Tatting 101

Being housebound in the wintertime is no fun!  To keep my mind off of the weather, I decided to try my hand at a new skill: tatting.

Tatting is the art of lace making.  It can be done with a needle or, as I did, with a shuttle.  My grandmother used to tat as did my husband’s grandmother, and both tried (unsuccessfully) to teach me.

This time, however, I was determined not to give up.  Thanks to a Kindle book and numerous YouTube videos, I was able to (finally) make a teeny-tiny flower.  I used up nearly half a ball of thread making this one, little project, but I was able to complete it.

What makes tattting so hard is that once you make a mistake, it is nearly impossible to fix it.  And since I make a lot of mistakes, I ended up starting the project over and over again.

I’m not sure what else I’ll make.  Doilies and handkerchiefs are not really my thing.  But it has been fun to learn and has made winter a little more bearable.