Good Morning everyone and Happy Flashback Friday to you all!! Today’s trip down memory lane will take us back again to the year 1999 and my Celtic Cross pattern. At one time there were a lot of Celtic knot patterns going around the tatting universe. With my Irish heritage I took an immediate interest in this. After trying a few different Celtic Knot patterns, I created this beautiful cross with the Celtic medallion in the center.
As noted in the Easter Egg pattern last week, the cross is constructed with split rings. Following this link Lesson 14 Needle tatted Mock picot and Split ring will take you to a wonderful tutorial on Split Rings by Georgia Seitz. This pattern isn’t as straightforward as it might seem though. It begins with the main body of the cross. The center motif is made separately and then woven through the base. From this point, we join the motif and cross base together and then finish with the two short arms.

Celtic Cross
R = Ring Ch = Chain SR = Split Ring "-"= Picot "+"= Join rw = Reverse
Start with the long cross arms:
SR 5 - 3 - 5 / 5 - 3 - 5 (repeat for a total of 11 split rings. Tat a second row of split rings joining picots)
Next tat the center motif:
R 5 - 5 rw Ch 4 - 4 - 4 rw *R 5 - 5 rw Ch 4 + 4 - 4 rw (join to picot of previous chain) Repeat from "*" until there are 4 rings. Weave the motif through the 4th and 5th set of split rings on the cross base.
Joining motif to cross base :
R 5 + 5 rw (join to top center picot of 4th split ring) Ch 2 - 2 - 2 - 2 - 2 - 2 (join to picot of next ring) Ch 2 - 2 - 2 - 2 - 2 - 2 rw R 5 + 3 + 5 rw (first join to bottom picot of 4th split ring, next join to top picot of 5th split ring) Ch 2 - 2 - 2 - 2 - 2 - 2 (join to picot of next ring) Ch 2 - 2 - 2 - 2 - 2 - 2 rw R 5 + 5 rw (join to bottom center picot of 5th split ring) Ch 2 - 2 - 2 - 2 - 2 - 2 (join to picot of next ring) Ch 2 - 2 - 2 - 2 - 2 - 2 rw R 5 + 3 + 5 rw (first join to top picot of 5th split ring, next join to bottom picot of 4th split ring) Ch 2 - 2 - 2 - 2 - 2 - 2 (Join to picot of next ring) Ch 2 - 2 - 2 - 2 - 2 - 2 rw Join to base of first ring and chain cut and tie.
Cross arms :
SR 3+5-3-5/+5-3-5 (first join to bottom picot of 4th split ring, next join to top picot of same split ring) SR 5 - 3 - 5 / 5 - 3 - 5 SR 5 - 3 - 5 / 5 - 3 - 5 Make sure arm is over chain of previous round. Repeat for second set of split rings joining to 5th split ring and joining consecutive picots. Repeat for other side of cross arm.
Here are a few closeup pictures of the center of the cross with the Celtic knot motif.


I had a lot of fun creating this pattern. The best part? It looks amazing from the front as well as the back! Don’t forget to join me next week for the next installment of Flashback Friday!
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