A Day Out

Last weekend I took a trip to visit a friend.  It's been so cold around here do on my way back, I was so enjoying the rare warm day that I decided to doddle.  It was a perfect day for wandering off the beaten path and visiting some antique shops.  I've decided I need to start an antique shop blog, since I go to so many of them!

Anyway, I pulled into this little town in Kentucky but the first few shops I came across in their "historic" district were still shut.  Since I wasn't in the mood to wait around for them to open, I went a little further up the road to find a place to turn around, I came across a large shop that was open.  BINGO!

I wandered through and saw some interesting things until I came up to an area with a table that had a bunch of stuff on it.  Now, it's important to know that I usually power walk through these kinds of antique malls.  I'm pretty good at spotting things that might be of interest but mainly I just like to see what's there.

This time, though, I had to do a double take because there on the table, under a mile of dirt and grime, was a table loom.  I could see well enough to know that it was complete and sturdy.  Good bones.  This type of loom can run anywhere from $900-1,300 dollars purchased new and this one was a fraction of a fraction of that.  I didn't even have to offer the lady a lower price.  She volunteered that if I paid cash or check, she'd take 20% off the price.  There was no way in creation I could pass that up.  Deal!

I don't have any good photos of it with the pile of dirt but here's what it took to get it cleaned up:

I had brushes and cloths and furniture orange oil and canned air and screw drivers and more.  I spent almost 2 hours on the porch (where it was almost warm enough to sit on the porch for 2 hours) working on it, much to the confusion of my neighbors.  I'm still working on the reed and heddles but I'll finish those this afternoon. 

Just a note to say, I was thrilled that it came with a 15-dent reed, a size I don't have for any of my other looms.

Anyway, here are some pics of how it cleaned up.  I knew it was well made but I had no idea the wood would clean up this beautiful.

There are no company markings and as you look closely, you can tell it was all made by hand.  The only markings I found were some pencil markings on the back of the back support.  I can't read all of it and haven't got a good photo of it but the part that I can read says "William Workman."  A quick search didn't bring up anything about William Workman but I have access to some very knowledgeable people so I'll see if any of them are familiar with him.

I couldn't be more thrilled by this beautiful addition to my rapidly filling apartment.  Next time, I'll tell you the story of the half-bale of straw and the new bobbin lace pillow!

The Bug

I must have the spring cleaning bug because I'm finally getting things straightened up and cleared out (watch out Goodwill!).  As I was running around this morning, I was trying to think what to do with the little round table in my living room and it suddenly hit me.  Actually I tripped over it on the way to the kitchen. 

I had my beautiful antique wheel that didn't have a place to live.  He was just getting moved from pillar to post.  Was the base small enough to fit on the little round table?

Ha!  It does.  Add one of the vintage drawn work tablecloths I scored a while back and jibledy flippit, I've got the little spinning tableau I've always wanted.  Now all I need to do is figure out what fiber I'd like to display with it.  Although this wheel works and I will use it from time to time in demonstrations, mostly it's pretty and unique and I just want to be able to admire it and for it to feel welcome here. 

Now I can! (and it can)

p.s. - Do you love the little vase with the double pointed knitting needles?  It's a lovely little pot I bought from a potter at the Midwest Folk and Fiber Festival last year.  So sweet. And the picture behind it that you can't see very well because I haven't hung it yet, is a photocopy of a page from a January 18, 1868 Harper's Bazaar magazine.  It's a poem and illustration called, "The Stocking-Knitter."  Since the wheel is probably at least that old, it seemed fitting to display them together.

Treasure Hunt

I've had the most extraordinary antique mall visits lately.  I regularly make the rounds of the many around Springfield and whenever I'm out traveling but rarely find much.  I just enjoy the hunt.  Usually I'm looking for tatting shuttles (which I find from time to time), vintage craft magazines (which I find a little more often - I now carry a list of what I have so as to not end up with duplicates), lace bobbins (never found), and interesting textiles.  Up until recently the last category has been very few and far between. 

Then I found this:

It's a linen doily with a bobbin lace edge.  Obviously there is some damage but I realized that I knew how to do all the various elements and so I decided to try to recreate the pricking from the doily and see if I could work the edging.

The next week, I found a stall full of textiles.  The first thing I picked up was this:

A bobbin lace doily with, yes, butterflies creatively worked into the pattern.  It was worked with a thread that was a little too fine for the pattern. 

Detail of the butterfly.

 

Then I picked up... 

a packet with 2 more doilies of the same pattern!  These were each done with a different thread and, as you can see from the detail shot above, the slightly heavier thread fills out the pattern a little more.  Also, the center holes were more neatly done.  Practice makes perfect?

 

How fun is that to have the document of someone trying out a pattern with different threads to get the right one for the pattern!  I can certainly so all the techniques in this one so I'm going to work this weekend on getting the pattern pricked from the nicest of the doilies.  I think I've got the number of bobbins figured out and know how to start the work.  Maybe over the Christmas break I'll have the quiet time to get it started, at least.

 

But that's not all!

 

The last few weeks I've been working on documenting the vintage and antique craft magazines in my collection, especially focusing on the Needlecraft and Modern Priscilla issues.  Because most date back to the 1910-1939 time period, I wanted to minimize wear and tear but still be able to get to the articles and patterns, I've created a spreadsheet with the month and year and a note of each of the patterns or articles in each.  It's fun to see how different crafts came into and then fell out of fashion over the years.

 

I've been getting more and more fascinated by the needle laces that were so common in the period and these magazines have a lot of instructions for these.  I'm still delving into the Teneriffe Lace but I'm also fascinated by the drawn work. 

Lo and behold, what did I find?

Again, this one has some damage but it's exquisitely worked and I can't stop looking at it, trying to figure out how it was all done.  Jiminy cricket, it's beautiful. 

But that's not all!

I also found several examples (of varying quality) of Battenburg lace and cutwork.

I'll let you know what I come up with!