Make a sixteen-stitch ring like that for the edging, but make the picots in proportion: leave a gap about the width of four double stitches, or larger if you think you might have trouble pulling a loop through such a small opening. Make another ring, leaving no space at all between the bases of the two rings; join this ring to the first as for the edging. Make a third ring exactly like the second, again with no unworked thread between the rings. This arrangement of three rings is called a trefoil, and it is nearly ubiquitous in tatting designs. Usually, the middle ring is larger or smaller than the other two, in which case it is called a "clover".
If you made more rings, you could join the last to the first and make a teeny medallion called a rosette, but that last join is a bit awkward for this stage of your development, so tie off now. Use a square knot, not the half knot you have been using for tats -- the rings will try to separate, and that puts tension on the knot.
When worked in coarse thread, mini-medallions such as trefoils and rosettes can be used for appliqué. I once made a blouse in which clovers worked in #10 thread substituted for crow's-foot tacks at the tops of the slits.
On to Exercise Three: the one-thread join, and passing the thread behind
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