Tatting away

I first learned about tatting in 2007 just after my Grandfather K passed away. I had seen tatted lace all over both my Grandparents' place but it wasn't until 2008 I learned the differences between bobbin lace, which is the form most are thinking of when they think handmade lace, and tatting. The fall before my mother and aunt had been cleaning out his house and found a stash of my Grandmother's tatting shuttles and patterns of her design. At the time I was more focused on the letters from World War II between Grandpa and his parents so tatting got pushed to the side.

In the summer of 2010 I found sanity in cloth. I started making clothing, practicing knitting, and decided I wanted to try this tatting. I was living in West Virginia at the time and so my mom sent me some of Grandma's supplies. Not only was I trying to learn how I was also wanted to learn the history.

1749-52 John Wollaston

Tatting or knotting is thought to be derived from making fishing nets and after watching one of the guys at work making one I can see the similarities. Most tatting is done with a shuttle like the one seen in the woman's hand. I tat with my right so with my left I loop my thread and then move my shuttle, wrapped with more thread, around the thread looped in my left. Some what like my friend making the fishing net.

You can see our lady's shuttle is rather large and most samples I have seen going back to about 1670s are the same. I am still  trying to determine the year of the first samples of tatting but I have discovered the shuttles were bigger and thread was thicker and it is still using a clove hitch knot like today.

The skill surged in popularity among the wealthier classes and by the 1860s was a well thought pass time if you didn't do embroidery and had time to spare. With large shuttles it was clunky and started fadding away until the shuttles got smaller as well as the thread. Today it is done very similar to those first samples making loops and knots. The shuttles are smaller and in some cases people do it with special needles instead.

Today it is considered a dieing art with those able to do it making trim and jewelry. So I will leave you with images of this lost skill.