown ring and are pulling the ring closed, it can still become loosened and you will end up with bare thread between your chain and the ring. Keeping a snug, tight fit between the chain and the ring is very essential to having the thrown ring lie flat.

After you have closed the thrown ring, finish the chain in the normal way, again making sure that the second part of the chain remains snug against the thrown ring you just created. 

If the pattern you are following requires two (or more) thrown rings on a single chain, simply do again what you did to create the first thrown ring.

That’s it! I hope you were able to successfully complete your first thrown ring! It did take me quite a few tries before I ended up with one I was happy with, so don’t feel too bad if you weren’t successful on your first try!