Tattered

You’ll never guess what special day falls on April 1. Sure, I know it’s April Fool’s Day and hope and energy are in the air as well as a lot of jokes about shoe laces being untied. But April 1 is also International Tatting Day! Honestly. Yes, today is only March 30 and I’m a couple of days ahead of myself but I just found out there’s an actual day to celebrate tatting so I couldn’t wait to tell you. Maybe you already knew and I’m the only one who didn’t?

I love tatting. I like the feel of the smooth shuttle in my hands, the way the thread slips through my fingers and the gentle click, click, as a thing of beauty emerges.

After my mother passed away, I badly needed something new to do, something I had to concentrate on, something to do with my hands. So, I took tatting lessons. At first, the thread knotted and tangled and I spent more time taking out bungles than tatting. But, at last I got the hang of it.

Tatting goes way, way back to–goodness, I don’t know where it originated. Ladies many years ago tatted, making lace to spiffy up even the simplest garment or handkerchief. When I tat, I feel a kinship with these lades. I also feel a connection with my mom. She tatted too.

This length of lace has a story behind it. A long time ago in our home at Manos Meadows, my husband and I got into the habit of watching a daily television program together. The show was one hour long. Feeling kind of guilty about sitting still so long in the middle of the day, I grabbed my tatting basket. As the show progressed, I tatted. It took exactly one hour to make an inch of the lace. So when I look at this lace now, I remember how it came about. Only thing is, I’m not quite sure of what to do with it. Maybe I should make it longer until some day in the dim and distant future I have enough lace to edge a tablecloth. I don’t know. But it was fun to make.

So, although the actual celebration is two days away, Happy Tatting Day everyone.

http://pen-l.com/Mystery.html