Tatting on a plane.

[Liyarra]

I am off to Denmark in September and would like to know what patterns people would recommend as in-flight projects?

Are you better off doing patterns that are mostly chains so you don't annoy someone with the click of the shuttle as you wind on and off?

Do you find that concentration levels just aren't there?

Is there a pattern that stands the test of flight????????

There has been plenty of advice for tatting preparation for flying. What about tips for tatting on a flight???

Thanks.

[Lynn]

I tat on planes all the time. Tatting is so much easier to get through security inspections than knitting needles! Things I have tatted range from Christmas tree snowflakes to Tatmom's cross, to pretty huge doilies. I just carry on tatting whatever project I have in hand when I board the plane. Of course, you need to be careful about your snips. I have been using a Clover circular cutter because I was told that they were airport security Kosher. Then I found that they are actually banned. I've carried mine on planes for years and never had even a raised eyebrow. Not any more, though. Now I have a tiny pair of blunt nosed scissors. They chew the thread more than cut it, so I save hiding ends till after the plane lands and I have access to decent scissors again.

As for concentration levels, that's rather individual. I mean, some folks can concentrate anywhere, and some find their minds wondering. Me, it depends on what's going on. My major problem is the lighting. Once they turn the lights off for the inflight movies, and all I have to see by is that tiny overhead light, I suffer eye fatigue. So, I tat a while, read a while, close my eyes and pretend I can sleep a while, maybe watch a movie, get up and wander around, maybe do some stretches in the back of the plane, go back to tatting just to see if I can get away with it again. As the flight progresses, you will find out what you can do.

Every time I travel, I take copies of my patterns and leave my books at home. I have been known to make several copies of my patterns and stash them in different places, just in case one gets torn or lost. Of course, if it's a pattern off the net, and you will have cyber access at your destination, then a couple of copies are sufficient.

[Kersti]

I tend to take on my aero shuttles when I'm flying, I find that I can unwind and wind quietly if I try to with those.

Use nail clippers for scissors.

I sew in my ends, I tend to leave those until I get home.

It's a *really* long trip, so I'd recommend you carry a few wips, and make sure that at least one is a very very easy to do pattern that you can really do in your sleep. That said, you don't want to be making tiny flowers and lose half of them amongst the folds of your blanket or in seat pockets.

I have a few patterns saved on my ipod touch in pdf format so that I can choose to make something on the fly ;)

[wickedtats]

i usually have 1 larger WIP (like a doiley) and several small ones. the last trip I went i had an array of bookmarks and hearts and other smaller patterns that I wanted to try but never got the chance to. Nothing u should have to think too hard over - I'd avoid things with new techniques.

I'm old fashioned and usually have them printed in paper and slipped in a a5 folder.

i dont think winding on a plane should be that much of a problem... think the engines drown it out.

[Lynn]

i dont think winding on a plane should be that much of a problem... think the engines drown it out.

Spot on! The engine noise will mask just about anything else, except an unhappy baby.

[coretta]

SNIP
Use nail clippers for scissors.... That said, you don't want to be making tiny flowers and lose half of them amongst the folds of your blanket or in seat pockets...
I have a few patterns saved on my ipod touch in pdf format so that I can choose to make something on the fly ;)

I love the idea of having patterns on your ipod or similar item. One less thing to carry and handy, and you can see it in the dark! When I do flowers, keep them all attached and do a long string of them, cut them apart off the plane. The nail clippers are a stellar solution. I once forgot I had scissors in my backpack carry on with my tatting and was thrilled that I didn't have to leave them in the airport, they were my favorite. Things got much tighter on our return trip home so I made sure I didn't have them in my carry on.
Work with bright thread that it is easy to see the stitches.

[Marty]

I take any project I happen to be working on that DOESN'T have beads! That's very nearly impossible for me on a plane. Of course, if I have a project that doesn't have beads on the picot joins and all the beads are pre-threaded, that I can haul along. I use my aero shuttles. I really don't care if the clicking or zzziiiiinnnggg of my aero's bothers anybody -- their newspaper rattling, ipod's with leaky headphones (they're gonna go deaf, they a really are), crying babies, excited little kids, and clicking keys on laptops are just as noisy -- and who listens anyway. I've got a pair of little kid's round nose scissors for the plane, but like everyone else, I leave ends to sew in when I'm not on the plane. I take copies of my patterns because I don't want to chance losing my pattern books. I've got lots and lots of them in .pdf format stored on my Nook (electronic book) -- which goes with me virtually everywhere!

[AnneB]

Australia - Denmark, that is quite a flight!

I'd take different projects, some small and a larger just to get a variation. I bring smal scissors and use Aero shuttles as they are my "working shuttles". I also bring wipes in case I need to clean my hands.

Enjoy your trip to Denmark!

[Snowy]

I flew from Toulouse (France) to Melbourne, with a couple of changes, last November. I had thought that I would be able to get lots of tatting done, but in the end I slept a lot and it was very crowded/squashed, and by the time you have had the meal and it has been cleared away, then they turn the lights out etc, etc. Well I didn't really seem able to do much at all.
I don't know how big you are, but I am 5ft 2 inches and 54kg and I found it very cramped, (flying Qantas) so my advice would be not to hope to do very much "in flight" just have a simple bookmark or edging for the waiting in the airport lounges, and a strong sleeping tablet for those tough twenty four hours in the air!
It was worth it in the end, though.

[Judy]

I've also found that its hard to tat on the plane, but I do (sort of) bring my books. I take copies of complicated vintage patterns pages with their long text descriptions and proceed with "translating" the patterns to graphics. So, all I need is a pencil. I can put the graphic for one on the back of another page. I even do it for some patterns I know I will never tat up.
Its made me more adept at reading patterns and learning the designs. No missing beads, shuttles, needles, dirty balls of thread; no confiscated scissors. One BIG problem. I have no tatting with me when I get to my destination. If I'm visiting family, I borrow supplies; at a hotel, if I'll be there very long, I mail a package for them to hold for me.