Wonderful Friends

Look how lucky I am!  Diane (Lace Lovin' Librarian) has very generously shared her large bobbin shuttles with me.  I started with the idea (see this post) of designing one myself… and Diane sprung into action and actually contacted shuttle makers and got some shuttles made.

I just recently received the second one and I wanted to take time to tat with both and see how they felt before I wrote a blogpost.

So here they are (as previously featured on Diane's blog).  The first shuttle is made by Banyek.  I really like the "stripy wood" effect and the shuttle has an attractive shape - although its roundness means it has a tendency to roll around when you put it down.  It is nicely made and unwinds well.  Although large, the shape around the hook still makes for easy joins as the thread slides nicely down the shuttle.  The main complaint would be its size and weight!  You'll see below in the comparison photo.

The second one I received is made by Elite Creation.  I really like it.  The finish of the wood is lovely… smooth like satin.  It is also substantially smaller than the Banyek shuttle whilst still accommodating the larger bobbin.  I could get used to working with the Banyek shuttle but the Elite Creation one feels nicer in my hand and easier to handle while tatting.  The tapered nose is great for making joins.

Here are the two shuttles side by side with an Aero so you can compare shape and size.  In fact, as you can see, there surprisingly isn't that much difference in length between all of them (I should have lined them up better in the photo!).  The Elite Creation and Aero are just about the same length and the Banyek is just a tiny bit longer.

Here is where the main difference is between the shuttles:  it's the thickness.  Of course, the thickness is not only affected by the fact that the two shuttles are made of wood but also because they contain the larger, thicker bobbins.  And to be fair to Banyek, his bobbin is 1mm thicker and a little bit wider too.

An Aero weighs a minuscule 2gms (yes, plastic is very light!)… the Elite shuttle weighs 11gms and the Banyek, 19 gms.  I think when the shuttle is heavy, you get too much tension on the thread (especially when making chains).  So for me the perfect wood-bobbin shuttle would be the lightest possible, taking the materials into consideration of course, as I'm well aware you can't make a wood shuttle as light as a plastic one.

The other reason why weight is so important to me is that if you use the "slip & slide" method of tatting, the lighter the shuttle, the better because you want the thread to slide smoothly and easily between your fingers and the shuttle as you go back and forth.  If the shuttle is light, that movement is more easily accomplished.

I am delighted to add both these shuttles to my collection - Thank you so much Diane!  But to work with, I definitely prefer the Elite Creation shuttle.  Sandi has managed to make it really not considerably bigger than an Aero whilst providing the capacity of a larger bobbin that I was looking for.

Best wishes,

Frivole