Antique Lace

Warning: Image heavy! Click for larger pictures.

I knew, from nearly the beginning of my tatting experience, that my great-grandmother was a tatter herself. My mother has her tatting shuttle put away to keep it protected on the off chance that it may get broken (and with a semi-new puppy, that is quite likely). Imagine my surprise when she took me into her bedroom one day and showed me some of the lace items that she had collected that had been made by family members.

Some of these are quite old; I can't even date most of them. They all could do with a gentle cleaning and pressing, but I don't know how to do this and keep them intact. Some of them are falling apart (and, if I knew how to crochet that tiny, tiny thread) I would fix them. There's more crochet than tatting, and what tatting there is.. Well, I'm amazed at them.

So, I'm sharing with all today what lay hidden in my mother's closet. If anyone knows the patterns and where I can find them, I would love to know!

Enjoy!













And here are the tatting pieces. All are edgings for handkerchiefs, but they are still lovely!




Both done in what feels like cotton size 70 thread. They're both variegated in pinks and whites.



Both of these are done in heavier thread. The whiter of the two is a little bit lighter than the other. I thin they are both size 20 thread, but the lighter feels almost synthetic.

Oh, to have this much patience. Sometimes I wish I wasn't born between the Nintendo generation and the Hacker generation. (sigh)

It's my hope that I'll be able to re-make some of these pieces in the future, but for now they're eye candy. I'm working on crochet, but am afraid to try anything smaller than a flower motif with yarn.

If anyone wants, I can show the two quilts that my Grandma Evans made that I inherited, as well as some of the afgans she was known to crochet near the end of her time here. For now, I share these.

Happy tatting, all!

Swatching

Wow, can't believe it's been nearly a month since I last posted, and this is the reason:


I have so many projects going that I'm trying to finish them one at a time and then, hopefully, I can keep my mind on one topic. However, I keep finding some knit lace patterns that I really would like to try, so I've been swatching them as I go, trying out different yarn and all that whatnot. I've also been trying out some new techniques, and these are the fruits of my labors!


Here is a cuff pattern from the latest Piecework issue. It's the first time I've tried nubs, and I managed to get them wrong. I didn't have internet at the time, and as such couldn't watch a video on how to do the nub stitch and, consequently, got it wrong. It's done in 100% cotton that I got at Michael's, but I don't have any idea what type it is (I'm not at the house and can't look at the label).

Next up is two swatches of the Mesilune from the antiCraft. Both were knitted with the same needle, but one is bamboo and the other acrylic. The acrylic (top) looks much more dainty, while the bamboo (bottom) is very thick and heavy. I think this yarn would be better suited to heaver knit projects rather than the lace. On another note, the bamboo doesn't have a full repeat while the acrylic has more rows and a repeat.

And, for the secret project..


I've been trying to get the full shawl finished, and I'm nearly there..


This is for a birthday present, and will be dyed in reds and black. Her birthday is still in summer, but she will need it before Christmas, hence why I'm working so hard on it. It will be my first fully knit lace project as I've put aside the Goddess Shawl for working on this (also because I made a mistake with the arms and will have to rip out quite a few rows to fix it..).

I'm also skeining some thread for when I dye this beauty. Might as well do it in one go, right?

I have more that I've been up to, but these were the only items I could carry without dropping them. More to come! ^^