Tatio Bubbles Up

Tatio

by Jill Wolcott of Jill Wolcott Knits  

Jill takes an in-depth look at the Tatio pattern and its contents

This is an in-depth look inside this pattern.

I am going to lead a Tatio Challenge over the upcoming Thanksgiving weekend so you can get at least one of these made for the holidays–you can decide if it is for a gift or for your own holiday fun.

This pattern began in 2004 or 2005, in the crazy days of eyelash and novelty yarn. I came up with the idea of doing multiple spirals as the ends of the scarf. I’m fairly certain that the dimensions related to what you could make with a single ball of a novelty yarn. At the same time I made a shorter version of the scarf for my nephews who were about 4 or 5 years old. They loved it, but that was pre-felt balls.

In 2009 it was redone with Be Sweet’s Bubble Yarn, a single-ply wool strung with 25 felt balls run with Bamboo. Tatio is the latest version, and accommodates stringing your own felt balls so these can be customized. We use merino/silk from Ancient Arts Fiber Crafts and 24 Pollika felt balls. I admit that felt balls just make me happy!

Page 2 Info

Size

• Finished length  23″ plus spirals
• Finished neckband width 1.5”

Gauge on Size 6(4mm) needles

6 sts/in and 5.5 rows/in = 24 sts/4″ and 22 rows/4″ in Seed stitch

Sample

• Superwash Merino/Silk 4 ply Sock/Fingering from Ancient Arts Fibre Crafts, 75% superwash merino, 25% silk, 100g/437 yds (400m)
• 24 Pollika felt balls
• Dress Form is wearing Tatio in Beaujolais Nouveau with 24 felt balls in three colors. Less than one skein of yarn is used.

I forgot to get a photo of this on a real model, so the dress form is all I have.

Overall Layout of the Knitting Pattern

• Page 2 is where to find all the information you need to get started. Don’t forget to check gauge and be sure you use a needle size that will get the specified gauge using your yarn and style of knitting. I am a relaxed, Continental knitter and it is not uncommon for other knitters to need a different needle size. Getting the proper fabric is essential to any design ending up as presented.
• Look at this blog for a discussion about Yarn Substitution using this pattern.
• Written instructions are on pages 3 and 4. This is undoubtedly one of the shortest patterns I’ve done!
• Techniques and abbreviations are on page 4.
• Detail photos are shown throughout the written portion of the pattern
• Following the written pattern, on pages 4 is an “as knit” schematic.

Written Instructions

Be sure to always read the general notes on page 2/the Info page. Always take a peek at the schematics before starting as we try to make them a visual information source.

3-Spiral Beginning

String the felt balls specified for each Spiral before casting on.

• First Spiral  This uses the cable cast on. I found this cast on worked to get the best spiral, without being lumpy. After you string your felt balls, pull enough yarn through the felt balls to start your cast on and cast on as indicated, pulling yarn through the felt balls. On Inc Row 1 you will place the felt balls while increasing using knit into the front and back of the stitch. Then you bind off, leaving 3 stitches on a holder (use a locking pin for such a small number of stitches!) which will be used to with the other Spiral stitches to start the Neckband.
• Second and Third Spirals  Same technique as the First Spiral, using one less felt ball, and having fewer cast on stitches on each.

Neckband

This is the boring part! Notice that we have 9 stitches. When working seed stitch, when there is an uneven number of stitches, each row is the same. This makes for a stretch of easy knitting.

The last two rows of the Neckband are to decrease to a number of stitches which will match what we need for our 2-Spiral End and the I-cord Loop.

2-Spiral End

String the felt balls specified for each Spiral before casting on.

• First Spiral  Put your 3 stitches remaining on needles at the beginning, so when you cast on using new yarn the yarn will be in place. This uses the cable cast on as before and the increase row is the same except for the numbers. This time we bind off all the stitches.
• Second Spiral  This is the same except the stitches from the Neckband need to be returned to needles from the stitch holder. You will have 1 stitch remaining on the holder.

Finishing

I-cord Loop   This uses our last stitch on the stitch holder. Work your cast on first, then add the remaining stitch. I have created a seed stitch I-cord so this matches our scarf (look at the photo and it is pretty hard to find the loop) which has more instruction than the Neckband because we don’t work wrong side rows. When you cut your yarn, leave an 8″ tail so it is easy to sew your I-cord to the edge of the Neckband.

You can sew the loop so it lays along the edge flat or it creates a loop. The spirals will hang more closely together if it is flat.

Work in ends  Hide those ends and you are finished.

Blocking  You can wet or steam block as needed.

You can see all the page 2 information and photos on any of the pattern pages:  Jill Wolcott Knits, Craftsy, and Ravelry, and Patternfishs.

Buy Tatio, gather felt balls and find some sock yarn you want to wear around your neck. I’ll start the Tatio Challenge November 24 with a reminder. To receive a reminder on Monday, in your inbox, Email us!. I will have more information on the Tatio Challenge in that first email–of course the best reward will be having a completed Tatio on the December 1 and you will know how many you can make for holiday gifts!