"There was never a time when lace was so much in request, and there is a renaissance of some of the older kinds, such a netting, crochet and tatting. The only requisites for tatting are a bone shuttle, a crochet hook, and coarse thread. In choosing the shuttle select one which has the two halves coming together at the points so as not to let the thread escape while working, and also that it shall not catch in the work. The two parts should just meet, so that the thread in pushing through, should cause a slight click."

Well! 109 years have passed since this article was published and yet it could have been written yesterday. We still need shuttles in order to tat, but we can now use wooden, metal, ivory, celluloid, plastic, resin, ceramic shuttles as well as bone. And we have the option of using two-bladed shuttles as described or flat shuttles, or even tatting needles. The crochet hook remains ever popular for making the joins.

But, COARSE?? thread? What were they thinking? Thank goodness many tatters chose to use fine threads for the tatting which has survived until today. And I am so grateful for the many types of threads that are available for us now, especially the new Lizbeth thread which comes in so many variegated and ombre shades with solid colors to complement them.

Although the directions for how to make the first and second half stitches (called a knot in the article) is correctly described, take a close look at the illustrations of the hands. Instead of presenting the movements from the view point of the tatter, it is pictured from an observer's viewpoint. That is just plain wrong. It covers up the point of the action right at the pinch. I had to laugh when I read the description of the writer's first attempts to tat, all she got was knots because she had not mastered the flip. We've all been there.

Ah, the flip.. the transfer of the loop from the shuttle thread to the ring (or chain thread) is so important. And the moment when the new tatter gets the flip, well that is a real "Eureka!" moment. I look forward to that moment every time I teach a new tatter. And what better music is there than the steady click of the shuttle.

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3