An Extraordinary Age

Carl Sagan once said, “We live in an extraordinary age."

Sunday morning as I was sipping my tea and skimming Facebook posts, I noticed a comment that made me stop and think about the extraordinary tatting age we live in.

The comment was this:

"Is there a tatter who is willing to teach a beginner? ...Sometimes it only takes a few visits and then they [beginning tatters] can go on their own. Do you know other tatters in your area? Do you attend any tatting conventions?"

Ponder these questions for a moment. In this tatting age it is commonplace to ask such questions. Who else thinks this is extraordinary?

I learned to tat in more primitive times. Pattern books were a rare commodity.  No classes were offered.  All there was to go on was one or two paragraphs in a Coats & Clark mini-booklet.

The Internet as we know it did not yet exist, It was in its infancy.

Those primitive times were the 1980's in a region known as the Pennsylvania Wilds. "The Wilds" were a cradle of sorts for tatting. Myrtle Hamilton lived there.  Georgia Seitz spoke of Myrtle Hamilton as a caretaker of tatting in her 2007 Tat Days banquet speech.  Please read it, the whole speech is lovely.

In the extraordinary age we live in, many tatting conventions are available to attend in North America. (This is not a complete list, just the events I was able to confirm before Tatting Tea Tuesday.)

Shuttlebirds Tatting Days began in 1997

Tatting Seminars in Hector, NY (now known as Tatting Seminars in the Fingerlakes) began in 1999

The Thread Corner began hosting a Tatting Day in 2000

Palmetto Tatting Guild hosted its first tatting convention in 2003

Fringe Element Tatters [EDIT] hosted its first Tat Day in 2005

Sunshine Tatters will host their first Tatting Day in 2015

[EDIT]  Contact Ruth Perry for more information about Sunshine Tatters.


Take this extraordinary opportunity to learn, share and grow among fellow tatters,  Find one in your area and plan to attend in 2015.  You'll be glad you did.