I had very busy couple of days last weekend at Missenden Abbey in Buckinghamshire. The course was called 'Tatting for Christmas' so I'd taken patterns for snowflakes, baubles, embellishments for cards and an angel.
Four of the students were absolute beginners so their first challenge was to learn how to 'turn' the stitch. As anyone who teaches tatting will know, some people achieve this quicker than others but it isn't a race and they were all pleased with their progress. Two made at least one simple decoration to take home and the other two were well on the way to finishing their first tatted project. They all did very well.
On the first evening I gave all the students, who could tat, a fairly easy pattern to work but from then on each lady decided what she'd like to make next, with a bit of advice from me when necessary. When they found that the pattern used a technique that they didn't know, or had forgotten, we had a learning session. The most popular designs were the little angel and a beaded snowflake (not shown in the picture). Some tutors of tatting courses move on to a new pattern each session but from what I've been told by students what they don't finish on the course usually ends up as a UFO and they all chose to finish one project before moving on to another.
I wouldn't usually do the choirboy, choir girl or snowman on a weekend course because there is too much tatting or sewing to be able to complete just one of them in the time. These projects I've done with my groups at home where we do part at each meeting and there is time between classes for my ladies to catch up ready for the next stage.
I've got two more tatting events before Christmas so my bungalow has boxes of tatted decorations in most of the rooms because it isn't worh putting them away.
