another lace challenge :-)

Hi, a couple of weeks ago at Stitched Up ,Margaret handed me a plastic file and said I think you may be interested in this as its old and has lace in it. the papers turned out to be an extract from The "Needlecraft Journals" Published by the Manchester School of Embroidery around 1906. They are described as a descriptive and illustrative journal for the teaching the practical working of Pillow Laces.
Apparently to start lace I require 50 to 60 pairs of bobbins retailing at 8d per dozen which translates to around £0.03 in today's money (sterling) and to obtain a pattern to work from, I need to place the lace I wish to copy on Daylight Printing Out Paper, under glass, expose to the sun , then tone and fix as an ordinary print. According to the instructions, this is the way the Italian peasants take all their patterns, pricking the lace holes through the photos onto parchment. I had always imagined that patterns would be passed down and I find the thought of the countryside strewn with bits of lace attached to photo paper rather amusing.



The written instructions are a little confusing due to different lace terms being used, there are photos of lace and working diagrams but no actual patterns/prickings.



This piece is described as Torchon where I would possibly describe it as Bedfordshire. Maybe someone could help me here? anyway I have worked a sample and later today I hope to buy some coloured thread to try another sample. I have changed one or two elements to fit in with my vision of what it will look like in black/silver maybe? I quite like the large, open scale of this piece (width just over an inch)

Here are two of my lace making companions, they are divider pins, used to keep sets of bobbins separate on the pillow, aren't they cute?




More progress from the beginner lace making classes are here along with piccies of crochet, embroidery and knitting from the talented Wednesday ladies.

On a separate subject, the take a stitch Tuesday revisited group are starting again next week, more details here and I hope to join in again and play catch up. I and also hoping to visit one of my friend who has top whorl drop spindles so I can have a play :-)

Stitched up learn to gatecrash..part two

Hi, just received some more photos from Saturdays gatecrash so here is one of the missing member of the clan, Me!

Complete with wool and drop spindle.

like many people, I just hate having my photo taken and there seems to be an increasing number of photos of myself appearing on facebook at the moment!

Banbury Run 2009

Anyone who has read this blog for a while will know of our great fondness for old motorcycles and last Sunday found us watching the Banbury Run, which some reckon is the largest gathering of vintage and veteran bikes in the world.
I now have a large collection of photos to sift through and label up but I thought I would share a few with you.

I give you.........The Banbury Push







and for those of you who prefer their bikes moving

Stitched up learn to gatecrash

wasn't our fault! someone told us that there was a Knit and Natter in the craft team at the Sherwood Art festival. Off we toddled, yarn in hand only to find out that it was all just a rumour! so what do you do? simple, commandeer a table and set up your own group:-)
Three crocheters and one spinner had a blast, ate ice creams, got accused of doing finger knitting and weaving! and possibly recruited students for the textile workshop and members for the Stitched up group.
Next time we will be organised - the guerrilla branch of stitched up will strike again, so look out for us!!


NB, I must admit that Claire, Vicky and myself found the beer tent rather early on.

work in progress

I've not had much time to spare for the last few weeks but I did get the chance on a recent sunny day to wash some fleece.







and I've bought a couple of books on easy crochet and easy knitting!!

On Wednesday, I took spare lace pillows to Stitched Up ( now famous after being mentioned in the Times last month :-) ) and Claire made her first sample piece and started a simple pattern. I forgot to take my camera but I do have the pillow here as Claire felt that her cats would be a little too inquisitive if she took it home!!

didn't she do well!!


Many thanks for your comments on my previous posts, weaving stick will be played with and photographed and I have also discovered a braiding disc (based on Kumihimo, Japanese braiding) hiding at the back of one of my cupboards so more on that later.


Later

Those kind people at Blogger have decided that this Blog may be Spam and they need to reveiw the content. If they are not happy they will delete the Blog. I can only assume that a computer somewhere has got its knickers in a twist and normal service will hopefully resumed as soon as possible.

Have a good weekend and hopefully I will still be here next week.!!

Doodle Day Doodle - Clock

And the men wore bells!!!

Once the rain stopped yesterday we jumped in the car and drove to Thurgaton, a small village outside Nottingham, to catch up with the Gate to Southwell. This is an annual procession from Nottingham to Southwell by Morris Men, full details can be found here There is strong resemblance to a pub crawl as the dancers travel from village to village dancing outside pubs en route and sampling the beers on offer. Respite was offered by the WI at in the village hall in Bleasby where tea and scones were on offer.
On arrival at Southwell Minster, the Morris sides hand over the parish contributions for the building and upkeep of the Minster. These are the same amounts as originally handed over in 1109!!



We finished the day with a wander up to the folk festival site and just to include a touch of textile fun I bought a small set of weaving sticks to try out next week.