I've also made more thousands of knots than I can count while tatting. If you want a handmade knotted lace with even less equipment needed, then Armenian needlelace is a step further. The picture at [1] is one of mine

[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armenian_needlelace

Thanks for mentioning Armenian needlelace, it looks very interesting (and incredibly fine, congratulations on your piece, too, it is stunning. May I ask how long it took?) I'll look into learning its technique. I find it odd that (AFAIR) it is not mentioned on the Encyclopaedia of Needlework, by the way

It takes time to learn an even tension, but once that comes, pieces work up quite quickly. The piece on wikipedia is a direct copy of a piece of lace that a friend bought for me from a street vendor in Yerevan. I made it over 10 years ago, so my memory is a little vague at this point, but it was probably less than 10 hours work.

I've also done some tatting I'm particularly fond of Japanese tatting books. Maybe I miss the text, but diagrams and designs are beautiful. And if course, it's a god change from staring a screen for hours!