In 1973 I was an RN in Rochester, NY. A good friend that I worked with had a Grandmother who tatted. I asked if she would be willing to teach me how to tat. She was and taught me how to make the Double Stitch and turn it into a ring. (I still have the shuttle she used to teach me. One of my treasured possessions.) She told me that was all there was to it, the Double Stitch. I made lots of rings, but I knew there was more.
In the early 2000s I was thinking, what will I do with my hands when I retire? Would quilting, knitting, embroidery be too expensive when I retired. What would I do to keep my mind and hands working. I re-found tatting. Watching the internet helped but I found a great intro book: Learn to Tat with interactive DVD by Janette Baker. The Double Stitch is still mainly all there is to tatting but it is what you do with it that makes it amazing to me.
Renata Niemczyk (Renulek) has a tatting Blog: Frywolitki,Tatting,Chiacchierino. Every spring she offers a doiley pattern in rounds, rows, on her blog. Ziva is on the 2018 doiley that sits on the back of my chair as an antimacassar. I had put the doiley there to look at it and Ziva hopped up. It remains there to this day.
Antimacassar: a small cloth placed over the back of a chair or sofa. A washable, decorative fabric blotter. They were used to protect the chair sofa material from the hair oil that was used by men in the Edwardian and Victorian times. I just love that word.
The 2018 doiley was made with a Size 20 Lizbeth 6-cord cordonnet thread.
I like this pattern a lot and decided that I would tat it again but in a Size 40 thread, finer in weight. I started it October 2022 and then after 6 rounds there was a pause. (Darn squirrels. I don't even know which one it was.) Renata has put out her 2023 Spring Doiley pattern and I decided I wanted to tat it. Well, I cannot until this one is finished. So, I will finish.
Here is my tatting box.
The doiley and shuttles at the beginning of round 8.
The inside of my tatting box: tiny crochet hooks, little scissors, picot gauges, and filled bobbins to go into the shuttles. Also, orange stick, red material circles, thimble and small finger pin cushion. Hmmm, why are they there? Let you know next week.
Enjoy your threads. I hope to link up with Slow Sunday Stitching at Kathy's Quilts.
I have a couple of tatted doilies that I inherited and I think I may have a shuttle too. I never knew what it was until now. I have loads and loads of thread. I always thought my aunt used it for embroidery, but maybe she tatted. The doily you are currently working on is gorgeous.
ReplyDeleteWell, you certainly made progress once you learnt what else could be done with the double stitch! I love doing Renulek’s doilies. I’ve done six of them, the last one in 2021.
ReplyDeleteI don't know how to do tatting, but love it, and I purchase it at vintage shops for my crazy quilting.
ReplyDeleteWonderful progress. Tatting is something I have never tried, but do have many crochet doilies that were my mothers.
ReplyDeleteCreative hands never stop! Beautiful doilies and stitches. 🌺
ReplyDeleteYour work is beautiful. Thanks for sharing an insight into the life of tatting.
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