photo by Noreen Crone-Findlay copyright

One of the tiny pieces that I bought then,

and have cherished ever since,

has always been a mystery to me.

But, now, I am convinced that I  know what it is!

Lynn and Elizabeth left comments

on yesterday’s post and have confirmed

that the piece of  ‘mystery lace’

that I wrote about yesterday is

definitely needlepoint lace.

And, I am convinced that this

3 inch/7.5 cm square is, as well.

It’s utterly exquisite, and is worked on

an extraordinarily miniature scale!

When I was googling around,

researching handmade lace,

I googled on ‘needle lace’, and this

awe inspiring video came up:

It’s entitled: Puncetto Valsesiano

It’s utterly breathtaking!

After Lynn told me to google on ‘needlepoint lace, I found another wonderful site: marlamallett.com

I have been in love with lace all my life, and am delighted that there is still so much to learn about it- how magical is that?

Post from: Hankering for Yarn

I’ve been making lace ever since. I started crocheting lace when I was a teenager, then learned how to tat in my 20’s. And, I’ve been knitting lace ever since I learned to put those holes where I wanted them!

But, that was lace making in the 20th C, and the title of this posting is about the 19th C!

When I was trying to find an article about a lacemaker in the 19th C, I was disappointed to see that the link I had bookmarked had disappeared. So, I did a little googling, and found some fascinating stuff…..

Emily Clare, lacemaker

I was enchanted by the liveliness and animation in Emily Clare’s face…. I bet she was a charmer!

Being a lacemaker in the 19th C was not an easy life. I’m glad that the internet can help us to remember those lacemakers of long ago! Bless ‘em!

Post from: Hankering for Yarn

Amy and Donna over at Crochetville have started a fun challenge.

It’s the 2008 Crochet Games of Ancient Greece Challenge.  It’s an invitation to challenge yourself to create a work of crochet that will be a challenge for you to complete from the opening to closing of the Olympic games in Bejing.

At first, I thought…. there is NO way on earth that I can do this… I am working to deadline on my new book, AND have projects to complete for SEVEN workshops that I am teaching in September at the Knit and Crochet Show in Portland OR.

Then… it hit me…. oho! I have a concept for a new butterfly shawl that has been stuck on my design wall for months! I want to get this done for Portland, so maybe this is the time to do it….

What the heck…. I think I’ll sign up for the challenge! Wish me luck!

I’ll let you know how it goes!

)

Image Source: Noreen Crone-Findlay copyright 

Post from: Hankering for Yarn

I was just reading about the common root of two opposing words:

Hospitality vs Hostility

and then the link for this amazing and beautiful piece of work was sent to a list that I belong to:

Lace Fence 

I am awestruck by the lace fence. As a lacemaker, I KNOW how incredibly difficult creating the lace fence had to have been. The technical virtuosity is stunning.  It took a great deal of power to manipulate the wire to create the lace on that scale.

But, the metaphor behind it is  equally, or perhaps even more powerful.  It’s a potent reminder that we really can approach our environments in more mindful ways and create more beauty.  Functional DOES NOT have to equal ugly.

Post from: Hankering for Yarn