Shuttles or Needles?

[moonswirl.livejournal.com]

Hello fellow tatters!

Have any of you tried tatting with needles? I first heard of tatting from a needle-tatting pattern I saw in "Fancywork" magazine some years ago. I picked up a set of needles and learned to tat with them, not even realizing there was this whole other world of shuttles out there...

Eventually, I caught on to shuttles - but had a hard time learning the technique until I came across the wonderful photo instructions on Jen's Tat-ra Sutra site. (highly recommended instrux for those new to the craft, btw!)

I prefer shuttles these days, but I was wondering what other tatters think. Do tell!

Comments

[nolly.livejournal.com]

I've only done needle tatting so far, although I got a shuttle and some instructional books a while back. I just haven't had time to sit down and figure it out. Thanks for posting the links, though; I'm sure they'll come in handy when I do get to it.

[roobarb.livejournal.com]

I've never seen needle tatting what is it?

[nolly.livejournal.com]

Tatting with a needle instead of a shuttle. I don't think you can tell the difference from the finished piece; it's just a different technique.

[elspethdawitch.livejournal.com]

I've never tried needle-tatting, I've been told it's easier, but I like my shuttle just fine...

[moonswirl.livejournal.com]

I think needle tatting is a bit easier to learn - but clumsier in the log run.

[moniqueleigh]

I have a set of needles from my MIL, but haven't tried them yet. I love my shuttles too much to put 'em down long enough to try the needles. :D

I've heard some say that needle tatting is easier to learn, but then I had no problem getting the "flip" (supposedly the hard part). I've also heard that needle tatting is slightly looser than shuttle tatting. But that might change with practice. *shrug*

And I looooove Jen's site for instructions!! Absolutely perfect when you're trying to teach yourself! I can't find the initial site I used anymore, but it was very similar to Carrie Carlson's site. Well, shoot! I was going to post her link, but it's not working at the moment. Hrmph.

[moonswirl.livejournal.com]

If you had no trouble with the "flip" then maybe you don't need to bother with needles, haha. The flip took me forever to figure out - it was Jen's instructions that finally did the trick for me.

[moniqueleigh]

Yeah, that's one of the reasons I've not picked up my needles yet. Plus, except for a very few instances, there's not much I can't do with my shuttles.

There actually are one or two patterns out there that are needle-only. Which translates to: You can do it with a shuttle, but you're going to have to remove the thread from the shuttle at least once! ;)

[emmacrew.livejournal.com]

Needle tatting is probably easier to learn, but it tends to look a lot looser in the finished work. If you choose a fine enough needle for a given size of thread, it can look just the same, but in my experience, people tend not to.

[moonswirl.livejournal.com]

I did notice that my needle pieces are a bit looser than the shuttle pieces - even though I am using the recommended size thread for the needles...(i have a set of graduated sized needles)

I thought it was something I was doing incorrectly.

[emmacrew.livejournal.com]

I think the suggested sizes are slightly on the large size (otherwise it can be difficult to pull the thread through). It's not something I've played with enough to have a really good feeling for, though, since I started with a shuttle and like it just fine. I learned to needle tat just so I'd know how, and that was enough for me.