Tatting – my first attempt!

Now this may not look very much, but actually I’m very proud of it. For many years I have really admired tatting, and had a couple of attempts at learning to do it, but always failed miserably. However, I decided I would give it another go, and this time I managed to find a fantastic series of video tutorials called ‘The Absolute Beginner‘, which led me to the ‘Tatted Treasures‘ blog, run by Heather. Although I’m still finding it a challenge, and have made lots of false starts, but I am making slow progress.

Tatting can be done on a needle or using a shuttle – I have decided to use a shuttle, but I might have a go at needle tatting later.

If you haven’t seen a tatting shuttle before, this is what mine looks like. You can get some much more beautiful ones that are hand-painted, natural wood, or even antique ones, but I thought I would see how I got on with tatting before spending out a lot on a posh shuttle. Not all shuttles have bobbins in the middle – some shuttles just have the thread wound round.

You have to make a loop with the thread around the fingers of the left hand, then weave the shuttle thread over and under it using you right hand – it reminds me a bit of the cat’s cradle game I played as a child. One thread is then pulled tight to make a ring. Sadly it would completely impossible to hold it all and take a photo at the same time!

I worked my way through the tutorials, and in the first one, I made the tiny circle in the photo at the top. Next I moved on to making a circle with picots – little loops:

Then I tried a daisy:

And now I am working on a little edging, but I haven’t got very far yet.

It’s certainly challenging, and I have to concentrate hard, but I’m hoping eventually I will get the hang of it and relax a bit.

Of course, it’s hard to see what tatting can look like when it’s done properly, so I’ve started a Pinterest board if you want to see why I am so hooked on it.

I haven’t been doing very much crafting as the weather here in the UK has been so lovely, but it’s a rare day when I don’t manage a little. Maybe some time soon I will have some proper tatting to show you.