Redefining "Vintage"

Day 173: The word "vintage" has no precise definition when it comes to the age of an item, although it's generally considered to be somewhat newer than "antique." That said, I have started work on a thoroughly modern "vintage" tablecloth, and if that phrase seems confusing, a word of explanation is in order. You see, the 24 balls of ecru DMC #20 crochet thread in this photo were bought by my mother before I was born. She intended to crochet a pineapple-design tablecloth, but somehow just never managed to get that elusive "round tuit" which is notorious for its accumulation of unfinished crafts. That said, I've kept the thread all these years, hoping to eventually find the ideal project for it. It's in perfect condition and, I must add, of a significantly better quality than the threads available in today's market. The twist is firmer, the cotton fibers are sleek and shiny (Egyptian, undoubtedly), and the colour is warmer than the dingy, drab "ecru" found in stores today.

I wasn't inclined toward crocheting a pineapple design, but as I've been enjoying the relative speed of needle-tatting, an idea was sorting itself out in the back of my mind. Why not tat a tablecloth? I figured that something modular would be the best way to go because of the latitude it allows in finished size, but I was dissatisfied with any of the tatted motifs in my library of patterns. Thus, over the last several days, I've been developing a pattern of my own. I wanted to incorporate a round element in the design, and did so by making a series of rings in the center. Corners are created in the second row, and the third brings them out to points. The prototype 3-inch square is shown on the right, made with some leftover white thread. The squares go fairly quickly, an hour or so for each one. They'll be joined at the corner points and at each center picot of the outside chain. How big will the finished tablecoth be? Will it be square or rectangular? I don't know. That's the nice thing about modular work. You can quit when you get tired of the project.

Floss Daily

Day 38: One of my favorite needlearts is counted cross-stitch. When I first took it up...must have been half a century ago...I decided to collect all the DMC colors so that I wouldn't have to make a special trip to town when I wanted to start a project. It took a while to build up my stash, money being somewhat scarce, but I reached my goal. I filed them away in three fifteen-drawer cabinets, organizing them by number so they'd be easy to "look up." Just a few months later, DMC added another twenty colors, and one color family in particular crowded the drawer. I reorganized, and of course that meant I had to renumber the drawers as well. Somewhat smarter for the experience, I left some room in each drawer, but I failed to anticipate DMC's next move. They added a whole new series at the end of the numbering system a few years later, and I had to reorganize the collection once again. Later, when they came out with a variegated assortment, I bought a fourth cabinet expressly for "specialty" floss.

If the drawers still seem crowded, it's because I have inherited several floss collections from friends who have given up embroidery or came by them when mom passed away. I seem to have an abundance of red #321 for example, left over from a project I was commissioned to complete, and at least a dozen skeins of black because I enjoy doing blackwork. Any time I find myself at half a skein, I put the number on my shopping list and pick up a spare when I go to town.

Once the collection was complete, it was easy to maintain, only replacing colors when I run short or adding in skeins as new shades are released. You'd think with all that floss, I could match every color in the rainbow, but I often find myself wishing for a purple with just a little more blue, a green just a tad richer or more golden, a slightly warmer brown. You can never have enough color in your day.