TattingChic and I were having a 'natter' via email a couple of days ago after a remark at her Lace Guild about something and this got both of us thinking and talking!!! I've had the same thing said to me many years ago when I abandoned the lace bobbins to return to the shuttle.
'They' say that tatting is NOT lace. DUH!!!! So off went dear old brain cell 3 into the unknown territory of the internet (without his safety gear too!!).
First of all IS it lace or not? The first link I found was this! This defines for the clothing industry that tatting IS lace. Then onto Wikipedia for this link. Very interesting as it certainly does define tatting as lace.
First of all IS it lace or not? The first link I found was this! This defines for the clothing industry that tatting IS lace. Then onto Wikipedia for this link. Very interesting as it certainly does define tatting as lace.
Another thing that number 3 learnt whilst on his outing was that the definition of TATTED lace was that it was made with a shuttle! No mention of the needle at ALL!!!! Personally I always call it a knotted lace made using a shuttle too.
This is really not at all surprising as the current way of needle tatting is a relatively recent idea - certainly within my lifetime. In the 'dim and distant past' a needle was sometimes used instead of the shuttle to make the transferred knot. The way the thread is manipulated using a needle nowadays is entirely different to the shuttle method. I like the name of 'faux tatting' to define the difference between the two ways of achieving ALMOST the same thing. I tried needle tatting in the past (actually as soon as I saw it advertised back in the 70's).
At first the needle appealed to me as a 'teaching tool'. One that may help to show people and get them comfortable with the way the knot should look. I realised that there were WAAAAYYYY too many ends to sew in and the resulting piece didn't 'do' it for me as it wasn't firm and was a a lot bulkier than that which I could achieve with the shuttle. So tat was the end of tat and a rapid return to the traditional shuttle ensued!!!
Nowadays there seems to be a 'zone' where shuttle tatting is being 'needled out' (get the pun?!?!?!) by the needlers. Actually as you don't need either 'tool' I wonder what I'm talking about!!!
Hang on, what did I just say?
Actually that's right - you don't need a tool to tat - you can just manipulate the thread without. Nowadays it's called 'finger tatting'. VERY useful for many reasons.
BUT you can't 'do' needle tatting without a needle - you can't 'finger tat' it!!! Tatting IS the formation of the stitch by reversing the thread as a reverse-hitch stitch onto it's own thread. The needle needs something for the thread to wrap round - without which it's a 'lost cause'. AH, perhaps it could be called 'wrapped tat lace'!!!! Somebody could then write a rap for the wrapped tat lace'!!!!
BOY, all that thinking was hard work for number 3 to work out!!!
Hey, ho, this is all heavy going for only the third day of the New Year!!!!
This is really not at all surprising as the current way of needle tatting is a relatively recent idea - certainly within my lifetime. In the 'dim and distant past' a needle was sometimes used instead of the shuttle to make the transferred knot. The way the thread is manipulated using a needle nowadays is entirely different to the shuttle method. I like the name of 'faux tatting' to define the difference between the two ways of achieving ALMOST the same thing. I tried needle tatting in the past (actually as soon as I saw it advertised back in the 70's).
At first the needle appealed to me as a 'teaching tool'. One that may help to show people and get them comfortable with the way the knot should look. I realised that there were WAAAAYYYY too many ends to sew in and the resulting piece didn't 'do' it for me as it wasn't firm and was a a lot bulkier than that which I could achieve with the shuttle. So tat was the end of tat and a rapid return to the traditional shuttle ensued!!!
Hang on, what did I just say?
Actually that's right - you don't need a tool to tat - you can just manipulate the thread without. Nowadays it's called 'finger tatting'. VERY useful for many reasons.
BUT you can't 'do' needle tatting without a needle - you can't 'finger tat' it!!! Tatting IS the formation of the stitch by reversing the thread as a reverse-hitch stitch onto it's own thread. The needle needs something for the thread to wrap round - without which it's a 'lost cause'. AH, perhaps it could be called 'wrapped tat lace'!!!! Somebody could then write a rap for the wrapped tat lace'!!!!
BOY, all that thinking was hard work for number 3 to work out!!!
Hey, ho, this is all heavy going for only the third day of the New Year!!!!