Knotty fun: Shuttlebirds Tatting Guild’s monthly meetings open to those experienced in the craft and those ready to learn

A bit of trim on a collar.

A doily on the back of a sofa.

A pair of colorful dangly earrings.

Chances are you’ve seen examples of tatting but didn’t know what it was.

Since 1996, members of the Shuttlebirds Tatting Guild have met monthly to promote and encourage interest in the art of tatting.

Guild president Sherry Burgess said from the time she could hold a needle, her mother kept her hands busy.

“I started with embroidery,” she said. “Knitting and crocheting followed.”

A booklet her grandmother gave her featured tatting, but she said she was too chicken to try it by herself. Then, a neighbor took her to a class, and she was hooked.

Roberta Waines saw guild founder Patti Duff tatting at the Haberdashery.

“I’d never seen it before,” she said. “It’s all knots and picots (small loops).”

As she watched Duff deftly move a small shuttle, she couldn’t wait to try it.

The origins of tatting remain unclear. Some trace it to the intricate knots fisherman used on their nets. Egyptians used knotting to decorate ceremonial dress.

“Royals used to tat for pleasure,” said Deidre Hansen, who began tatting seven years ago.

However it began, the craft is still going strong.

Annie Lindsay drives from Bonners Ferry for the monthly meetings at St. Luke Lutheran Church in north Spokane.

She wound hand-dyed thread through a shuttle.

“You can add special little touches that you put your heart into on everything from table runners to earrings,” she said.

The small plastic or metal shuttles make the hobby easily portable. You can tat in airports, doctor’s offices and during Shuttlebirds’ meetings.

“It’s a glove box craft,” Lindsay said.

Sara Lyn said she got a slow start to the art.

“When my mom and aunties went through my grandmother’s stuff, we found a shuttle and some lace,” she said.

Years passed before she had the time to take up the hobby.

“Now, it’s my obsession,” she said.

Her biggest project to date has been adding lace to the necklines of dresses for her four daughters.

For Tera Lewis, tatting was another notch on her artistic belt.

“My bucket list consists of what new craft I can learn, and tatting was on my list.”

She brought some earrings and a doily for the show-and-tell portion of the meeting.

“The doily took about three hours.”

Natalie Rogers shared several projects from her past 12 years of tatting. Almost as soon as she started, she began designing patterns, including a whimsical Cinderella pumpkin coach.

She said in addition to being portable, the craft is affordable.

“It fits in my pocket – I can take it anywhere, and you can get into it for 5 bucks!”

Each year, the Shuttlebirds host a two-day workshop event where guest instructors introduce new designs.

Denice Lewis worked on a series of tiny dragons.

“They’ll go on our nametags for our workshop,” she said. “My goal is 50 – it takes 20-30 minutes to make one.”

When asked what tatters do when they make mistakes, she smiled.

“Untie them and cuss a lot,” she said.

Lewis explained the technique begins with learning the double stitch and progresses to chains and rings.

“They call us stitchers, but we’re really knotty.”

Several times a year, the guild demonstrates and displays their work at a variety of events.

This weekend, they’ll be at the Fall Folk Festival.

All are welcome at the guild. Members range in age from teens to mid-70s. Denice Lewis said her 6-year-old granddaughter just started tatting.

The meetings are hybrid. Some gather at the church, while others join via Zoom. This allows members from Australia and Canada to participate.

“Anybody can come,” Burgess said. “We love to teach.”

For more information visit shuttlebirds.com.