Portability?

[soyloquesoy]

I'm a committed shuttle tatter. But I have one question fully out of curiosity: Is needle tatting as portable as shuttle tatting?

I can pick up my shuttles and work anywhere but the shower, as someone said. And just toss the work in my small tin and go on later almost at any point. I have the idea that needle tatting needs a surface to lay your needles on, and it seems that you can't stop while the stitches are on the needle, or can you? So, is this my own prejudiced idea, that shuttle tatting is more "portable", or is it true?

[TotusMel]

Oh you can definitely stop while the stitches are on the needle and as far as being portable, I can take it everywhere too. I just need a pencil case instead of a tin and I drop it in my bag unless I'm working off a large ball and then it's slightly less portable. When I know I want to go out, I start with a small ball and I'm good to go.

[soyloquesoy]

Thanks for your answer TotusMel.
Yep, I get the ball making it slightly less portable too, of course, and can plan ahead to make it easier.

So, as I suspected, it was just a case of ignorance/prejudice on my part. I am glad I asked! :smile:

[PattyD]

You know what they say in the military: if it has a handle, it's portable! Tatting just needs thread and a doodad, choice of weapons is yours.

[shannon_in_love]

see i have kids and everyday we go to the park..i have smaller projects for those times...also PATTY D..my travel bag has a handle so hecka LOL!!!!

[carolivy]

Just like Shuttle Tatting, if you have pocket large enough, you can even stash your Needle Tatting in a pocket. I have a "Scrub" shirt with rather large pockets on the front that I wear sometimes when I do shows. I can just drop my ball in one pocket and the tatting in the other pocket and away I go. I can walk around and still have my tatting with me as I go.

[Tattin' Kat]

I love the portability of tatting. I quilt (not by hand) and that is very non-portable.

[waterdew]

A "doodad"? :ermm: - I have never heard of one of those before.

[Susan B T]

The only problem that may come up is on some air lines... needles are sharp and pointy. Some airlines will not allow knitting needles.
But both are very travel friendly abd easy to carry about. I am only a shuttle tatter but know a couple of needle tatters that carry their tatting neeldles just like I carry my shuttles.

[Susan B T]

doodad------An unnamed or nameless gadget or trinket.

That is until you put a name on in and then it is no longer a doodad!!

[soyloquesoy]

doodad------An unnamed or nameless gadget or trinket.

That is until you put a name on in and then it is no longer a doodad!!
ah, thanks Susan, I was wondering too!

[xstchntat]

It is very portable and as far as working off the ball I usually wind enough onto floss bobbins for what I am working on and then it fits nicely into my "pencil case" as Totusmel also uses.

[tattabugg]

I love the idea of using a pencil case!! I am wondering if needle tatting uses less hand motions than shuttle. I am a shuttle tatter who started out with the needle but I can not remember if the needle was less motion. I am asking this because I have trouble with tendenitis and the less hand motion I do the better. Sorry I know this is off the topic but hey I figure no harm in asking :)

[IcePrincess]

Needletatting does use less hand motion than shuttle tatting. I can leave both wrists absolutely still and the fingers do not much more than hold the needle or thread.

But: I halso have some trouble with tendenitis from time to time - I found it was merely a matter of the proper shuttle technique - maybe you should try to tat with something wrapped around your wrists for starters - that helped me finding the technique with little enough motion.

[Marty]

Either should be as portable or as stationary as you make it. I can't take all my beads along, but, on the other hand, I can tat with just a piece of thread -- no shuttle or needle required.

[d'tatter]

One of the tatting needles I bought recently came in a little plastic tube with a lid, and so far all of my needle will fit in there safely. I suppose beads could be prestrung on your thread if you need to take them along. My only problem is with scissors. I have a tiny little grey and gold Titanium pair and they cut right through the plastic bag I keep my current project in. My mother tried to use them the other day and ended up bleeding. Sometimes, I think she is worse than a small child.

[tatknot]

If you are looking for a good item for snipping threads that you can even take through an airport, try the little fingernail clippers that are available in the baby department. They are very sharp! Won't poke holes in your bag either!

[Lynn]

Like CarolIvy, I love dropping my tatting in my pocket. I deliberately buy dresses with roomy pockets just for this purpose.

Now about doodads: thingy, thing-a-ma-bob, doohickey, gadget, whatsis whatchamacallit, contraption, gizmo, , widget......
You get the idea. Oh, how I love words.

[Judy]

d'tatter, watch out for that plastic case. If its the same as the one my needles came in, its not so durable. I do have a tin, too. Its a longish rectangle that had some wonderful chocolate in it in another life. Holds the flat bobbins full of thread, and a small pair of scissors. There also are available little pendant type thread cutters, and thread cutters that are on a needle threader.

[carolivy]

Yes, I had one of those tubes the needles come in. After much traveling the tube has MANY cracks in it. I have taken a piece of clear packing tape and covered it and it seems to be holding up well, but I have come up with a MUCH better solution! I took a Bic Pen (you know, the one that comes like 25 to a pack for a couple $) and took the ink part out of the pen, leaving a hollow tube. I took a tiny bit of paper toweling (kitchen towel) and stuffed at the very tip of the cap, then put my needles in the hollow tube and capped it. Put the "pen" in my tatting box. I have another (with a different color cap) for my beading needles now too.

[RandaGray]

what a smart idea :) i love the pens.... if i was a needle tatter, i'd steal that idea!! :)

[Marty]

I took a Bic Pen (you know, the one that comes like 25 to a pack for a couple $) and took the ink part out of the pen, leaving a hollow tube. I took a tiny bit of paper toweling (kitchen towel) and stuffed at the very tip of the cap, then put my needles in the hollow tube and capped it. Put the "pen" in my tatting box. I have another (with a different color cap) for my beading needles now too.

Seems to me if you can get 25 to a pack (and I know you can get a substantial sized package at the Dollar Store) you could chuck out half of the pens and use two caps on the ones you do keep. One cap could be permanently glued over the end with the hole and the other cap could be used over the larger end as the ...well... cap. It's such a good idea! I can see using these tubes for beading needles AND for beads. Hmmmm...I think I have to take a trip to the dollar store. Thanks!

[carolivy]

I think you misunderstood me Marty. I had to put the small bit of tissue in the end of the CAP as it has air holes that would allow the smallest of my needles to come through. The butt end of the pen is solid, so I don't need a cap on it.

[Marty]

I think you misunderstood me Marty. I had to put the small bit of tissue in the end of the CAP as it has air holes that would allow the smallest of my needles to come through. The butt end of the pen is solid, so I don't need a cap on it.

OH! Yes, I obviously did. The pens I have don't have airholes in the caps so I thought you were taking out both ends! Duh. Why would a pen cap need airholes? What are they trying to keep alive in there? That just too scary to think about!

[carolivy]

Marty, it has air holes to make it easier to put on the pen. If it didn't have air holes, then you wouldn't be able to put it all the way down on the pen as the cap fits very snugly. The air you are displacing by putting the cap on needs someplace to escape. That is why I only put in tissue to cover the air holes...air can still move through the holes, but not my needles now.

[Marty]

Oh. I've just looked at the cheapie Bic they provided here at work, as well as the more expensive pen. Yes, they do have air holes -- they are just not very obvious. You can say it's so the cap will fit on and allow the cap to fit down all they way -- but I'm getting rid of all mine and going back to pencils. I think the ink is alive -- like the blob -- just waiting to come out those air holes and consume everything in sight. I wonder if I could demand hazard pay?

[Lynn]

LOL, Marty. I can just see your office at night, when the ink blobs all come out to play. This must explain so many of those office problems - things going missing from desks, messed up computer entries, emails gone astray, memos in the wrong places... Ah, the office ink pens are alive and out for revenge. Where's Rod Serling when you need him? ROLF

[carolivy]

And here I thought it was the Little Blue Guys (from Rod Serling's Twilight Zone) :wink: I can see now that I was wrong.:tongue:

[BahmaTerri]

Love the idea of the pens being used for needles. I carry my tatting, shuttle and needle depending on what I'm working on, with me everywhere. I think the shuttles are a little easier to carrier on airplanes but that's just me.

[carolivy]

You won't be allowed to take Tatting Needles on Airplanes. That is why I am leaning Shuttle Tatting. I can't be that long alone without SOMETHING to do or I will go bonkers!

[feroluce]

Just curious myself - I put a teeny needle-tatting kit-ette (!) together - it is loaded with:
#18 tapestry needle
#16 tapestry needle
Clover threader/cutter (ingenious design, and only 1/2 inch square plus the little diamond-shaped wire loopy)
4 embroidery floss bobbins, each loaded with one skein of that perle cotton-looking "floss" you can get in a 25-pak for $5.
It all fit neatly into an altoid tin.
If I squeeeezed or left out a couple of bobbins I bet I could put a very thin folded hanky in there to serve as a lap cloth...!!!
I've done this for bookbinding and stamping as well (using hand-carved stamps made from erasers) - it's always just delightful to see what can fit into a teeny space.

[StephanieGrace]

I am way late to this party, but I use a pen to hold my needs as well! I use an RSVP pen, though. I leave the cap on and the other end screws on/off, so I use that to take them in and out. An added plus is that the casing is clear, so it's easy to see that it's not meant for writing. :-) They're not as cheap as Bics, but I know that there are cheaper/store brand knock offs that would work as well. I just prefer RSVPs for writing, so when one ran out of ink, it got re-purposed. ;-) For beading needles, the keychain versions of similar pens would probably rock! :-)

♥,
Stephanie Grace

[louine]

My favorite for needle tatting or for shuttle tatting is still a hard eye glasses case....you can put an ez-bob of thread, scissors, crochet hook, threader (if needed) and a picot gauge if you use one, and which ever "trick-ma-didger-do-looly" (I'm southern, what can I say---just one more way to say dooda) you use to tat.......I have one in my pocket book all the time with thread for tatting my favorite memorized snowflake in case I forget to bring current project.
http://www.intatters.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=14981&thumb=1&d=1327262031
BTW, I would think an old cartridge pen that you gutted and removed the screw in writing point would work great as well for Needles.....no holes to plug.

[mrsdrlow]

Love all these ideas for the portability of our tatting!! and BTW, hubby and I just flew Delta this past Thanksgiving and I took all my tatting stuff on the plane with me both ways, tatting needles, shuttles, sewing needles everything except scissors made the flight in my backpack with no eyebrows raised. and I only needle tatted while on the plane and only received ooo's and ahhh's from the flight attendants.

[louine]

I take a round clover disk for cutting when I fly and take knitting.....I have never tried to take needle tatting.

[kcabrera74]

I'm a shuttle tatter but I always leave my crochet hooks and scissor behind before taking an airplane. However I just flew Delta, and next to me sat a lady with embroidery - needles, scissors and all kinds of knickknacks!!!

[IdahoCanuck]

I love the portability of tatting. I quilt (not by hand) and that is very non-portable.

Have you ever tried block quilting? It is very portable..... small sandwiches (10-12" squares of block, batting & backing) that can be sewn and quilted individually then sewn together latter to make the quilt.
also small quilted projects (hot pads, vest, mini or doll quilts) can be just a portable as embroidery work.
I sometimes put the fabric for a block (pieced or appliqued) in a baggy with needle and thread and hand sew them..... no scissors needed... while traveling.

But I do agree that shuttle tatting is much more portable. :)

[carolivy]

14993
My repurposed wallet makes shuttle tatting or needle tatting very portable.

[Kelly]

Love this. Someday I'll post photos of my various cases (I'm always on the lookout for the "perfect" case.