Crochet
After seeing Jane’s beautiful doily, I started thinking about the different things people have used over the years to make their knitted/crocheted doilies nice and crisp . Many people use starch. I know that some of my aunts used sugar and still others have used wax. I really wonder how these stiffeners affect the fibers over time.
This doily was inherited from my mother. I have no idea where/who she got it from or how old it is, but the cotton thread feels very strange. It’s brittle and rough, and there are several areas where the thread seems to be crumbling.
The doily actually feels as if it will crumble to dust. I’m not sure what was used to stiffen it, but whatever it was, it has done a great deal of damage to the thread. I really don’t think it can be saved so I plan to crochet a new one. I’m not sure though what, if anything, I’ll use to stiffen it.
Also, Queer Joe has started making a crocheted tablecloth. The pattern looked very familiar and here’s why.
I made this very same tablecloth back in the eighties while I was in high school. It was a present for my mother. Normally, you would crochet, then join each motif to the previous ones. However I wanted it to be portable, so I crocheted all the required motifs and then joined them. At that time only little old ladies crocheted but I would work on the motifs during my lunch breaks. Trust me, no one knitted of crocheted in public, so just imagine the looks I got in the cafeteria. Luckily I went to a school where people were allowed to be themselves and no one teased or picked on me. My mother used that tablecloth every Christmas. She would proudly tell everyone that her daughter made it for her. Even though she crocheted, she never had the patients to make anything larger than doilies.
Here are some more doily pictures.
These were not starched and the cotton is still soft and supple.
I haven’t touched the Wedding Ring shawl or Spider Queen. I’ve mostly been working on some design ideas that were rattling around in my head and screaming to get out.
Have a wonderful weekend and happy knitting.
14 comments:
Part of me wishes I'd known how to knit in high school. I'd have done it in public, not because I was brave or because I was lucky enough to go to a school where people were allowed to be themselves, but because I was already an outcast who hung around with a bunch of freaks, so nobody would have looked twice at me doing yet another unorthodox activity in the hallways.
*Really* beautiful!
lovely and very interesting... my maternal grandmother was a beautiful fine crocheter and my mum still has her doilies etc and some are still in use... her favourites were the pineapple pattern and the ones with pansies round the edges...
Hi, I repair crochet lace and one thing I've learned is that when the thread is brittle and comes apart easily when tugged, the piece is very old - 50 years or more - which in crochet is very old as the fibers don't last much longer. (In fact, before I buy any old thread, at garage sales for example, I always tug on the end to see how quickly it breaks. If it breaks before the thread starts cutting into my skin, then it's too old to use.) If the piece was not used often and consequently, not washed very many times, it can last longer. Although my mom painstakingly pins out and starches all her doilies, I find that if you iron (iron set at medium) them when they're wet, and pat them into shape, this can do the trick. Giovanna
Thanks Giovanna. I'm sure that this particular doily is very old and probably not used very much.
I just love seeing doilies everywhere these days! :)
My mother-in-law did crochet and I have several doilies in your table cloth pattern. I also have her old crochet pamphlets and I think that pattern was listed as Queen Anne's Lace though I haven't looked at the booklets in awhile and I might not remember that correctly.
Whatever its name, I've fantasized about having a full sized tablecloth in that pattern for years but it's so far down the list of future projects that I know it will never happen. Still, it's nice to dream about it.
That tablecloth is beautiful. And how envious my mother would be to hear that you finished yours! I started a tatted tablecloth for my mom in high school but didn't finish it.
I'm (finally) trying to make up for it this year. Your blog is an inspiration in lots of ways!
This brings back memories of when I used to secretly crochet doilies at home during junior high. I told a couple of friends what I did and got ridiculed beyond belief. Luckily that didn't deter me from my path. :-)
Your doilys are beautiful! I'm glad to hear you were not bullied. I used to make quilt blocks between classes and no one bothered me either though no one else was doing it. So sorry that one of your doilys is crumbeling. I've decided I won't use anything to stiffen mine. Just steam block, nothing else. The tablecloth is quite lovely. Very delicate and a lovely gift I know your mother cherished. Great work!
Hi Dallas,
I can’t seem to find the little booklet that I got the pattern from so thank for letting me know the name. It really is a wonderful modular/portable project. You can just make the individual motifs whenever you need a break from your other projects. In no time at all you’ll have all the motifs made and ready to join.
Thanks Soo,
I’m glad to be of service, especially if it help your mother to finally get her tablecloth. ;)
Opal, it’s too bad your friends ridiculed you. When I was in college, knitting and crocheting were my “dirty little secrets”. I’m glad it didn’t deter you because you do such beautiful work.
Thanks Jane. I’m sad about that doily but I think it is beyond saving. I think the products today are probably better but still, I don’t think I’ll be stiffening any doilies either.
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