First off…this is considered an advanced doily tatting pattern, as it requires knowledge of quite a few different tatting stitches!
One of these required stitches (one I had never heard of before) is titled the “zig zag chain.” This type of stitch requires two shuttles. Instructions are as follows. For this example, red is Shuttle #1 and Yellow is Shuttle #2. Below the written directions, there is also a video showing you how to do this.
- Wrap the thread of shuttle 2 (yellow) around your hand, just like you would for a ring.
- First Unflipped Double Stitch: Bring shuttle 1 (red) through the thread the opposite of what you would for a ring (in other words, first under and then over, rather than first over and then under) and do an unflipped double stitch. Both parts of this double stitch should be unflipped. Again, it is noted that you should do the opposite of what you would do for a normal double stitch–first going under the working thread, and then going over the working thread. Normally, tatting is done by first going over/through the working thread, and then under/through the working thread.
- Using the same shuttle 1 (red), make a small picot and then do a normal “flipped” double stitch.
- Make another small picot and then do another unflipped double stitch. The yellow (shuttle 2) should still be your working thread (the one around your hand), and the red (shuttle 1) should still be the thread you are making the stitches with.
- Make another picot and then do another normal/flipped double stitch.
So, the brief instructions for the above are as follows:
1 unflipped DS, picot, flipped DS, picot, unflipped DS, picot, flipped DS, picot…
Here is the video that describes how to do the zig zag chain.
Pattern Designer: Miranda Rensberger