Ruth Perry, aka Rozella Florence Linden, is the author of The Tatted Celtic Knot booklet series,, "Celtic Tatting Knots and Patterns" and "Easy Tatting", a Dover pub. . There are lots of free patterns, instructions and eyecandy posted at her website, too.

For the holiday season, Ruth is sharing her candy cane pattern. It is based on the split ring technique and is related to the plaits studied recently in the online tatting class. (See Gina Brummet's Tatted False Plait.)

Here are two scans showing the candy cane plait in progress. Ruth says that this basic plait may be tatted with chains (suggested for the new tatter) or with split rings.

But that's not all! This versatile pattern can be tatted as a 3-dimensional chain where every link is interwoven with the previous and the following link. Rotating this pink and lavender chain shows a "new" lace on every side.

© 1998

And if the pattern is worked in bicolor thread and split rings, then it creates an edging variation.

The "fishbone" pattern is another intriguing variation of this plait. It creates 3-dimensional, free-form solid tatting. I look forward to seeing this applied in ornaments, jewelry, accessories, and tatted collages, too.

Oh! Did I just mention jewelry? Ruth created this Celtic chocker for her daughter. She has found it to be very popular at Celtic Festivals. The sample shown was tatted in size 10 thread and is 2.5" (6.5 cm). It makes a very dense, sturdy lace.

For the younger kids, this candy cane plait can be turned into a wiggly-eyed worm.