What is a Tatter?

Hello, Lovely Tatters.

I've been hearing about what goes on with some of the members of our Tatting Community at large and I have to admit to being a bit disappointed by the behaviour and actions of a few.  Taking the fun out of the art for someone else that is struggling or not meeting a standard set by someone else is never a good thing, and it's behaviour of which I want no part.

But I got thinking about what makes a "good" Tatter.  Is it being the best resource for techniques? Is it selling the most books or patterns? Is it being so well-known that every word you post or say is fawned over like it's gospel? I thought about it, and I came up with this:

What is a Tatter?

1.      A Tatter is kind.  Any good Tatter worth knowing is never anything but good-hearted.

2.    A Tatter is generous.  Most good Tatters will go out of their way to make sure you have what you need to make lace.

3.    A Tatter is tolerant.  Good Tatters understand everyone learned differently and that many have overcome great obstacles to make what they can.

4.    A Tatter is accepting.  Another’s work might not be up to a good Tatter’s standard or skill level, but we all started somewhere, and a good Tatter knows that there is always someone’s work that will be better than theirs.

5.     A Tatter is patient.  A good Tatter knows that sometimes you need to repeat yourself many times before what you’re saying “sinks in”.

6.     A Tatter is encouraging.  A good Tatter knows that kindly-worded criticism is more effective than spiteful comments.

7.     A Tatter is inclusive.  Good Tatters understand that regardless of what tool is used, a knot cares not how it’s made; it just wants to be part of something special.

8.    A Tatter is determined.  A good Tatter has had to practiced their art in isolation many times, but did it anyway even if there were no other tatters nearby.

9.     A Tatter is gentle.  A good Tatter delivers comments lovingly or makes no comments at all.

10.  A Tatter is resourceful.  In an environment where materials and tools are sometimes hard to find, a good Tatter can work wonders with what’s at hand.

Shelley Perreault, 2020

“Prairie Lace Tatter”

I'm not perfect, and I will never profess to be perfect.  I make mistakes, and I'm sure I've offended more than one person without ever meaning to (and if I have ever offended you, I humbly apologize!). One thing I hope I will NEVER  be is mean, or spiteful, or dishonest.  I just want to make lace, and I hope I can help someone else do the same thing.  When all is said and done, lace-making of any kind is a labour of love, and one I hope you enjoy as much as me.

Happy Tatting!

A Stroke of Genius!

Hello, Lovely Tatters!!  Yes, I know it has been a long time.  I've been a bit busy with my eyesight being wonky.  I had surgery for a retinal detachment, which I'm told is a pretty serious situation.  I'll tell you this; I was in to a specialist and in surgery the same day!  There are advantages to universal health care, and this is one of them.

Anyway, I'm back to my old familiar and cantankerous self and back to tatting (thank goodness; I was about ready to climb a wall!) I've been working on a pattern I'll be teaching at Tat Days in Indiana in July (check out the link for registration here:  https://tattingcorner.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=63&products_id=10063 )  I'm the one teaching the Mickey Mouse Key.  You can make this with a needle OR a shuttle.  I know because I designed it that way!  You should really consider coming, it's always a great time.  I love it because I get to talk "knotty" with other "knotty" people!

Anyway, I have something to show you:

Have you ever seen one of these?  I know you've seen the ones with the flat sides and the needle sizer from Handy Hands, but have you ever seen one that can help you with consistent bare thread-space?  Well, this little stroke of genius is the answer to your unspoken question.

All you need to do is select the amount of bare thread-space you want to leave between elements, insert the last element into the slot, and start your next element against the step in the tool directly across from the groove.  EASY!!

Looking to make stepped picots?  Well, look no further!  This wee gizmo is slick for that, too!

Tat up to where you want to add your first picot.  Lay the desired size guide between your core thread and the working thread, like this:

Make as many stitches as required to the next picot and insert the tool into your work the same way

And this is the third step,  It's that easy!

Have you ever used anything so small that assists with TWO techniques?  

This thing is as easy to use as falling out of a tree. (Ignore the extra joining picot on the right side of the ring; I'm blaming that one on the cat)

And here you have the bare thread-space tool that's just as easy to use!

Would you like to have one?  Mine is, obviously, very well-used as it's one of the first ones that she sold, but if you contact the talented creator and maker, Gloria Nelson, at sparklinglight.creationstudio@gmail.com you can talk to her about getting one in about three different colours, I think.  They're not that expensive, either, and each one comes with directions that are better than what I just gave you.  I have several and I include them in little starter kits for beginner tatters.  My blue one, however, is my own little treasure.

Oh...one more thing.  I helped Gloria test her prototype.  It was cut out of a sheet of plastic needlework canvas and I can guarantee it works for both a shuttle AND a needle.  Like I said, this has been a true stroke of genius.

Happy Tatting!!

English Please? Excuse Me?

Hello, lovely tatters.  Yes, I know, I’m posting to my blog two days in a row.  How will you ever get over the shock?!  Trust me; I’m just as shocked as you.

I need to vent a bit about something I saw in one of the tatting groups.  Someone made an excellent video about a technique, but it was in language other than English.  I didn’t think anything of it, I can follow video directions and hers were very clear.  I gave it a like, said "thank you" in English and I saved it for future reference.  I’m a hoarder that way.  Anyway, I thought nothing more about it until I saw what someone wrote in the post comments:

“English please”.

Excuse me?  I thought that was exceptionally rude, to be honest.  Every social media platform has a translate button.  If your social media platform doesn’t offer one, there are a dozen other ways you can translate something with any one of uncountable apps on your phone, tablet, or computer.

As for translating a video, just watch it.  If it’s not of good visual quality, politely ask for some clarification.  I’m sure the person making the video is able to use THEIR translate button and can understand what you’re asking.  If the video is of good quality and you can see what’s being said, then turn down the volume if it bothers you and watch and learn anyway.

Let’s put it into perspective: You’ve made a video or shared a pattern.  You’re very pleased with your accomplishment, as you should be.  You proudly post your finished product on the social media platform you’re using, and suddenly, out of nowhere, you get a message:

“ΕΛΛΗΝΙΚΑ ΠΑΡΑΚΑΛΩ” or

“Nederlands graag” or

“ਕਿਰਪਾ ਕਰਕੇ ਪੰਜਾਬੀ” or

“Español por favor” or

“можно по русски” or any one of a hundred thousand languages spoken at any given moment on this big blue ball we call home.

You’ve put a lot of your time, your talent, and your heart into this, and now they’re expecting you to TRANSLATE it?  How are you supposed to know what language is needed?

That’s my point.  You don’t.  In 2019, there were more than 200 main-stream languages spoken in the world.  The top ten were:

1.     Mandarin

2.     Spanish

3.     English

4.     Hindi

5.     Arabic

6.     Bengali

7.     Portuguese

8.     Russian

9.     Japanese

10. Punjabi/Lahnda

 These are just the 10 most-spoken, and English wasn’t even first!  There are lots more that are used, ON A DAILY BASIS, and many people who don’t speak English as a first language are fluent in at least two others.  Most people who speak English as a first language (I’m ashamed to admit myself included) can’t speak much of another language.  Sadly, some won’t. 

Folks, we’re tatters.  We partake in an artform that is practiced ALL OVER OUR WORLD!!  We speak knots and thread, which in my opinion is a language unto itself. The videos are fairly easy to watch and interpret, even with the volume off. There are people in the groups who can translate a written pattern for you if you don’t understand the terminology. I’ll bet you any money though that if you just sit down with a pencil and a notebook, you can figure it out from the photo that’s shared with the pattern.  If the pattern is graphed, as so many are any more, you don’t need to translate!  It’s right there!  Of course, you need to post photos of your work because we all want to see your interpretation, and you’ll need to credit the originating artist, but it’s do-able!  I’ve done it! 

This is a small world.  It’s getting smaller every day.  We have a broader reach and a bigger view than we have had in any other time in history.  It’s also very difficult to remember that we do share this tiny world with people that sound, look, or act differently.  Being a little more open to different things might be an education we will enjoy.  Remember, to someone else, you’re the foreigner!

Happy tatting, my friends!

Projectile Tatting Moments

Hello, Friends.  I'm wanting to talk about "projectile tatting moments".  What is a “projectile tatting moment?”  What is “projectile tatting”, anyway??

To explain this technique, I must relate to you how I learned to tat.  Many moons ago, long before the birth of my children, I crocheted like no one else.  If there was a doily to be crocheted, I was your girl. Big or small, I did ‘em all!  I had a vast collection of those “Coats & Clarke” booklets with the doily patterns in them, If it was a book in my little library, then I was probably working on something from one or several.

I did notice, though, that there were several patterns in those booklets that I couldn’t read.  “What kind of crochet is this supposed to be?” I would ask myself.  I would look at the instructions, written out the “old fashioned way” (you know, a ring of 6 st, 6 picots separated by 3 stitches, another picot, another 6 stitches, that kind of instruction) and I wanted to know what the heck they were talking about.  Someone mentioned it was “tatting” and that no one did it anymore.

No one does it anymore?  Then why in the world were the instructions in a doily book if “no one does this anymore”?  This made no sense to me and it bothered me for some years.  Fast forward about 10 years, and I was mentioning my dilemma to a friend at work who comes from Greece. “I have instructions at home, but I’ll have to translate the instructions, they’re in Greek”.  Oh, my, could I finally have a solution to an issue that has been plaguing me? 

The day came a couple of weeks later when she presented me with a stack of notes.  I got a shuttle from the craft store, some really crappy crochet thread (you know the kind, the one that everyone stocked, but only in white and it felt like rope compared to anything else), and I settled in to learn to do this tatting thing.

I was determined!  I was focused!  I was enthusiastic!  I was having an awful time!! Try as I might, I couldn’t get a ring to close.  I could make a chain, even if it was upside down to where I wanted it, but I knew about blocking and figured that’s where I would need to block my work.

I tried to make a ring, and I tried and I tried and I tried.  Do you think I could figure this out?  I had no one but me and my translated instructions, and a seriously growing frustration.  One day I was sitting in my chair when my (now ex-) husband came home.  Just as he rounded the corner to come into the living room, a missile comprised of a tatting shuttle, a pile of knots and a ball of thread came within a hair’s breadth of hitting his nose and bounced off the wall on the other side of where he stood.  He peeked around the corner and asked if it was safe to come in the living room or if he would be dodging more “projectile tatting missiles”.  His eyes were as big as saucers and I will never forget the shocked look on his face (I know I'm cruel, but I still giggle). I muttered a few nasty words about knots and threads and crafts that should remain “dead” and left it at that.

I related my dilemma to my Greek friend.  I told her I could make no sense of things; I guess I must be too stupid to learn how to tat.  She expressed curiosity as to why I couldn’t get it to work, and asked me to bring my things, and the instructions, to work the next day and she’d show me what I was missing.

Well, lunch time rolled around and we were sitting in the lunch area.  As I watched and nibbled on a sandwich, she pulled everything out, cut off the mess I had made, and we started fresh.  She showed me how to hold my fingers and how to hold the shuttle. 

“Yes, I got all that, but why can’t the rings close?”

“Well, it’s right here, make your stitch with the shuttle and then flip the stitch to the other thread.”

“Flip? What flip?”

“It’s right here, right after….”

“Right after where, show me, I must have missed it.”

“Oops.”

“Excuse me?  What do you mean ‘oops’?”

“I need to take this home with me tonight, I will bring this back in the morning.  I think I missed something”.

So, she took it home and sure enough, she had forgotten the page that described the “flip”.  If you’re a shuttle tatter, or at all familiar with the technique, you know about the “flip”.  It's that little dance between ball and core thread that allows the ring to actually close when you want it to do that.  If your stitches don’t uniformly flip, they won’t move, and your rings won't close.

The next lunch break we went over her notes again and sure enough, that little flip was the beginning of a long and passionate love affair that has now lasted, on and off, for better than 30 years. With the advent of the internet and all things social media, I can now learn techniques and buy supplies to my heart’s content, and I never have to use that awful thread I started with ever again.

So, what about “projectile tatting?”  Have you EVER been so very frustrated with a project that you wanted to pitch the entire lot across the room, out the window, or, (and I’ve been tempted to do this) chuck it over the side of the boat and let the mermaids give it a go?  That’s where you’re starting to think about projectile tatting, also known as "pitch it across the room in frustration".

If you ever feel this way, please put it down, walk away, and take a breather.  It means you’ve reached a mental point where you really need to take a break. This is true of any craft, but it is an especially important point for newbies.  New crafters seem to throw themselves into a craft and do it to the exclusion of everything else.  It’s no sin; I do it all the time when I’m learning something new.  The excitement to actually do this is so attractive and alluring.  The adrenaline rush you get when you finally complete your FIRST real project is absolutely the same as a runner’s high!  It’s amazing!!  But to get there, you’re going to fail, you’re going to doubt yourself, and you’re gonna wanna pitch that sucker! 

It’s so easy to get discouraged, but you don’t have to.  Just take a break, have a cup of something hot and soothing (or alcoholic, I won’t judge, but I might like some of what you're having), pet the dog, scream into a pillow, take the rug outside and beat the dust out of it, anything!  

My point is that we all get frustrated.  There is help out there.  There are so many tatting groups and websites available to everyone, and you know something I’ve learned?  Tatters, both shuttle and needle, are some of the nicest and most welcoming people I have had the privilege to meet and with whom to exchange ideas.  Trust me, as many questions as you have, there are likely a dozen more behind you with the same question, or need help with something you’ve just had explained.

Help someone else.  I can’t say it enough; I’ve learned so much from other people asking me questions.  It’s true!  You might not think you know much right now, but if you’re able to make a ring, you are miles ahead of someone else just starting out, and they likely need someone to talk knotty with, too.  Be a mentor. Volunteer to help.   Let’s put a stop to the “projectile tatting” practice. 

Happy tatting, my friends!

Needle, Shuttle or Both?

So, hello again Lovely Tatters! I really do need to set myself a schedule.  I can't believe how long it has been since my last blog post.  I humbly apologize.  I do have reasons, but they don't involve broken fingers or a lapse in brain function, so I guess I have no excuse.  I am sorry.

Things are swimming along quite nicely.  My big news today is that I have been able to book my flight to Indianapolis (and via there to Anderson, Indiana) for the July 9-11, 2020 Tatting Corner Tat Days. I'll be driving to Winnipeg, MB and flying out of there on July 8 to arrive in plenty of time.  The bonus there is that I get to visit with a very dear friend.  No, she doesn't tat, unfortuntely, and I did try, but she's probably the best knitter I've ever seen, so I will forgive her.  She does love what I do, though, and her son, Devan, is learning to tat.  I'll get tatting in that family any which way I can!

Anyway, I'll be teaching in Indiana again, but I won't bore you yet with what I'm planning to demonstrate.  It's going to be a challenge, I can say that for sure!  I've spent the last couple of months making sure all the techniques I want to use in the project are documented and all the beads the students will need to complete the piece counted out and strung up.  Oh, boy, do I ever enjoy my bead spinner!  If you've never used one, you are missing a good bit of fun!  Sure makes stringing beads, even little wee ones, a walk in the park.

I'd like to talk a little bit about techniques, specifically shuttle vs. needle.  My question is: why is there such a furor about which is better or first or preferred or more convenient or easier or whatever!?  It's all the same knot.  It's actually the same knot you make when you do macramé, but you never hear anyone argue about what's the most convenient way to make a plant hanger!  Why are there so many passionate discussions about what tool is best or easiest or "correct" or whatever?

I have held exquisitely executed needle-tatted articles in my hands.  I've looked at them in amazement and wished my shuttle tatting looked that good.  I've held shuttle tatting in my hands and wondered what they were using for a tool (it really looked awful, I'm sorry to say).  I've been privileged to rub shoulders with very talented people who use each or either tool with skill and talent of which I can only dream.  There are good and bad with both.

What's my point?  It's this: Do what your heart and your hands let you.  If a shuttle hurts your hands, then use a needle.  If a needle proves to be problematic for you (I have arthritis in the saddle joint in my left thumb and I can only work a needle for a little bit at a time), then pick up and try a shuttle.  Are you able to work both without much issue?  Then you are a lucky person, indeed!  With all the available information online now it's really not a problem to get the basic techniques down in the comfort of your own living room or where-ever your tatting supplies are handy.

I look at it like this:  what was first?  The needle or the shuttle?  It's like the old question about what came first, the chicken or the egg?  Who knows?  We have eggs for breakfast and likely will have chicken for supper.  If you're a real rebel, you'll have chicken and waffles for breakfast and an omelette for supper.  No one cares what came first, what's original, what's right or what's wrong.  

Tatting provides nourishment for the heart, the mind, and the soul.  Non-crafters don't understand the rhythm of creation; they see the thread and the tools and are just thinking "tangled knots". The process gives the maker peace and helps us make sense of the world.  We make order from chaos.

Tatters are peacemakers, plain and simple.

Happy tatting, my friends!

Puss 'n' Boots and the Key to Happiness

Oh my, I really need to keep myself to a schedule.  Life is just running away with me.  I guess that's okay, though, means I have a real one instead of living in Cyberville.  

So, I have been back from Tat Days in Indiana for just over a month now.  Lisa Greenlee Adams of Tatting Corner in Anderson, IN really does do a lot of work to make everything appear seamless.

This was her second year hosting such an event, and it was my first ever session of teaching more than one or two people at a time.  I will tell you what, I had a blast!  Do you want to increase your knowledge of how to do something?  TEACH!!  Your students are such a wealth of information, you have no idea!  It also makes you try harder to be prepared for those questions that come up.  You do more research, you practice more techniques; heck, I even taught myself basic needle tatting and I couldn't be happier that I did! 

Let's get one thing very clear, here.  I do not hold with that old argument "My tool is better than your tool". Needle, shuttle, it's all the freakin' same...they all make the same knot, the same rings, chains, picots, all worked in rounds, all uses the same thread, it's all tatting.  Yes, the process to make a ring or finish a chain might be a bit different, and adding beads might be a bit of a challenge with one over the other, but they all make tatted lace.  Gloria Nelson is an absolutely wonderful lady and there is very little about needle tatting she doesn't know (and her work is absolutely exquisite!).  By the same measure, Karen Cabrera from Florida is one of the best shuttle tatters I've ever seen, and her tutorials are phenomenal.  They both do beautiful work, but one is not better than the other.

I found this online one day while searching for tee shirts:

It has all things I like on it.  A cat (what breathing human being doesn't think cats are at least interesting?), a tatting needle AND a tatting shuttle, and the legend of Puss 'n' Boots.  Yup, gonna put this puppy on a tee shirt!

Back to Tat Days.  Sorry, I got side-tracked.  Lisa was one busy lady.  We had all kinds of things to look at, she opened her store so we could all shop for those things we wanted to look at before we purchased, the instructors (myself excepted, don't wanna toot my own horn) were phenomenal, and this was a very well-attended event.  I got to re-connect with some folks I met last time that I don't otherwise get to see, met some wonderful folks I had never met before, and I got to teach four classes of talented folks that really loved what they were doing.  I was so honoured to be there.

I did manage to take two classes, though, one of which was with Carollyn Brown, a very sweet lady from Tennessee.  She showed us how to cover the bow of a skeleton key with beautiful lace, like this:

This is my version of Carollyn Brown's Key to Happiness pattern, a class taught at Tat Days in Anderson, Indiana, July 2019.

Folks, I can't say this enough:  Find someone with whom to tat.  Find a group you can join, or another person to meet for coffee even once every couple of months.  Save up your sheckles and go to a convention, if you can, even just one (Fringe Element Tatters is hosting Fringe Tat Days in Cambridge, Ontario at the end of September, in case you're interested!)  It's a chance to "talk shop" with someone that speaks your language!  Yes, knitters and crocheters have groups that always say "sure, we'd love to have you, come on out" but you feel rather alone if you're sitting there watching them all work away with their yarn and talking knit, purl, double crochet, half doubles, whatever they're working on.  You likely also do one or both those crafts, and you understand what they're talking about and can likely help them.  My point is:  it's still a lonely feeling to sit with a group of crafty people and still have no one to talk with about what you're doing.  Yes, online groups are fine, but we need to be out there with other people or we're going to lose our minds.  And you will learn from each other.  That's the best part; the learning and exchange of information.  

I'm meeting a lady named Fiona Geisinger who will be visiting Moose Jaw, SK from Edmonton, AB this coming Saturday, August 31, at Chrysalis Coffee at the corner of High and Main Streets at 1pm.  If you're in the area, and you tat, and you have time, please bring your tatting and join us!!  We would love to meet you for sure!

Until next time, my friends:

Happy Tatting!

Tat Days and an Interview with Samantha Melnychuk

Hello all you lovely folks!! You'll never guess in a zillion years what I was doing all weekend!  

I went to Tat Days in Anderson, Indiana!  I had an absolute blast!  Lisa Greenlea Adams, who runs Tatting Corner, is a friend of mine and let me tell you, she can throw a party!  I'm tired, I'm still unpacking all the wonderful things I bought at the Tatting Corner and still trying to percolate all the wonderful things I learned, but another awesome experience.  You really need to try to attend at least one of these events.  You do know that the Fringe Element Tatters are having their convention in September, right?  And that it's in CANADA!  It is being held in Cambridge, Ontario and if I hadn't already committed to going to Indiana, I would be going there.  Put it this way, folks, events like these are where we can have "knotty thoughts" and say "knotty words" and do "knotty things" and no one can say we're misbehaving!

So, I have another interview for you lovely folks to read.  This nice lady is Samantha Melnychuk from British Columbia.  She has been tatting for quite some years, and has even published some very impressive books.  Three, to be exact!!  Of which have a copy of each, by the way!  So happy to have those in my library!

Without further delay, I introduce you to:  Samantha Melnychuk!!

1.  How long have you been tatting?

I started when I was around 12 or 13, so around 1995-ish.

2. What first drew you to learn?

I was looking through my grandma's copy of Ms. Beeton's needlework and asked my grandma what tatting was (because the pictures weren't very clear, being old-timey pics) and she said that it was an old craft that nobody did anymore. Because I'm so contrary, I had to prove her wrong by learning how to do it.

3. How did you learn; did you have a teacher?

I taught myself to tat in an afternoon, maybe two. I used many different books: Weldon's Needlecraft, Better Homes & Gardens Needlecraft Book, and others. I would have LOVED if YouTube video tutorials existed back then. I would have gotten the 'flip' so much more quickly.

4. Needle, shuttle, both? Why?

I'm solely a shuttle tatter, if only for the sole reason because that's what I learned, and I find I can get much more uniform stitches with the shuttle. Also, I'm not limited by the size of gthe needle as to how small of thread I work with, because my favourite is 100 or smaller.

5. What do you get from this artform?

I like that I'm one of the people who carried on this craft into the future. I get a tactile experience with working different kinds of fibres. I like designing and figuring out how I can get one element to move to the other and one round to the next without having to cut and tie. I love that it's lace and I made it.

6. Are any other family members tatters?

I'm not 100% sure. My grandma had a yellow Bakelite shuttle that her mom had, but she doesn't ever remember her mom tatting. My great-grandma on that side was British, so it's possible she did when she was younger.

7. Do you have an online "presence"; a blog or Facebook page you'd like to see folks visit more?

I don't really have any online presence anymore, other than a very fledgling Etsy shop for dog accessories called "Amazing Pet Stuff by G & T" that is currently offline while we finish unpacking, painting, and decorating.

8. Have you published any books or patterns, inspired any gadgets or developed any techniques?

I've self-published three tatting books: "A Veritable Tatterd Blizzard", "The Psychedelic Shuttle", and "Teeny Tatted Snowflakes". I also have a couple of individual patterns, one of which I know is floating around Pinterest.

9. Does your family support your art? What kinds of accommodations do they make?

My husband is amazingly supportive of all the crafty hobbies I have, even when they did end up accidentally injuring him (hook on the end of a shuttle in the butt HURTS! 😉) He enjoys driving hours to take me to specific craft stores in the 'States or Alberta or even across BC. He puts up with me yelling at him for interrupting my counting on weird patterns, and even the dogs understand what just another round/repeat means.

10. What does tatting do for you?

I don't do a whole lot of tatting anymore due to inflammatory arthritis, but it is so relaxing and allows me to just focus on what I'm doing.

11. Have you entered competitions? Shows? Anything you'd like to brag about?

I've entered some of my doilies in the Creston, BC Fall Fair and they've all won Best of Show. All of my books were also published before I turned 19, as well.

12. what do you hope to accomplish with your art?

I'd like to publish another book or two in the future, maybe design a doily that is non-traditional. I'm only really able to tat in high summer, so it'll probably take a while to accomplish.

13. Is there anything you DON'T like about tatting?

I don't like how joint sensitive tatting can be, even after stretching your fingers and wrists, warming them up.

I also don't like how fragile antique thread is, LOL. It's so pretty yet it doesn't hold up well with tatting.

14. Have you taught others to tat? Are any of your family members interested in learning?

I have taught a couple of people to tat over the years. Nobody in my family is particularly interested in learning to tat, but I have a baby niece incubating in my sister who may want to learn in the future.

15. Where do you see this artform, in general, in say, 20 years?

I would love to see tatting have the resurgence that knitting and crocheting have been enjoying. I would like to see it become a more mainstream craft with younger people picking it pu the same way they are with knitting and crochet. I think it would be so cool if tatting were incorporated more in different crafts the same way crappy store-bought lace is, but in place of the crappy lace.

I hope you'll consider looking up Samantha's books and purchasing at least one.  I have all three and love them.  They're easy to understand, quick to do, and you can decorate a whole tree with the little snowflakes in very short order.  

This is another Canadian tatter that has made a mark on the art in a country where many, including myself, thought we were alone for a very long time.  I'm so glad to be writing a blog where I can showcase tatters who work with a needle or a shuttle, and places where we can source supplies to support our local shops, and promote each other.  

What's projects are in process in your house?

Happy tatting, everyone!