Shuttles From Nature!

I was asked recently if I could recommend any wood or bone shuttles.  I do have some of each, and like them.
These are wooden shuttles by Chris Hinton.  The bunny and rose are reclaimed ivory, inlaid into the wood.  The rose was the first Hinton shuttle I bought - he had it listed on eBay and I was lucky enough to win the bid.  The others are shuttles purchased from their webstore over the years.  I enjoy using them for demonstrating tatting - they're real eye-catchers.

Next, here are some bone shuttles.  None of them is old; I've bought them from various Tat Days vendors over the years.  Like the Hinton shuttles, they are eye-catching and fun to use to demonstrate tatting.  The fish are such an unusual shape for a tatting shuttle, it takes awhile for me to get used to tatting with one if I haven't used one in awhile!

The last ones I have to show you today are made from mother-of-pearl and abalone.  The MOP is contemporary; I bought it from a vendor at Tat Days several years ago.  Both the abalone are older, though -- but I don't know for sure how old.  The one on the left was an eBay find about 10 years ago; the post has a tiny sticker on one side advising that the price of the shuttle is 35c.  Maybe that was a lot of money to spend on a hobby when this shuttle was new - especially when you consider that abalone is a shell and can be easily broken.  That's the main reason I don't use these very much - I have been known to be very klutzy, and would hate to break them!