The feedback on my last post made me want to say more about the Jan Stawasz method.
The method of Jan Stawasz is very particular and differs from the back front method.
Back front method
To summarize the back front method in tatting, we can say that it is based on the following observation:
This is the front:
But when you return your work, you see this:
To compensate for this effect, each time the work is turned, the first and second parts of the knot are reversed. I refer you to the text of Sue Hanson on this purpose.
Jan Stawasz method
In the Jan Stawasz method, there are two types of picots: some are formed between the first stich and the second (as was formerly done) and others are formed between 2 double stitches (the picot modern).
Why and how to choose between one and the other?
The use of the back front method results in adding 2 simple nodes at the beginning and at the end of certain elements (the number of nodes is modified). This method does not take into account the fact that the picotss, too, do not have the same appearance on the front and on the back.
Thus, elements that start with a single node have picots formed between the first and second DS. Conversely, elements that start with a DS have ordinary picots.
This method pushes the reasoning of back front method to the end. I’ll add that it is also more consistent because it allows to obtain the same number of DS (By adding nodes here and there, we could theoretically modify the pattern and be with a work that warp).
Other remarks on the Jan Stawasz method
- In Jan Stawasz’s method we do not do the second part of the stitch after a join, as some people recommend. We start directly the next double stitch.
- In the Jan Stawasz method, the patterns with a shuttle and a ball thread are tatting with 2 shuttles. The work is never return. To take a common example, when a ring is finished, it is necessary to exchange the shuttles and to form the following chain.