KIF74

NH£DL£ TATTING

There are rwo rcchniqucs rcferrcd ro as nccd'

1 \Y7iIr a necdlo

Durine the ninetcenth ccntury Mile Eleonorę Kietn

Oftcn she uscd a rhrcatfed needle to make |oim betwT ,i rings and rows in pieccs she had designed. This ‘Needle Period* was regarded as rransirional. as rhc devclopmenrs of jofning rings and of making chains as they were hcing tarted superseded it. Refcr to Beeton V Buok of Needlcwork by Isabclla Beeton 11870; facsimile edirion 1986), Tatiing: Techniąue and Histary by EIgiva Nicholls (1962) and 77rJ Contplete Book of Tatting by Rebccca Jones (1985).

Today, howotr, some rarrers find using a needle (sewiug, rapestry. wool, bodkin) prcferable ro a shuttle. cvcn rhough they folio w the same rechnique of wrapping the ring and choin threads around che opposire hand. Fcwer fingers need ro be employed in the wrap, whfch may benefit pcoplc with nrrhriris. and childrcn with smali hands. When making rhc firsr modem half-srirch, the hand using the needle docs not have to raise rhc rhread as high as would be required ro nilów the passage of a s hut tle. Orlicrs usc a needle simply bccausc they cannor master a shuttle.

Oncc the needle has form od each loop, the ‘transfer’ and rhc posirioning of half-srirchcs proceed as in shuttle ratting.

Forming the fint half-stitch

Forming the secontl half-stitch

Nccdlcs cm be morę comrcnicnc whcrc .h< -thread exisr, or arc necdcd. They are bandy whcn sccoml half of a Split choin instcad of using the i method with a shuttle. Vcry fine thrcads can Im- •.« needle where the same thrcads ituy l>c damaged w' :• .■ bctwecn the tips of a shuttle. Refcr tn ,\Vw i . .

Tufting by To dc Haan*van Beck (Hnglish transUuitin V *4

Sonic teachers of tatting show beginners this mcilunl with .• needle first, and oncc the transfer of the loop U imroducc the shuttle. Of eourse, sometimes cxpcricnc. - i uuters usc needle tatting, and cvc» finger tatting, in toniunction with a shuttle. Ir all depends on what they plan to achicvc.

2 On a needle

The sccond techniquc was dcvelopcd niorc rccciuly. and is uscd in Scandinavian countrics, the USA, Australia and New Zealand. !t requircs pairs of hałf-hitches, or cow hitchcs, to hc placcd olong a needle of regular gauge. Refcr to Rebecca Jones' Completc Book of Tatting (1985) and to Learti Needle Tatting Step-by-Step by Barbara Foster (1998). Whilc a suitablc darning needle or a bodkin could bc uscd, a set of nccdlcs is gencrally rcquired, as in crochct and knitting. Thcse range in sizc from 80 to 89 (thickest to finest). and threads/yarns arc mątchcd accordingly. In the latc I970s Selma and Hd Maria of Oregon, USA, dcvclopcd a similar technique which they całled Jiffy Tatting. They also produccd a set of Jiffy Nccdlcs. Refcr to their book, The Completc Book of Jiffy Needle Tatting, KC Publishing Inc. (1992).

While tatting on a needle is not intended to rcplacc shuttle tatting, it bas proven very popular bccausc of its casc of formntion. This is good for childrcn and thosc who łąck manuał dexccrity. Another advantagc is the additional usc of fluffy, soft thrcads. Two nccdlcs may bc employed similarly to two shuttles. It docs, howevcr, differ from shuttle rnning in tcchuique. A single or a doublcd chread may carry the stitchcs, with the doubled thread giving the Finishcd work a padded appcarance.

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