This is the lovely lady that called me out of the blue a couple of weeks ago and asked if I would help her learn to tat. It seems that she had kept a business card of mine from an era when I was teaching tatting at the local craft shop. I'm having a hard time remembering (nothing new!) when that could have been....but to my closest recollection, it was at least 15+ years ago. So we met at a bookstore until we were chased out at closing time.
She picked the actual DS formation/transferring process quite well and hopefully with the verbal instructions and the basic tatting book that I authored and sent along with her, she will continue to progress. I shall further inform her of the local tatting club we have here in Omaha, Nebraska (The ShuttleBugs of Omaha) so that she has other tatters to learn from.
From the late 90's into the 2000's (don't remember the dates right now!) I was on national needlework show circuits (Spirit of CrossStitch & Creative Arts & Teaching Shows--CATS) in which my main goal was to 'convert' needleworker (mostly cross-stitchers) to tatting and other lacemaking forms--needlelaces. I had 3 hours and 45 minutes to teach tatting (both shuttle and needle) technique to 12 or 24 people (respective of the technique). I took the challenge quite seriously. I created my own how-to booklets which included not only a class project pattern (all the basics in one pattern) but also how to read patterns, how to block/finish work, etc,....everything that I could put into a handout to entitle the student to continue their quest to become a tatter after they left my classroom. I had some resounding successes....previous students that came back in subsequent years, showing me their tatting prowess and professing their love for the technique. But for the most part, most of the students were first and foremost cross-stitches and couldn't be tempted from their love of that artform. I could tell that many of the attendees were 'been there/done that' kinda students. They took the classes just to say that they had 'done that'. But had my opportunity to spread the love of tatting and I took it!
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