New to tatting... would love advice!

[azurerose.livejournal.com]

Hello! I've recently picked up a shuttle and am trying to teach myself to tat. So far, I'm familiarizing myself with how to hold the shuttle without jabbing myself with the pointy!, doing the basic knot, trying to maintain an even tension, and picots. So far, I've managed to come up with a bunch of rings, some with picots, some without, most a little warped.

I did buy a book, Tatting by Tatsy, but I'm having a hard time following it. I've also been poking around on YouTube, looking for videos.

If anyone has suggestions, links, advice, or maybe a simple pattern for me to try, I'd love to hear it! So far, everything I'm finding seems way too advanced for where I am right now. :)

Comments

[wosny.livejournal.com]

Hello and welcome to the addictive world of tatting!
An interesting place to start looking for ideas is
http://25motifchallenge.blogspot.com/
which is a challenge for tatters. Sharon's own page has links to videos and helpful hints. If you click onto "the tatted ring of bloggers" you can visit a number of tatters, of varying degrees of skill*, plus they often have links to sites where one can buy books and materials, there are book reviews, links to free patterns and much more.
*That sounds a bit disparaging, I only meant not everyone is an experienced tatter, and I think that can be encourageing when one is starting out.
Anyway, have fun!

[betsybookwyrm.livejournal.com]

When I first learned to tat I made a huge amount of flowers, all mostly the same. Five rings attached to each other. I often made three different-sized ones and sewed them together to make one layered flower. It was fun, and I got plenty of practice. It wasn't too long until I was able to find more patterns, though it was a little difficult to find ring-only patterns until I managed to learn chains...

Good luck, and enjoy :)

[moniqueleigh]

Welcome to the wonderful addiction that is tatting!

I'd also suggest http://etatters.ning.com/ or http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Here-Be-Tatters/?yguid=109889546 -- those 2 seem to be the most active tatting groups I've found. :)

Don't worry about things being too advanced. I'm pretty much of the "learn as I need it" school of thought. "Ooo, that looks pretty! Hmmm, split rings? How do I do that? *search the 'net & tatting communities* Yay! New technique!"

[aspiemama.livejournal.com]

Check out the "Reader's Digest Complete Guide to Needlework". It is the simplest and most easy to follow set of instructions out there. I have had people who I gave that to who were tatting easily inside of a week. It is a big book with a lot of crafts in it and costs about $35 but is well worth the cost.

[jencie.livejournal.com]

When i've taught tatting i found the best way to learn consistancy in rings and chains was a Simple edging. It's repetitive but will help train your hands memory of the movements so you'll be able to focus on other things as well(like what's next in more advanced patterns)
something simple like a ring with 3 picots(or more depending on how big you want your ring to be) with 5ds between, chain of 3 picots with 5ds between, or you could do 10ds p 10ds... you could practice joins by joining the rings as you go...what ever strikes your fancy. And you'll quickly have a length of edging that's even and be ready for more advanced patterns.
Let us know what you decide to do, and Have fun!!!!

[andikaye.livejournal.com]

I learn to needle tat first, then learn shuttle tatting from the video "Tatting the Basic by Mildred Clark". I now do both, but I prefer the needle for some projects. The framed "A" in my picture was needled tatted.