Beginner Tatting Adventures: Part 1

I’m learning a new craft! I needed a break from some BIG projects, so I made some teeny tiny tatting projects to flex my creative muscles a little. I’m a complete beginning, and this was my first time using a shuttle, buying tatting thread, and following a pattern. While the main purpose of this post is to share my progress, I’m also sharing the resources I used and liked. I know I went through quite a few different videos, tutorials and tips before I found information that clicked with my crochet/knit oriented brain.

First up, I’d like to share the videos and resources that helped me get started. As a heads up, some of the links below are Amazon Affiliate Links. You can read about what that means here, but I bought and used all of these materials myself for the projects shown in this post.

Tatting Supplies

First, I purchased some beginner supplies on Amazon. I started with:

• a couple of tatting shuttles with a hook on the tip. I got one in teal, purple and raspberry. If you’re planning to get into tatting, you should know that some patterns require 2 shuttles, so go ahead an purchase 2 up front.
• some multicolored thread in colors that I really like, for experimenting
• a single ball of thicker thread, which I used for the turtle project.

Beginner Tatting Resources

Once the supplies arrived, I started with this YouTube series on beginning tatting. There were also a few concepts that I had trouble understanding, so I’ve briefly described them below:

1. When you start going in another direction, you may need to flip your work, switch shuttles, or both. The link in the previous sentence has a great explanation. A good pattern gives these directions.
2. Hiding your ends seems hard at first (the thread is so tiny!) but it’s really straightforward. I like this video, and I thought it was a great explanation coming from a crochet background.

I did a few little motifs from the video series, then found this Pinterest pin with a simple pattern to make a bookmark.

Leaf Braid Bookmark

I had one false start, then it was pretty straightforward. The only skill I really needed was flipping the work between the “top” and “bottom” leaves.

There is one wonky leaf in there, but I blocked the bookmark the same way you would block a crochet or knit piece. It really hid the imperfection and I’m quite happy with my new bookmark.

Tatted Sea Turtle

After the bookmark, I completely lost my mind over the sea turtle pattern from this site (free download), so I just dove in and hoped for the best. Some hints for other beginners diving in:

1. The two colors of the lines are two different shuttles.
2. SLT = shoelace trick = the first half of a square knot

And that’s it! What do you think of my first projects? What was your experience trying tatting for the first time? Please share any tips in the comments!