That’s what happened with this Rowan Baby Alpaca DK. Hopefully, it will be something new for you, or at least entertaining.Ĭlick my photo to see what makes me tick.Sometimes I find a beautiful skein of yarn and only later decide what it might become. I write about crocheting, beading, and whatever else I am currently passionate about: It might be the new gel pens I've discovered for coloring or the yarns I've found for weaving. Let me share some of my passion with you. Continue reading “Crochet Lacework, Then and Now” → Welcome, what are you searching for today? Search for: Follow Fruit of These Hands on Thank you for stopping by. Queen Victoria was so impressed with the lace that she learned to make it, elevating the craft from a cottage industry to a fashion st atement.

The various pieces were accumulated then joined with a mesh into a pattern much like freeform crochet. Each woman would probably specialize in a particular motif. They also established stores where the fabric was sold. The potato famine created a population in need of income, so those who did not flee the blight were aided by wealthier women who set up schools to teach the lace making. This art form had been brought to Ireland from France during the 1800s by nuns. Clones lace has some distinctive components not found in other schools, so the terms are not truly interchangeable.Ĭan you imagine crocheting intricate Irish lace with nothing more than a needle or a stiff wire, inserted into a cork or piece of wood, with the end filed down and bent into a little hook? The makers of Irish lace were primarily peasant women, and they used what tools they could find. A famous school for making the lace was established in Clones, a small town in western Ireland, so you will occasionally see Irish lace referred to as Clones lace.

The most well-known example of crochet lace is Irish Crochet. There are examples of lace in crochet, but there is also the concept of using lacy stitches to make fabric. Lace by definition is a fine fabric comprised of motifs or designs set within a mesh. In modern crochet, there is a distinction between lace and fabric of lacy stitches. Continue reading “Crochet Lacework, Then and Now, Part 2” → Posted in crochet history Crochet Lacework, Then and Now Broomstick lace can be sturdier than hairpin lace, but you can vary each of them with the weight of yarn and your pattern. These clusters of loops are joined with regular crochet stitches to make shawls, tops, scarves, and the like. Depending on your pattern, you might join five together, then the next five, and so forth. Or a 50mm knitting needle, if you prefer, to make multiple, long, even loops which are joined with a crochet stitch as you work the loops off the stick. Vintage (open source) Hairpin Lace Stoleīroomstick lace uses…a broomstick. These strips of loops are taken off the loom and incorporated into intricate designs with regular crochet stitches. Long loops are made on the loom which are joined in the middle with the hook. The hairpin lace tool or loom was modeled after 19 th century hair ornaments but is not recognizable today as something to put in your hair. These are stitches used to create a lacy fabric, and they each use a device as indicated in their name. Some crochet stitches have the name “lace” in them, like broomstick lace or hairpin lace. The detail is ultimately seen after the final product has been blocked. You can achieve this with different techniques, like using a fine yarn with a larger hook, by increasing the number of chain stitches, by pulling up the loops longer on the hook, and so forth. These loops lend themselves well to airy, lacy fabric. Or hats, shawls, and heirloom bedspreads. They become phrases and riffs, then novels and arias. You join the units into words, chords, and stitches. Like an alphabet or musical notation, crocheted fabric is made up of individual units, or loops.

Broomstick lace tool