Shuttle tatting, like knitting and crochet, consists of a basic stitch that can be combined or modified to create an infinite number of patterns. And all you need is one basic tool: the shuttle.
I got mine from Spotlight, but you can also buy beautifully painted or antique shuttles from various places, online and off, if you like to look at something pretty while you tat.
Now we'll start the hand. I'm a right hander, so I hold my thread in my left hand and move my shuttle around using my right hand. Most of the picture and video tutorials I've seen will encourage you to pinch your thread between your thumb and forefinger, and to use your middle finger to lift your ball thread, like so:
But I find that position quite uncomfortable and unnatural, so I prefer to pinch my thread with my thumb and middle finger, while using my forefinger to lift up my ball thread, like so:
As a beginner, I suggest you take two thick threads (or nice long pieces of yarn) of different colours and knot them together. You'll hold the knot between your thumb and middle finger. Here, I've chosen to make the orange thread the shuttle thread, so in real life I would wind it up in the shuttle. This shuttle thread should trail free below your thumb. The ball thread would, in real life, be still attached to the ball. Drape it over your fore finger, then wrap it loosely around your pinkie a couple of times to secure it and give your thread some tension to work with.
This following picture is just the same hand position, from a different angle, with the fourth finger and pinkie tucked in. The ball thread should be loose enough that you can extend your forefinger to accomodate the shuttle, but not so loose that it's falling off your hand.
The first half stitch
One shuttle tatting stitch consists of two half stitches (i.e. two knots). For this first stitch, holding the shuttle in your right hand, pass it around your extended forefinger and over the ball thread to the right of the finger, then under the ball thread to the left of the finger, and finally over itself again. After this, pull out your forefinger and insert it again to the right of the new knot, under the ball thread.
Click photo to see animation.
This is what that looks like, with the shuttle thread held to the right of your hand. It's another way to form the first stitch, which I use when my shuttle is running short of thread and can't quite make the loop around my forefinger.
Click photo to see animation
Keeping your ball thread loose, tighten your shuttle thread. This will basically 'flip' your knot, so that instead of the shuttle thread wrapping around the ball thread, the ball thread wraps around the shuttle thread.
If this was your first stitch, tighten the ball thread and pull it back towards the knot you've pinched between your thumb and middle finger to begin with.
The second half of the stitch
Pass your shuttle over the ball thread to the right of your forefinger, then under it, then over it again.
Click photo to see animation
Again, keeping your ball thread loose, pull on the shuttle thread until it goes taut, so that the ball thread gets wrapped around the shuttle thread rather than the other way around.
Tighten the ball thread so your second stitch is right next to your first stitch, and you're done!
This here is a very crappy drawing of what your double stitch should look like. Pay attention to the way your threads overlap each other
It'll take a little practice before you get used to working with the threads and pulling them up and down, but soon you'll be tatting without even looking at your hands!
Feel free to comment if you have any questions or suggestions on how to improve this tutorial. When I have time, I'll get on to making picot, chain and ring tutorials. As I said though, double stitches are the absolute basic first step and once you've mastered them you'll be able to pick up the rest very quickly.
