It is the season of tatting conferences. This weekend there is one in Georgia, then there’s another the end of this month in Cambridge, Ontario hosted by the Fringe Element Tatters. At the beginning of July I was privileged to attend the first ever “Tat Days” held at The Tatting Corner in Anderson, Indiana, just outside of Indianapolis.
Lots of these events are held all over the place, mostly in the United States. Why would I want to go to one? Well, there are many reasons, really. First, I needed to do something for myself. The last 5 years have been somewhat difficult and I finally had vacation time available to me that wasn’t earmarked to look after someone else or a medical problem for myself. I’ve not had a REAL vacation in a very long time. The time nd the funds were both available at the right time, so I went.
My next reason for doing this was so that I could put names to faces. I’m somewhat active in some of the Facebook groups dedicated to tatting and I wanted to see who I’ve been interacting with but had no real idea who they were. I’m old school; I like to see a flesh-and-blood person to complete the picture of who they are in my head. I sure enjoyed this part. I met some absolutely wonderful people!
I learned so much from other tatters, and I truly hope I contributed even a little bit to someone else’s experience. I only saw about 3 other Canadians but they were there, and just about as crazy as am I! I got to see a horse race! I saw how the Americans do fireworks (it is off the hook, people!) on the Fourth of July. I got to go shopping at a different Hobby Lobby (Michael’s could take a real lesson here). In a word, I had FUN!
If you’re able to attend these events regularly, you are a lucky person, indeed. I know that by the time I was ready to come home, I was exhausted, my mind was full, my heart Even more so, I had spent far more than I intended, met a wonderful person named Dawn that shared my hotel room, met lots of others I’m not sure I’ll ever see again (but hope I do!), learned so much, and just felt pleased beyond
measure that I had finally been in the same room with more than one tatter at a time. If you’re able to get to a tatting conference, or even just a regular tatting group meeting, you will be in the company of a wonderful group of people. Tatters!
Happy tatting, folks!
