Me & My Shuttle

My tatting shuttles came in the mail today and we are getting acquainted. Teaching myself to make a tatting double knot on my afghan crochet hook was a breeze compared to this. Wow! Have you seen someone tatting and their fingers are just flying along? Well, that's not me! I feel like someone hit the slow motion button for my hands. If you listen closely, you can hear my inner voice saying, "over, under, release tension, pull".

I've always considered humility to be a good thing and right now I'm getting a healthy dose of it. I feel kindred to everyone on the planet learning to do something for the very first time. I wonder if they feel me too?

I'm using two reference materials. I'm getting started with Learn to Tat by Janette Baker with an interactive dvd. This is a 48 page book set up in the format of classes. The language is easy to follow and the dvd is a great companion. Graduating from class to class is a good motivator. I get to say, "Yay, I finished the first class!"

The second book I have on hand is The Complete Book of Tatting by Rebecca Jones. I was drawn in by the subtitle Everything You Wanted to Know but Couldn't Find Out About Shuttle Lace. There were also a couple reviews citing it as a "must have". I like having a good, complete reference on hand. It's like keeping a dictionary in the house. When you have a question, you can just look up the answer.

So that's what I'm up to today. I also plan to workout. All this sitting around learning how to tat is great exercise for my fingers and brain, but not so good for the rest of me.

I'll also be dyeing this weekend. My last batch of Merino Wool Skin Tone Samplers flew out of the shop, so it's time to make more. On the day I sold my last one, I got an email inquiring about them. I guess it's good to have a product in demand.

Have a great weekend!