Bobbin and Needlelace

 

Lace can be made with myriad techniques and variations of techniques.  It's one of the things that hooked me with bobbin lace.  You could spend the whole of your life exploring those techniques and never reach the ends.  That only expands when you begin looking at other types of lace.  I mentioned before the book, The Art of Lacemaking by Ann Collier.  That book has allowed me to try techniques I never would have even known about and this is one of those projects - my first foray into needlelace.  

Crochet is also a type of lacemaking and this is my multi-year project - a garden in crochet.  When I was living in my house, I loved working in the garden.  One day, in one of my vintage needlework magazines, I found the pattern that became the center panel of this project. It was a pattern for a tea tray but, since the thread I used was larger than the pattern called for, it was too large for a tea tray.  I got the idea of making a garden to cover my bed.  I found a variety of filet crochet patterns in an online copy of French crochet books from the 1920s, when there was a passion for filet crochet.  In my garden, I have flowers and walkways and, of course, birds and bees!  It took about 8 years to finish the crochet but I felt it needed a structure to hold it - a quilt.  Now, I'm not remotely a quilter but I've dabbled in small things like the tea cosies I'd been making.  How hard could it be?!! 

I decided I needed some way to finish off the edges of crochet so, of course, I turned to bobbin lace.  I'd been working on this edging from my practice of projects from Ulrike Voelcker's Discover Explore Master Torchon book.  With the samples (which I'll add in another post), I worked them for as long as I was enjoying them.  I really loved this pattern so I'd already worked about 60 inches.  I ended up needing about 220 inches but at least I was part of the way there.  Soooooooo,,,,on I went.  Fortunately the pattern worked up relatively quickly and before too long, I had enough to go around.  But it needed one more thing.  I found some tear drop beads with a hint of pink that matched the backing and border fabric.  With those at the tip of each peak of the lace, it was all tied together and finished.

Another project from Ann Collier's book.  Needlelace motif made with silk threads.  This took FOREVER! I made a lot of mistakes and, then, learned a lot with with project that doesn't yet have a place to live.  For now, it's displayed in my studio just waiting for the right project for display.

Ever since I first learned to work bobbin lace, I've wanted to make a fan.  It took me a long time before I felt I had the skills to work it properly.  I found this kit (pattern and fan sticks) in Holly VanSciver's online store. It's about 8 inches across and was very challenging to work but totally worth the effort.  Here it's sitting on a table covered by a doily made by my Grannie many, many years ago.  I like that juxtaposition. She would have been so interested in the lacework.

And finally, another long-term project I finished this year.  This project actually started when I found this antique frame in a little antique shop outside of Decatur, IL.  I loved the shape and the convex glass.  I had been wanting to do a pictorial bobbin lace piece so I decided to design it to fit this frame. I've been working on it from time to time over the past 5-6 years, partly because I didn't have all the skills I needed to complete the piece.  I would work a bit and then stop and practice certain techniques for the next section.  The design was meant to reflect life on the prairie.  It's another example of not being perfect but being perfect for documenting the growth of my skills in the technique.  But it was putting it on the backing of this heathered green felt and into the frame that made it come alive.

While these are not by any means all the projects I've worked on or completed over the past few years, they're representative enough of the projects that meant something to me and that I enjoyed completing.

And so it goes

Anyone who knows me knows I love the connection my work makes with all the crafter las who came before. I love the continuity it gives. When I found an article in a 1931 magazine giving an old pattern from Godeys, it made me feel even more connected to the ancestors who were also suckers for an old pattern. 

I've been wanting a crochet project for quite a while, so when I came across this pattern I knew it was meant to be. It's been such a joy to work (even if I actually made enough stitches for 2 projects, with all the ripping out I had to do). Keeping your eye on the prize over 110 blocks across was quite the challenge. Ha!

Although it's now called filet crochet, when this pattern was first published, it was referred to as "block" or "block and space," or so says the accompanying text. 110 blocks by 110 blocks is daunting but, as you can see, very worth it. 

I was just going to do a couple of rounds with single crochets and be done with it but now it's done, I realize it should be a centerpiece for a larger project. It will be very easy to surround it with panels of floral designs that could eventually be a bed topper or something similar. 

But for now I'm quite happy about how it came out and can feel the same pleasure of those ladies in 1865 who completed it back then. For that matter, I can feel the pleasure my Grannie would have felt had she attempted this pattern. And so it goes. 

Ahh Spring

Now that spring is finally here and the eternal yard work has begun, I give you…

And…

And…

I had an idea this weekend for how I could crochet a bird house. I used the Mexican thicker nylon crochet thread. I used to watch my friends in Mexico crocheting doilies with the thinner nylon thread but I'd never used it before. I used a size G hook and single crochet for the base and changed to double crochet for the body. Really easy make but I'm not sure the birdies will like it. I've hung it out on the front porch where most of the little birds hang out. They try to nest under my awning so we'll see. 

Heard a woodpecker tonight in the back. I think that's the first time I've heard one in IL. 

Believe the magic

I want to doff my hat to the most brilliant person in the world. The person who picked up a crochet hook and some cotton yarn and did this:

Crocheted a chain (this one is about 40 stitches). 

Then worked single chains up one side and without working any increases, single crocheted down the other side. 

Then kept working around, single crocheting in the back loop of each stitch like this:

And then kept working around and around

Until both sides met

And finally sewed it closed and created an oven mitt. 

That's either bloody brilliant or it's magic. 

By the way, I also finished the 2 Doctor Who scarves I was knitting for my friend's kids for Christmas. One is 12 feet and the other about 14 but they'll stretch. So blinking adorable! I lived doing then so much that I've got the yarn to do one for myself now!!

If you're interested in making your own, you can find the recommended yarns and pattern to match the originals, visit www.doctorwhoscarf.com. 

Finishing

Can I just say a few words about finishing?

How a project is finished, of course, depends on whether the project is knitted, crocheted, tatted, etc. Crochet? Easy peasy. Knitting? Even with color work pieces, I don't mind. I even kind of enjoy that process. Tatted?  Ahhhh, this is another story and a big reason I need to learn a new technique. When working in a larger piece (in this case a doily for a friend at work), at the end if each round you have to work in the finishing threads. Into tight knots. Each one. Seperately. Every one. Tight. Knots. 

I finished the work but not the doily. It's kind of like winning the battle but not the war. The challenge is to get a needle with an eye large enough for your thread (DMC size 30) that will fit through the aforementioned knots. 

Now some people would stop and work them in as they go. But not me.  Nooooooo....I leave them to the end, me. Now I have this beautiful doily that can't be called finished until I sit for the better part of an evening working in ends. 

There is a technique used in bobbin lace where you can work in a loop that will allow you to easily pull the ends through when you're finished. That's next because however annoying the set up is, there's no way it beats this. 

But I'm happy with the finished doily and the finished crocheted doily that just needs a good press, both for ladies at work who asked for them. 

Step one down

I decided to make a little adaptation to the original pattern. I didn't want to do the embroidery in the outer band so I decided to not make that band quite so wide. 

Now I've finished the outside edge and am ready to start working out the bobbin lace pattern. 

How hard could it be?!

Three's the charmer

This was the fastest thing I've ever done, I think.

I'd got it to this point on Saturday night.  The columns and most of the first pineapples.  I wasn't sure how long the rest would take but I started on Sunday to work the second row of pineapples.  Once I'd finished the first row of them, I had to decide how long I thought it was going to be and whether I would need a 3 row of not.  I decided not.

 

Once I'd got to this point, each pineapple had to be worked on its own.  Something that took almost exactly 20 minutes per pineapple.  People ask me sometimes how long it took to do something and it's really hard to say because I'm usually doing multiple projects at once.  This, however, took 20 minutes per pineapple.  So there you go.

 

And here you go.  I give you pineapples...

TADA!

In fact, I love this pattern so much that I've started the round tablecloth to match it.  I just couldn't help myself.

The Pineapple

I was showing some friends my filet crochet curtain valance which started us talking about what I was going to do for the other windows in the living room.  One friend asked whether I was going to do pineapples for the window next to the door.  Oddly enough, I had found a pattern in the 1947 book, "Complete Book of Crochet," that featured pineapples.  The pattern was actually for a chair back (antimacassar).  As I started looking at the pattern, trying to figure out how to adapt it for the window, I started flipping through the pages until I came across a pineapple table cloth that looked so much more suited to the curtain.

It's been such an easy pattern that I'm halfway thinking about doing the table cloth.  I've got plenty of thread.  Surely it couldn't take long to do a full table cloth.  Right?

Why pineapples you wonder?  It all started during the Colonial days.  Here's the explanation from the website of the history of the pineapple: "In this manner, the fruit which was the visual keystone of the feast naturally came to symbolize the high spirits of the social events themselves; the image of the pineapple coming to express the sense of welcome, good cheer, human warmth and family affection inherent to such gracious home gatherings."

It's a cornerstone of the crochet pattern library and everyone who's ever crocheted anything will have, at one time or another, crocheted her fair share of pineapples.

I ran away from home

Last week was such a hard week, I decided on Friday to run away from home.  I had friends who were vending at the Midwest Fiber and Folk Festival and this weekend was the monthly meeting of the LACE group in Chicago.  So I decided to go up for the meeting and then head further north for the festival.  There's no better therapy after a really hard week than being among my people - the people of the fiber.

Unfortunately my weekend started at 7am with me at the ATM discovering I didn't have my checkbook with me.  I'd had it out the night before balancing it and hadn't been out of the house since so I knew it was in the house.  I went home to grab it and after tearing the house apart for an hour and a half, decided to go on without it.I never did find it and had to report a lost card to the bank this morning but the most important thing was that it made me late for the LACE meeting.  They were having a program on the crocheted "crocodile" stitch which sounded really interesting, even though I'm not that crazy about crocheting with yarn.  I got to the meeting as people were leaving but the lovely teacher (whose name I didn't even get) stayed and walked me through the beginnings and gave me a copy of the pattern.  See what you think:

It's really easy (once you get the hang of which side of the work you're working on) and there are a lot of possibilities.  There's even a whole Annie's Attic book with projects using this stitch.  I haven't been able to track it down yet but I'll definitely have to find it.

At the festival, I ended up getting the most beautifuly hand-thrown teapot (sorry, I don't have a photo handy) and fiber.  Lots of fiber.  19micron Merino.  Merino and silk.  Merino and kid mohair.  All in white.  I'll probably dye the merino/silk and maybe the merino but the merino/kid mohair is going to stay in the lovely natural white.

I also got the most beautiful Driftwood Spindles spindle.  I don't remember the wood used for the whorl and can't find my card but the shaft, which is also beautifully detailed, is Mesquite wood.  Anyone from Texas would understand why finding that out confirmed my purchase.  It's extremely light and spins like the wind.  I've started on the merino/kid mohair with this spindle and the outcome is going to be breathtaking.  Yet another candidate for the white on white project.

I can testify to the fact that if you get your butt kicked at work, what you need is fiber and people of the fiber.  That makes everything better!

Adventures in Crochet

I've got started on my next round of doilies and I've found a really interesting one.  This is from a vintage pattern book.  Part of the first page is torn off so I can't find a date but I suspect from the typeface and pictures that it's from the 30s or 40s.

Looks like a normal doily, doesn't it?  Here's what makes it interesting:

Normally with a crochet doily, you start off either with a few chain stitches that are joined to make the beginning circle or by wrapping the thread a few times around the pinkie then single crochet stitches around to make the first round.  You can tell by looking that this one doesn't start that way.  Isn't it pretty?  Here's how it starts:

1st Round: Chain 5, slip stitch in 5th st from hook for picot, ch 7, sl st in 7th st from hook for picot, ch 5, sl st in 5th st from hook for picot, sl st in base of 1st picot for picot cluster, ch 4, dc in 4th st from hook, repeat from beginning 3 times, join.

In all the years I've been crocheting, this is the first time I've ever seen this start to a doily and I dig it.

The other outstanding aspect of this pattern was a completely screwed up pattern for round 7.  I know people think that vintage patterns are full of errors but, from my experience, this is much more often true of knitting patterns than crochet for some reason.  In fact I tried this round about 6 times before I finally came to the conclusion that is wasn't just that I was tired or that I wasn't reading the pattern correctly.  Fortunately there was a really good picture of the finished doily so I was able to figure it out from that. 

I also wanted to show a sample of the difference the size of the thread makes in the finished product.  Remember the Ducks and Drake doily I did with the size 100 thread and size 14 needle?  It's in the same book so I decided to do it again in the size 10 thread.  It takes on a completely different face.

Can you believe it's the same pattern?  It's pretty both ways, I think, but nothing can compare with the daintiness of the smaller thread.

Days Like This

Mother told me there'd be days like this.  Or weeks like this.  About all I've had energy for is staring at the wall and crocheting.  I did get 8 doilies out of it and the friend who'd asked for them seemed very pleased.  Although I said I'd try to get a picture of all of them, I forgot and they're away now.

But all is not lost.  Tonight at knit night a very generous person gave me:

Crochet and vintage.  How could life be better?  I feel a whole new round coming on!

There was a new addition to the household this week. 

It's my new Fricke spinning wheel.  I've been researching travel wheels, trying them out in different places for a wheel that I could easily carry with me for events and meetings.  I was always scared that I was going to do damage to my Kromski.  Of all the wheels I tried, this one had the features that I wanted - multiple whorls, easy bobbin changing, smooth treadling, scotch tension and a adjustable hook for advancing the yarn.  It's absolutely gorgeous to spin on and I've got a project started on it already.  This is Blue Faced Leicester that I'm spinning to very, very light lace weight.  I've done part of it on a drop spindle and now I"m finishing it on the wheel.  I wanted to see how the 2 different processes would compare.  I've got this on the middle whorl and on the lightest possible tension on the Scotch tension and it's probably the lightest weight I've ever managed.  I even got to break it in last week meeting with some other spinners in the local park for a very windy session.  Spun like a dream.

More, more, more

I've been doing more socks, more crochet doilies and more tatting.

I actually haven't been doing too much because work has been so intense lately.  By the time I get home, I literally have no energy to do anything but stare at the wall and crochet.  So I've done a lot of crochet.  I've now completed 8 crochet doilies in the last 3 weeks.  It's been so therapeutic.  Before they go, I'll try to get a photo of the whole line-up.

Saturday I got the newest issue of PieceWork magazine and was so thrilled to see a lace issue.  There was knitted lace and bobbin lace and, yes, tatted lace. 

I just had to try it out.

Sweet.

I messed up on part of it but now that I understand how the pattern works, I'm going to cut it and start fresh.  I've never seen anything like this, I think it has such an Audrey Hepburn sort of look to it.  Maybe that's just the black and white thing but I do like it.

I meant to post about this earlier - just refer to previous discussion about work - but I wanted to show you the finished product. 

Doily Land

I had someone ask me to make some crocheted doilies and, you know, it was exactly what I was wanting to do.  You know I love to knit. And I love to spin. But every once in a while I just have to crochet.

And one tatted doily for good measure!

Crazy like a doily

I knitted with it.  I wanted to see what it would be like to crochet with it.  You know what I mean.  That ole size 100 cotton thread (with the emphasis on thread!).  I found an old crochet booklet with a very pretty, small doily - just 16 rounds - to try it out on.  With my trusty size 14 crochet hook (very small in its own right), I started out.  And believe it or not, no drama.  Not one little bit.  Not even a little.  In fact, I couldn't really tell any difference from crocheting with any other thread.  Huh.  It came out about 6 inches across.

Ducks and Drakes.  No idea where that name came from.

What a dainty little thing.  I got just to the part of the solid circles (that's a boatload of double crochets, if you're interested) and I really wasn't sure I liked the pattern and almost decided to give it up.  Boy, am I glad I didn't.  Especially when it turned out like this:

Sweet.

Silk of my dreams

If you've ever looked at 19th century patterns, you've seen a purse pattern calling for purse silk.  I've often wondered what the purse silk was and have always substituted perle cotton crochet thread.  I was cruising through the online catalogue for Fire Mountain Gems and Beads, one of my favorite places to be.  If you're into beading or anything in that line, these are the people to know.  I started thinking about the silk thread I'd seen before and wondering how it would work for purse silk.  But I had no idea how the sizes worked.

I ordered 2 spools, one is sized "FFF" which is the largest size, and one is "FF," the next smallest size, to test it out.  The gold is the FF and the orange is the FFF.   I loaded each of them with 11/0 beads and knitted these samples.  I have to say, the handle of the knitted pieces is so luxurious I can't even describe.  The thought of having a reticule knitted out of this stuff is taking me over and I suspect that I will have one before the weekend is out.  I don't know that's the case but I have very, very strong suspicions.

In case you're wondering, the beads on the orange thread are turqoise and the palest of yellows.  The interaction of the beads against the color of the silk has really affected the color of the beads and I think I kind of like it.

In other things going on, I've finally gotten back to working on the 1923 pattern for the Crocheted Pond Lily Breakfast Cloth.  I've finished the second middle piece (you can follow the link for a picture) and started on the 3rd.  I didn't take another picture because, believe it or not, it looks exactly like the first one!  Nevertheless, I have determined that if I follow the pattern exactly and make 6 middle pieces, I'll never own a table large enough to ever use it or display it.  And I've used just the thread it calls for - size 60 cotton.  So I"ve decided that I can probably make 4 of them and it might be a little more manageable.  Also, that means that I'm halfway done with the middle section and that sounds a lot better than 1/3 of the way done!  Once I finish these, the very center will be linen and then there are crocheted place mats that fit in between each of these "tongues."  Very pretty.  Very vintage.

I have encountered one problem though that means I really shouldn't be spinning in the same clothes that I work the crochet in.  It seems that no matter how careful you are when you're spinning, small bits of fiber stick to you.  And when you're crocheting with size 60 cotton and a size 12 or 13 crochet hook, the cotton picks up those little bits of fiber and works it right into the fabric.  I think I've got most of it out but now I have to either crochet first, spin later or crochet all night and not spin at all.  Rough.

Live and learn, right?

Finishing off

I’ve been on a finishing jag this weekend.


The first thing I finished was the geometric miser’s bag I’ve been working on. I was moving right along when I ran out of thread but once I got more (and more than enough) I was able to finish it up fairly quickly. Every once in a while you make something that you just fall in love with; this is one of those for me. I definitely want to do others like this. The squared part is made from a cross stitch pattern so I’m going to try a few other projects with these patterns.

The second thing I finished was my prototype for my Scottish shawl. Here’s a shot of it as it was drying after being blocked. The original plan was to have the saltire (St. Andrew’s Cross) in the middle, then the thistle leaf pattern for the border and, finally, a knitted border. I did this prototype because I’d never done a Shetland shawl before and wasn’t quite sure how the middle would work out and because I wasn’t sure how the border section would work doing it all in the round. You’ll see the border looks more like seashells than thistle leaves. Ah, yes, well
there’s a story about that. I did it wrong. But at least I did it wrong consistently and made up my own different pattern! Happy accidents, don’t you love ‘em? I also wasn’t sure about the corners of the border. On this one I just did a stockinette stitch, which I’m not crazy about. But now I know I want to do a running vine pattern on the corners that should contrast nicely to the thistle pattern (once it’s actually done properly, that is!) and with this prototype, I can easily see how to work it in.

The nice thing, too, is that because so much of it was plain stockinette, this version went really quickly. The other adaptation I made was not working the knitted edging. I really didn’t want to invest that much time knowing it wasn’t going to be the “real thing.” I crocheted off the stitches and then did a couple of rounds of crocheted edging and I have to say that I kind of dig it. I think on another shawl of this type, I would definitely do a much larger crocheted edging as I think it would be really, really lovely and much faster than the knit off edging.