I always said I wanted to learn how to tat for many years. I finally decided "you can find anything on the internet". I typed in "how to tat", found about four websites that had pictures/diagrams of the instructions and printed them out. I laid all my directions out on the floor, held everything in my hands and looked back and forth until I figured it out. There was a lot of cursing until I managed my first ring with picots. Once you've gotten down the technique, you can work without looking. An entire project can fit into a sandwich bag. It is truly a take along type work, for waiting rooms, etc.
You can find lots of books of tatting patterns on amazon.com.
My favorite shuttle is the cheap, plastic Daisy brand shuttle. I suggest working with fine or extra fine crochet thread to practice. When you move on to actual tatting thread, it's like working with spider webs. When you make a mistake tatting, there is no backing it back out like with knitting, crochet, etc. When you make a mistake, you cuss, cut out the mistake and start that part over.
Deb
