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!
1 comment:
I just love antique lace! Sooo beautiful.
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