Ever Hear of Tatting?

If you're like most people, when you hear the word tatting, you conjure images of needles and ink on skin.  If you are hoping to find that on this site, you're out of luck (unless you want to send me a new kit along with "Huck Spalding's Tattooing A-Z", and I'll be happy to start...)  Some people are always looking for something new to try.  I suppose I'm one of those people always looking for something old to try, in a new way.  

Tatting, as you can see, is lace.  It was popular in the 1800's, and has been largely a lost art.  Thanks to the internet, it's having a comeback.  People like me love it because you can make something new, beautiful and unique with just a shuttle, some string and time.  Some people tat onto a needle, and  they think it's easier, but the traditional way to tat uses a shuttle (That's the pink thing in the picture above).  You can find tatting shuttles in just about any material on the planet from cheap plastic like mine, to gold, silver, bone or abalone like some of my grandmother's.  I prefer using a shuttle, not simply because of tradition (you know me better than that, right?), but because my grandmother taught me with a shuttle, and I would otherwise manage to impale myself on a needle when taking it places.

Yes that's a rainbow on the ball of string... silly girl.

I'll give you the basic rundown for tatting, just to let you decide if it's for you.  However if you're truly interested in learning, there are great you-tube videos out there.  

If you start with a hank of string, like this one, first roll it into a ball.  This will keep you from ending up with a big impossible tangle of knots.  You then wrap your shuttle with string from that ball until the shuttle is full.  

Tatting is a system of knots that are worked into loops and chains.   Let's start with a loop.  Put the ball of string on your left and hold the shuttle with your right hand between your thumb and pointer finger.  Thread coming from the shuttle should be coming from behind and wrapped around your fingers similarly to knitting.  Your left hand pinches the thread about a foot away, and wraps that thread around the hand until you are pinching it as a loop.

Tightening a knot:  The shuttle thread is straight, the left hand thread wraps.

To make a knot, raise your right fingers so that the thread is above the shuttle and send it under the top portion of the looped thread between your pinched fingers and the rest.  You will just let the thread move between your right pointer finger and the shuttle, and then pull the shuttle back, this time coming over the string, letting the thread slide between your thumb and the shuttle.  The second half of the knot is the reverse.  You let the right fingers holding the thread drop so that the shuttle is over the shuttle thread, and put the shuttle around the same part of the loop thread, this time going over then under.   So it's "thread up - under - over, thread down - over - under".    You then tighten the knot.  This is actually the point where the older directions really drop the ball.  You see, your shuttle thread has just wrapped around your loop, but you need to pull the shuttle thread straight, while loosening the loop,  so that the loop thread is wrapping around the shuttle thread instead.  Then just tighten the knot by tugging the left fingers back, while keeping the shuttle thread straight. I know that this all sounds very complicated, but really that is the toughest part of tatting to understand.  When I first read books with tatting instructions, I just made loop after loop that wouldn't tighten properly.  Years later I flew across the country to visit family, and my grandmother told me that all of the written instructions were just bad. "Aack, You have to learn tatting from a person, not a book" Well now you can learn from videos. Problem solved.  Even a child can learn this with enough patience (mine are learning it right now).

 From this point you simply make as many knots as you want.  If you want little loops sticking out (they're called picots), you just make the knot a small distance from your work and don't tighten it until the whole knot is in place.

 
When you have all of the knots that you want in your loop, just pull the shuttle thread to tighten it. That's it.( If it won't tighten, that's because you have the shuttle thread still wrapping the loop thread in some spot.) The first time you make this it'll feel like a whole lot of work for one itty-bitty ring, but as you practice, it gets really fast.

You may want to continue making more rings, or move on to a chain.  It really depends on your pattern, or on what you want make up.

For a "chain" you'll want to turn your work over so that the thread leading to the ball is on top, and hold it similarly to knitting.  Just add knots onto this string in the same way that you would for a ring.

One ring with picots and a short chain

One ring, then a chain, then another ring attaching at the picot.

 Here I've shown you two rings attached together at a picot.  The best way to explain this would be with a you-tube video, but for now you basically get to the point that you want to join the second ring, and use the little pointy part of the shuttle to pull the looping thread partway through the picot from the other ring that you want to attach to, and then send your shuttle through.  Pull both threads to tighten and you're connected.

Long story short, any combination of rings and chains (circles and lines) that you can imagine, you can create.  If you want some gorgeously amazing ideas, just search tatting on Pinterest. You'll find everything from fancy trim to entire outfits, masks, gloves, dragons... you name it.  I am really still pretty new at it myself, so my stuff doesn't even begin to describe what could be done.  Have fun!

One of my first pieces; A tatted necklace with beads, mother of pearl button, and handmade glass pendant