![]() This is how my grandmother tried to teach me. ![]() The books show you how to wrap the thread around your hand to make the whole half hitch in one fluid motion. If you do not alternate between the 2, your work will want to twist. One half hitch leans to the right the other leans to the left. Maybe you should think of it as 2 half hitches. Tatting involves basically one stitch-the double half hitch. You would think that she would have been a bit more excited that her tomboy daughter had finally learned to do something girly. It was one of the few stories that I remember about my great grandmother. She was scolded by her mother for yelling "It moved! It moved!" when she finally figured it out. In order to alleviate her boredom, she started playing with the cord. She stayed home from school and was stuck in bed all day. She had been trying unsuccessfully to learn to tat when she got sick. Grandma told me that she learned tatting using the drapery cord on her childhood bedroom window. For a handkerchief, I usually fill an extra bobbin or 2 before I start. That means you will have to stop and refill it. ![]() The thicker your thread, the less you will be able to load on your shuttle. As you get more proficient, you can move to thinner thread. If you are a beginner, use something thicker-so you can see what is actually going on. Some shuttles must be wound by hand since they don't have removable bobbins. Filling a small shuttle with thin thread on a removable bobbin is super easy if you do it on your sewing machine. You could probably get away without scissors most of the time. It is really just nice to be able to clip the tail ends when you finish a piece. I usually have a small pair of scissors in my bag but you can also get away with a pair of nail clippers. This size thread makes nice Christmas ornaments. I have taught several people the process of tatting by starting them out on size 10 or 20 crochet cotton. They sell small balls of thread called 'tatting cotton' but I recommend that you use something considerably thicker when you are learning. The hook makes it easier to pull the thread through your picots. A few shuttles that I have seen have a pointed stick on one end but these are not my favorite. Most commercial shuttles come with a hook already attached. The hook may or may not be attached to the shuttle. You can learn by simple winding the thread around a small piece of cardboard. ![]() The shuttle holds the thread and keeps it from getting tangled. Shuttle Hook Thread Scissors There are a lot of different shuttles available. Tatting was my favorite thing to watch her do since it was so beautiful and I knew no one else who could do it. I have a lot of fond memories of sitting on the floor next to grandma's chair watching the evening news on tv while we both worked on our current project. I am currently working on one for my newly engaged niece. Mine is long gone but I have made and given away my own creations for years. Grandma made lace edges for handkerchiefs-she gave them away to lots of different women. It lets you see which thread is on the outside of the rings. If you can get your hands on thread that cycles through a few colors, it will also help. You will be better able to see what you are doing. Tatting takes practice, practice, and more practice before you feel you really have it. Don't plan to learn today and be ready for a major project tomorrow. If you are new to the concept of lace making, I have a few suggestions. Even with my epiphany, it was still a long time before my motions were as fast and fluid as Grandma's. I had been staring at the same page in the instruction book for 3 days when I finally saw what I had been doing wrong. It wasn't until I was 15 or 16 that I figured it out. I took my shuttle home but no matter how many times I tried, I could not get it to work right. ![]() She 'taught' me when I was 12 and even though she got really excited when I 'got it to move', I really do not think I learned anything that day. When I was a child, I watched her for hours before I asked her to teach me. My grandmother (1908-2000) learned to tat as a child in Germany. Tatting is a process of making lace by tying half hitch knots in thread to form small connected rings. I can pull it out whenever I am stuck in a waiting room. It is so small that I can keep the whole project in my purse in a Ziploc bag. Tatting is such a great take-with-me project. ![]()
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