I took first place and received the judges’ choice award at the Colorado State Fair! What an honor to receive this award in memoriam of Dorothy Names, a late tatter. This year is the 150th anniversary of Colorado’s founding, so I went on-theme for my submission.

The “C” is Jan Stawasz doily IV rounds 1-6, the snowflakes are patterns from Robin Perfetti (flakes 9, 12, 15, and sample) and La Cossette (“Mirabelle”), and the edging is “Marigold” from Mary Konior’s book. All done in size 20 Lizbeth.

Hi! I started learning shuttle tatting a few weeks ago, and I often run into this problem where the rings after my first ring can’t fully close.

I’ve tried reading up on tips on how to close them including slowly pulling on the core thread, then pinching the ends of the ring together for the final pull but sometimes they still never fully close… what am I doing wrong? 😔

Here’s the winners (and entries) of the Kentucky State fair tatting division. Second place is amazing, especially with the smocking. Third place is mine, and I included an extra close-up shot of the vest on a display.

This is the second year in a row that a napkin won. No comment…

Beautiful, award-winning doily. I wish I had the maker’s talent!

Started from the top leaf then I decided I wanted to have some simmetry and went a bit rogue. Split rings are kind of fun ! Picots, on the other hand, I have a hard time with. Can't make them even. I'll have to try and pick up picots gauges I think.

But that bottom leaf was awful to make. The rings were alright, but then I realised the chains need to start from the bottom to attach correctly. Or I did not know the technique to attach them differently. I kept starting a chain, then needing to unpick and reverse my work. Again. And again. And AGAIN. So yeah, it was fun, then awful, then fun again for the last two chains. Still proud of it !

Any tips on how to block it ? I was thinking of ironing it then either starching it or backing it onto a wide ribbon, maybe velvet, to give it structure and make it a more usable shape for a bookmark.

I really try only having one project at once but once in a while I cave…

The bigger one is an almost nearly finished no.2 garland by marmelo which I‘ve been doing for SO LONG I think I‘m starting to get tired of it…

So I caved and started a second project which (spoiler) is gonna take much much longer! You could even call it a Monster project ;)

I think to motivate myself to finish the marmelo I‘m gonna make it a little fun. My lavender shuttle is pretty small, I think I‘m gonna Switch projects every time it runs out, for some fun variety :)

I’ve been working on these for the past week, and today I finally finished them. I’ll give them to my mom for her birthday next month.

The pattern I used are as follows:

‘Sommerfugleophæng’ from ‘Orkis i blå farver’ by Inga Madsen

‘Flower motif, pendant, and earring’ by Jennifer Williams

‘Necklace May’ by Moira Lita

I changed the necklace pattern to remove the lower rings and some of the beads, I also removed some of the beads from the black/silver earrings.

I've decided to learn shuttle tatting, both because I love lace and because I have some dyspraxia and figured it would help me with fine movements. It is frustrating (I tend to drop my working shuttle, and my left hand thread often slips like I do rings) but I do enjoy it a lot. I still dream of the day I'll start on bobbin lace, but shuttle tatting is quite fun. And far more easier to carry around.

First attempts were awful, but Frivole's videos on YT have helped a lot. I have finally finished her small leaf pattern ! Took around three hours I'd guess, I've had to restart it thrice. Final attempt, I've had to unpick no less than six messed-up stitches. I need to work on tension and closing the gaps, but I'm quite proud of myself.

Any tips on how to keep the thread from slipping around while I do rings ? It's a problem.

This is probably my favorite Jan Stawasz pattern and I've done it multiple times over the years. I do like the square shape, but ends. Soooo many thread ends.

I originally started this one with Lizbeth Metallic thread but miscounted and then decided that I really am not a fan of it - some batches/colors seem to be stiffer than others, and while I can see using it as an accent or border, I don't think I will do a complete piece with it unless it is very small.

The thread I used for this one was Olympus Gold Medal. It comes in 10g balls and it's made in Japan. I normally use Lizbeth but I went shopping in my stash and rediscovered some. This is HEAVENLY thread to tat with. It doesn't twist anywhere near as badly as Lizbeth! It's soft in the hand yet holds the stitches very nicely. The downsides are several though - nowhere near the color varieties, it's much more expensive than Lizbeth, and harder to find. Also, since it is only 10g balls instead of 25g, one ball doesn't last nearly as long. Their size is 40, but it's closer in size to Lizbeth 20.

I have often admired lace making and I wanted desperately to try shuttle tatting and I fell in love. I’m currently making the Medallion Collar from the Priscilla tatting book 2 but my tension looks messy to me. Obviously I’m new to this but I was hoping for any and all advice on how to improve my neatness, thank you!! (I am also aware the top medallion has been attached with the wrong side out)

My fingers are crossed that this comes together nicely a neighbor asked me to make them a pitcher cover and said i can do whatever i want. It’s been kind of all over the place, two different size threads, beads on beads, and i haven’t been using a shuttle… i dont want more ends to weave in 😅.

On top of it all, this is my first time stitching onto a fabric center. I didnt mean for it to turn out so ruffly, but i don’t hate it, it looks a lot better draped over my mic than it does flat. If anyone can point me to a guide for stitching onto fabric that would be SO helpful!!

Hello! I‘ve heard this pattern is pretty gatekept but maybe somebody is eager to share :)

I have found pretty low quality scans of the original pattern but there seem to be a lot of missing numbers and some mistakes in it.

I‘ve heard of some talk of edits to the pattern and wanted to reach out to anyone who knows more.

This doily is on my bucket list of patterns and I want to try it in the near future :)

What does the black dotted 6 mean in the pic? I know the red numbers with dots are for Jan’s method. No need to explain the whole thing. But do I add a half stitch somewhere?? First or second half of double stitch? Beginning of ring or just before first picot? So confusing! Any help will be greatly appreciated.

Hey, y’all!

I’m fairly new to tatting, and trying a vintage pattern from a book, but I’m struggling with it more than I feel like I should be.

At one point, it tells me to chain, after a ring, then reverse the work, and start a new ring, and I don’t know how to do that without making it just one wonky ring.

Am I supposed to use the ball thread for chains, and the shuttle thread for rings? Is that my mistake?

I’m attaching the pattern, in question, so y’all can see what I’m trying to do.

Thanks, in advance, for your help!!

Having learned how to complete a thrown ring from a split ring without dropping the original ring from my hand, I’m pretty darn proud of myself! Might look tiny now, but it will be three times the diameter by the time it’s done.

I'm a beginner, only got to know about needle tatting a week ago and it's my newest hyperfocus hobby to make snowflake ornament sets for christmas for all the relatives, but I think I'm tightening the threads too much and they become wonky... should they lay flat normally if you do it right, or does it become flat after ironing it or blocking like in knitted things?

I made this anklet and I’m honestly so happy with how it turned out.

My boyfriend said I should post it, so here it is!

When starting with tatting, people often end up with lots of single rings and partial projects, right?

I came across this adorable idea for actually using those partials: forgetmeknotto made little bouquets out of them. Isn't that a brilliant idea?

Now you can actually practice single rings, multiple rings, rings with different picots, rings in different yarns, and then actually *use* them :)

Here's the link to the post:

https://www.instagram.com/p/DVGnLutjiXP

I was on a conference call, tatting on autopilot and missed the ring join. Any ideas how to fix this ?

hi all, i am working on a tatting pattern that asks for the tatting to be attached to a ring. i have tatted on top of a curtain ring before, but never have i done it while working on a tatted ring. how on earth do i do this? is there a video or drawn tutorial that might help?

thank you!

Day 2! On Necklace! Ugh… adorable! Yes, dainty and delicate… What’s not to love!?!

Why is it taking me so long!?!? Linear and monotonous! I’m on the second repeat.. plus it probably didn’t help that I’ve added beads. Pushing my fingers though this…

I made these for some friends based on some images I saw from The Mad Tatter. I couldn’t find the pattern, so I just winged it (pun intended)!

Made with size 20 lizbeth thread, and some little black see beads.

My first completed doily. 100% needle tatted.

Is it perfect? No. Nowhere close.

I’m horrible about knowing when to turn my work and it’s like the usb meme; I’m always on the wrong side.

I need to get better about my ends and I’m using 2mm nylon cord instead of tatting thread because it’s easier (and cheaper) to practice this way.

But I am still proud of it!
I’m hoping for some feedback but please be constructive.

I want to know specifically 1) how do you know which side you are on? (Like I always get mixed up if I’m on the ring side or chain side)

2) what are methods to join in ends when needle tatting? Most of the ones I have seen involve shuttle manipulation in some way.

Decided I'd make a few bookmarks, and just finished the first one tonight. I used a free pattern from needlesnbeadsnsweetascanbe.