| NEEDLE & THREAD SIZES The Tatting Needle comes in several different sizes and you will need the thread that works best for that size needle. Tatting needles come approx. 5" long and are pretty much the same size from point to eye of needle, and pretty close to the size thread you'll be using. A good size needle for learning Needle Tatting is the # 5 needle and can be used with the larger threads. This needle is good to work with and nice for doilies and larger designs. Once you have mastered the techniques, then you may want to try a smaller needle such as the #7 and use a much smaller thread such as the #80 Tatting Thread. You will see many size Needles and they will be higher the number the smaller they are. Example: #3 Large - #5 Medium - #7 Small. And of course if your looking for a needle to work with Yarn's they have, #0 Large for heavy weights - #1 Med. for Worsted Weight and #2 for most of the 100% cottons. They also have much larger needle to work with With the Tatting Threads and Crochet Thread the higher the # on the thread the smaller they are. Example: #80 very thin which would be used with the #7 needle. #10 thicker and would be used with the #5 needle. #5 a bit thicker and would be used with a #3 needle. Once you get into Tatting, it is a good idea to make notes of what threads you really enjoy using. Different threads are nicer and easier to work with. All though no one can tell you which is the best to work with, you will have to experiment and see which ones you really like. *We do like to suggest, if your just getting into Tatting, please buy a thread that you can practice with, like plain white. Do not buy a pretty color as you will probably make a few mistakes as you learn. Also with the white thread and practice you will be making a few medallions, these can be used as snowflakes on the tree if you wish. 
 This is the small #7 needle and #80 thread, you can see how small the Rings and chains are.
 You will see the difference in the size of the rings and chains, using this #5 needle and #10 thread.
  Here again you can see, the #20 made a bit larger ring and chain, than the #80.
And then the #5 thread used on a #3 needle is a bit larger, than the #10 thread. You can click here to see the different size of the Crinoline Lady done in #10 thread and the #20 thread. | 
