Heroes, Heroines, and History

From Knotted Lace to Tatting

by Izzy James

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tatting#/media/File:2021-03-21_DSG0835_butterfly-shaped_handiwork_in_tatting_technique_(high_resolution).jpg

 From what I can gather, tatting, like most textiles, has no definite beginnings. It appears to have evolved from the techniques of knotted lace. Although one could argue that anyone who did cut work, embroidery, and even darning could have made the leap to creating fabric from knotted thread. Knotted lace and tatting are different from knitting and crochet in that those techniques create fabric by looping  yarn. Knotted lace and tatting create a lace fabric by joining rings out of knots and chains. Like knitting and crochet, tatting is still in wide practice today. YouTube has tons of videos should you like to give it a try.  
 

Knotted lace is worked by winding thread onto a shuttle, then a series of knots are formed in a line like a string of beads. Knotting was very popular in the eighteenth century becoming a favorite in the English court. Both Queen Mary, and Queen Charlotte were said to be avid knotters. Below is an image of Anne, 2nd Countess of Albemarle, and her shuttle and thread.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anne_van_Keppel,_Countess_of_Albemarle#/media/File:Anne,_2nd_Countess_of_Albemarle_by_Sir_Joshua_Reynolds.jpg

 

This website has some good, copyrighted, pictures of knotted lace. https://rookandraven.weebly.com/knotted.html

Knotting was portable, and doable with a very small number of tools. All that’s needed is a shuttle, thread, scissors, and a needle to sew sections together and to attach the lace to whatever it was intended for. 
 

Shuttles were made from all kinds of exotic and plain materials. Ivory, tortoiseshell, precious metals, not so precious metals, and wood. They could be decorated with jewels, enameled, inlaid with mother-of-pearl, or not decorated at all. 
 

Threads also varied from linen and cotton to gold and silver. 
 

It is simple to see how creating knots in that way would lead some industrious fiber artist to create rings. It is thought that this person was in Italy. Knots were used to create rings. The rings were separated by lengths of thread usually. It is astounding what can be made by making knotted rings and sewing them together in creative ways. 

Tatting is defined in Webster's dictionary as “a delicate handmade lace formed usually by looping and knotting with a single cotton thread and a small shuttle”. 

 

Tatting came into its own in the mid-to-late nineteenth century and was popular well into the twentieth. Mlle Riego, as she liked to be known, published eleven pattern books between 1850-1868. Innovation abounded as more and more women were tatting. Soon picos, small decorative loops, were used to join tatted rings which meant they didn’t have to be joined by sewing. Soon after the chain was invented. These are all the modern techniques used in tatting today. Rings, picos, joins, and chains. Once a person masters them she can create tons of designs. Lace edgings on clothes were popular in the eighteenth century along with three dimensional flowers and other accents. Tatting tools are still simple: a shuttle, thread, scissors, a needle, and a tiny crochet hook. 

https://tattingcollector.weebly.com/tatting-shuttles.html

Tatting shuttles are a good two inches smaller than knotting shuttles and they are closed at the end to allow better control of the thread. Good quality threads are easy to find and they come in many colors and useful sizes. A tiny hook is also easy to find and makes joining easier. 
 

In my book, The Road Home, Beti’s friend Agatha is a dressmaker. One of her favorite things is tatting lace for her creations. I am currently working on Agatha’s story. It will be out later this year.

 

A Cinderella story about a pirate's daughter on the Wilderness Road to Kentucky.

Beti Boatman, pirate's daughter, long dreamed of traveling to a place where no one knew her name. When looters showed up on the day she buried her father her choice was made. Leave her home or allow the only two people in the world she loves to live in constant danger.

When Zeke and what's left of his regiment organized a wagon train west, they did not expect to encounter a woman traveling alone. Beti insists she doesn't need his help, but Zeke knows better and the strong need to protect her runs deep. Things get complicated when looters track Beti down. And emissaries from her mother’s country claim Beti is a real princess. Now Beti must choose: the hardships in Kentucky or a throne.

 Izzy James lives in the traces of history in coastal Virginia with her fabulous husband in a house brimming with books. Born with a traveling bone and an itch to knit. Izzy travels to every location where her books take place, from Williamsburg to Wyoming, popping in yarn stores along the way. 

 

Connect with Izzy through her website at izzyjamesauthor.com and sign up for her monthly newsletter. 

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References:

https://www.ringoftatters.org.uk/19ctatting.html

The Complete Book of Tatting: Everything You Wanted to Know but Couldn’t Find Out About Shuttle Lace by Rebecca Jones, Lacis Publications, USA

https://daffodilandleek.com/a-brief-history-of-tatting

https://www.britannica.com/art/tatting