Arts Of Bygone Days

Day 99: Most of my needleart skills were learned at my grandmother's knee, and an exacting teacher she was! When I was a child not yet in kindergarten, she had me embroidering pillowcases and handkerchiefs with the stricture "across four threads and back two" governing the length of each stem stitch. I credit her with also educating me in the fine art of patience, something she readily owned to doing. As a young woman, I found employment as an art-needlework consultant, and it was in that shop that I learned one art my grandmother didn't know: tatting. Some time later, I discovered bobbin lace and added that to my repertoire.

At one time, I entertained the idea of opening a small school for students of stitchery, thinking I might call it "Arts of Bygone Days." It never came to pass, and I have contented myself with giving the occasional class in one or another of these crafts.

Top left: bobbin lace employs threads generally much thinner than sewing thread wound on wooden bobbins in pairs. The hexagonal dainty measures approximately three inches from tip to tip, and was made using size 120 cream thread. It required 22 working pairs of bobbins and two pair of gimp bobbins. Thanks to this photo session, I finally got around to putting a linen center in it!

Top right: tatting is worked with a shuttle or shuttle-and-ball, and most commonly utilizes #70 tatting cotton or fine (#30) crochet cotton. It is comprised of rings and chains ornamented with picots (loops of a single thread). It's a wonderful "pocket hobby" since the work can be easily stuffed in a small bag for transport.

Bottom left: most people are familiar with crocheting, and there are many different styles within the art. Filet crochet is made in blocks of double-crochet stitch for a very solid look, and Irish crochet is characterized by its abundance of picots. I prefer working with #30 or #50 cotton and hooks in sizes 10-14.

Bottom right: knitting is worked with two or more needles (socks, gloves and mittens generally take four). The finer sizes (0 and smaller) are referred to as "knitting pins," and are used to make delicate lace. Pins come in sets of five to allow doilies to be divided into working quarters.

My grandma was a great one for never allowing her hands or mine to be idle!