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Tatting
Tatting
Tatting is a technique used to create a particularly strong and durable type of lace. It is made by doing a series of knots and loops. It uses a single strand of heavy-duty thread and tends to be on a small hand shuttle, although sometimes a needle is used instead.
It has been around since the early 19th Century. It developed in order to create something that was to be used as a purely decorative piece, from doilies to collars.
Shuttle Tatting
This type of tatting is the earliest form. Shuttles come in allsorts of styles and materials but do tend to be made from metal or ivory and are in a pointed oval shape about 3 inches long. The shuttle holds the thread wound up and then you can pass it through loops to form the required knots. Some shuttles come with a hook on the end to help with the making of the lace. If the shuttle does not have a hook then a separate crochet hook can be used.
Needle Tatting
Needle tatting developed a lot later than shuttle tatting. It started in the early twentieth century. With this technique you use a tatting needle instead of the shuttle. A tatting needle is a long blunt needle that does not change thickness at the end with the eye. There are two different ways of creating needle tatting. You can copy the technique of shuttle tatting but with a needle, the other way uses a double thread instead of a single one; this creates a slightly thicker and looser lace than shuttle tatting. It needs to be looser because both the thread and the needle need to go through the stitches.
Cro-Tatting
This is a craft where tatting is combined with crochet. It is mainly used in Japan. The tool used for this type of tatting is a tatting needle that has a crochet hook on the end. Most of the patterns for this technique combine rings that are tatted and then chains that are crocheted.
Materials
Traditionally tatting is done with a fine white or ivory thread. You need a type of thread that will not untwist easily. In more modern patterns more than one colour is used.
Stitches
Cow Hitch knots
Half Hitch knots
Picots – gaps left for decorative purposes
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