I'm All Tatted Up!

Nope, no tattoos here! I'm talking about tatting. I've recently discovered this art and fell completely in love with it. It's an old lace-making technique that uses series of knots. There are two ways to tat: one is with a needle and the other one is with this thing called a shuttle. It's an odd looking instrument indeed, and I'm so intrigued by it. Apparently, many tatters collect antique and hand crafted shuttles.

Tatting!

The shuttle.

I was determined to learn how to tat using a shuttle, so I made it one of my new years resolutions for this year.

I bought my shuttles and did all my research online, looking at tatting forums, websites and how-to videos. Then, I started to put my hands to work by practicing different stitches and made some motifs with patterns I found online.

My first few motifs I tatted. A little sloppy.

I've been practicing a lot since I took the photo of these motifs and I'm getting better each time. I will post the better ones in the future.

People say tatting is hard to learn, but it's really not that bad, thanks to all the youtube videos out there!  I think if you're familiar with other needle crafts like crocheting and knitting, tatting is not too overwhelming. I still had my fair share of frustration and some swearing though :-)

I'm definitely looking forward to exploring more of this art and you will definitely see more tatting posts in the future! Wish me luck!

I hope everyone is doing well with their projects! Happy crafting!