Tatting

For many years I was interested in learning how to tat. Tatting is a form of lace making that dates back to the early 19th century. It is done using a tool called a shuttle.

I had no idea how to do it, so I bought a book and followed the instructions and occasionally I would get it right but for the most part all I succeeded in doing was getting the thread knotted. Tatting is not difficult but there is one step that kept giving me trouble-dropping your fingers...

I really wanted to learn how to do this because I had an airplane trip coming up and I needed something to work on (that didn't use forbidden items-needles, scissors, etc).

Then I met Jan. Jan showed me how to drop those fingers and keep going. I was so excited. I finally understood what I was doing and was able to make a lace edging I had been fighting with.

Once I understood how to do this I was able to purchase a book that showed how to make bookmarks using tatting. What fun!!!

I was going to develop my own tatting instructions but I found these and I thought they were pretty good. So have fun learning a new, yet very old craft!!

Once you understand how tatting works check out this site for some free patterns.