Lace For Shoulder Bag

 A few days ago (August 13)  I made a post called Weft Faced Weave.  This post showed some weaving that I am working on that I plan on making into a shoulder bag.  I am also making some lace to put on the bag when it is down to give it a little texture. 

This particular lace is being made with, I think, 60/2 Linen.  The pattern itself comes from "101 Torchon Patterns"  by Robin S. Lewis.  This particular book is a really nice place to start for some basic Torchon patterns that are easy to follow and give you an opportunity to work on many different techniques.  Many of them can easily be adapted to use different stitches than is originally shown to spice up your work. 

I especially like this pattern because of the hearts.  I think it will give some nice contrast to the more ethnic feel of the weaving that I have done so far.

Tatted Beginnings Part Two

As a child I had been interested in learning to Tat from my Maternal Grandmother. Unfortunately, at the time I just did not have the patience to learn. As it turned out I had been the only one in the family that had shown an interest and upon the passing of my Grandmother I was given her tatting things. I thought that they were very special and I put them away for a bit.

When I was in my mid twenties I ended up getting a subscription to Threads Magazine. One of the issues that came to my home had a really nice article in it about a women in North Georgia making bobbin lace on a really large scale. She was commisioned to do three huge lace pieces that would be hung from the ceiling of an office building. The article went on to talk about how she solved the problems of working on such a large scale. I was inspired. I figured that if she was able to do something like that I certainly could teach myself how to tat.

I got out my Grandmothers tatting things, turned off all distractions and then proceeded to work until I finally figured it out. Since I was not a part of a class I did not feel presured to learn more and more techniques right away. I had the priviledge of being able to practice, practice, and practice a simple ring over and over again. I slowly taught myself new techniques and started to create more complex work.

Finally having exaushted all of the information that I had I sought out other people that new something about lace. I eventually discovered that there was a Lace Guild in the area called the Heritage Lace Guild. I joined and in no time felt right at home.

As fate would have it I decided to learn how to do bobbin lace. As all good guilds do, they brought teachers in from other places to help us learn more about our craft. The first such teacher that I signed up to take a lesson from was a woman named Robin S. Lewis. As time went by I discovered that she was the same woman that the orignial article that inspired me to do lace was about. The world is as small or as large as you want it to be. I am happy that in that particular case it was small.

Bobbin Lace in the Park

At the last Freeway Lace Guild meeting that I attended I found out how important it is for us to demonstrate lace making in order to support the IOL and our Guild.

So this week I have been spending my time at the park working on my Lace. India gets a chance to play and I get a chance to work with wonderful natural light. The only thing to worry about working outside is to stay out of the direct sunlight, but lucky for me this park has lots of great shade.

Most people ignore me and what I am doing, but every so often someone expresses some interest. I know that if I keep it up long enough more and more people will begin to realize that there is more to do at the park than talk on the phone while their kids play.

Since I took a long break from lace making and never had gone much beyond an advanced beginner I have decided to work on some simple patterns just to get my rhythm up. The pattern I am working on only takes eight pair and is from "The Torchon Lace Workbook" by Bridget M. Cook. I can see using this simple lace on something for my daughter or one of her dolls.

Fresh Air and Lace what more could I ask for.