During my search for the Coats leaflet I came across the following which I thought you might be interested in.
Please remember that this was before the internet and that I would've had to go to the bank to buy dollars and then wait anything up to three months to get these.
So, what have I here? I'd heard somewhere that there was a 'thing' called needle tatting so decided that I really needed to research and try it. I had somehow found out about Ed and Selma Morin so wrote (along with bank notes) to them to buy the necessary equipment and their book (which is somewhere on my tidy bookshelves).
So, as I've mentioned in the past, I gave this new fangled idea a whirl. I thought it was OK for yarn but was hopeless for thread so soon gave it up. As you can probably see from the picture below - the needles in those packets don't appear to have been opened.
I found even back then that trying to get a good tension using needles just hurt my hands too much. Anyway, thought you'd like to see my bit of history!
That’s certainly a bit of history on your shelves, I think I would have bought them too!
ReplyDeleteI think the advantage of needle tatting is apparent if you want to work with very thick thread, or even wool.
In the Jiffy book there is a lovely baby blanket with alternate squares of woollen tatting and fabric.
Very interesting to see some of your history. I, too, tried needle tatting when I was young. At the time, I was thinking it would be a good thing to learn in case I ever got arthritis in my hands. Like your discoveries, it was much too hard on my hands to get good tension. I found I much preferred shuttle tatting anyway. :) Over the years, I have discovered shuttle tatting to be MUCH easier on arthritic hands, especially if one sticks to the smaller size threads.
ReplyDeleteStephanieW
I only came across needle tatting on the internet. I’ve never seen the needles themselves and haven’t looked because I like shuttle tatting and have too many crafts on the go already.
ReplyDelete