You don't need a tatting shuttle at all -- it's not so much a tool as a way to keep the thread wound up and clean, and make it easier to handle. I use a shuttle because a ball of thread would be very hard to slip between your fingers, and you'd keep dropping it, whereupon it would unwind and roll across the floor. Bare thread would also get very dirty and worn, because fine thread is used up very slowly, and would be passed through your hands many times before being incorporated into the lace.
When I wanted to make a trivet out of cotton mason's line, I made a shuttle out of the twine itself, by winding it into a skein and securing it with its own tail. I kept track of the beginning so that I could pull the skein from the center. I strongly *don't* recommend using anything thicker than DMC #10 cordonnette (which is a trifle thinner than other 10/6 threads) for practice, and twice that, don't use cabled twine! >i saw a simple tatting shuttle that i think i will imitate and make >with some thin veneer. it is just a flat oval with pointed tips, one >end near the top has a small half circle cut out of it,and on the other >side on the opposite end there is another small half circle cut out of >it. it looks easy to unwind and easy to make. The flat shuttle I prefer has a sort of keyhole-shaped notch at one end, and a horseshoe-shaped hole at the other end, leaving a spike to wrap the thread around. You wind back and forth, going through the notch to the other side, around the spike, back to the notch on the same side, turn it over and repeat. I cut mine from the side of a bleach bottle, and it's handy for string that's too coarse for the standard shuttle. (While Googling for something else, I recently found some pictures of netting shuttles of similar construction.) >i don't really understand the tatting shuttles, but i have never seen >one. i saw how to make them, and i understand the directions, but how >does the thread unwind from in the middle? how does the thread come >out of the shuttle when you need to unravel it? When a shuttle is just right for the thickness of thread you are using, you have to pull to make the thread pop between the tips, but you don't have to pull very hard. The tips of a shuttle for fine thread will press together more firmly than the tips of a shuttle for coarse thread. It should take enough force to pop the thread between the blades that you can hang the shuttle from the thread when you want to unsnarl it, but not so much force that you risk breaking the thread or damaging the shuttle. The hard part of winding is getting the end to stick to the post: some posts have a hole through which you can tie the thread; other posts are raw wood so that if you can get a wind or two over the end, it will hold. Holding the thread under tension, bring it to one pair of tips, pop it between them, and still under tension bring it to the other pair of tips. The rounded edges of the blade should guide the thread into the gap. You can stick a fingertip inside the largest shuttles to hold the end of the thread for the first few winds. If a shuttle has been abused, or if it is made of cheap plastic like the Boye shuttles that used to be available everywhere, the tips may develop a slight gap. Such a shuttle can be used for very coarse thread: #1 cordonnette, Speed-Cro-Sheen, and Lily Double Quick are good for the first steps in learning -- too coarse to practice with, but you can see how the knots are forming. Cut off about three yards, mark every twelve inches, dip every other interval in bluing or whatever stain is handy, let dry thoroughly, then rinse it to make sure the dye doesn't come off on your hands, dry again, wind on a cheap shuttle. (If you have access to variegated thread, dyeing isn't necessary.) When the parts of the knot are different colors, it is easer to see what you are doing. -- Joy Beeson http://home.earthlink.net/~joybeeson/ http://home.earthlink.net/~dbeeson594/ROUGHSEW/ROUGH.HTM http://home.earthlink.net/~beeson_n3f/ http://www.timeswrsw.com/craig/cam/ (local weather) west of Fort Wayne, Indiana, U.S.A. where it's been too hot for several days. - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
