International Tatting Day Date in the current year: April 1, 2024

Tatting is a lace-making technique that involves the creation of a series of knots and loops using a shuttle, special needle, or crochet hook. Tatted lace is particularly durable; it can be used to make lace trimming, collars, doilies, accessories such as necklaces and earrings, and other decorative items.

Tatting is believed to have developed from decorative ropework; back in the day, fishermen and sailors would use various ornamental knotting techniques to create gifts for wives and girlfriends at home. Some of these techniques look strikingly similar to tatting.

Some believe that tatting as we know it today originated around the 18th century, citing shuttles that can be seen in portraits of noble women such as Queen of England Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, Princes Marie Adélaïde of France, and Anne van Keppel, Countess of Albemarle. However, these shuttles most likely are knotting shuttles because they are too large to be used for tatting, and there are no mentions or examples of tattled lace dated prior to the 19th century.

Tatting probably originated sometime in the early 19th century and gained widespread popularity in the first half of the 20th century thanks to home economics and fashion magazines. In many languages (Czech, Finnish, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Spanish, Swedish, Ukrainian, just to name a few), tatting is known by its French name, frivolité, or its derivatives.

There are three main methods of creating tatted lace: shuttle tatting, needle tatting, and cro-tatting. Shuttle tatting is the oldest form of tatting; a tatting shuttle makes it easier to create lace by holding wound thread and guiding it through loops to make knots. A standard tatting shuttle is about 3 inches long.

Needle tatting uses a long, blunt needle to imitate a traditional shuttle and pass a thread through the stitches. Depending on the technique, needed tatting can produce a result that closely resembles shuttle tatting or create slightly thicker and looser lace. Tatting needles came in a variety of sizes; the size of the needle for a tatting project is chosen depending on the thickness of the thread. Finally, cro-tatting is a combination of needle tatting and crocheting. It uses a tool that looks like a tatting needle that ends with a crochet hook.

The origins of International Tatting Day are unclear, but the holiday is believed to have been observed since the late 1990s. Of course, the best way to celebrate it is to practice the art and craft of tatting. If you’ve never tatted before, you can watch some tatting videos on YouTube or sign up for a tatting workshop. If you’re a more or less experience tatter, you can pick up some new tools or thread, try a new pattern, and show off your work on social media with the hashtag #InternationalTattingDay.