You would think the last thing an
eternal tomboy would be interested in learning would be needlework. It doesn’t
exactly fit the profile. It’s pretty, dainty, feminine… ruffles. However, what I
have come to discover over the years is that it’s not strictly that I enjoy
creating things and using tools, but it’s the potentially intricate work that
goes along with manipulating them. It is the process that I am drawn to, the
verb itself, sometimes more so than the resulting noun.
My latest interest is the history
of lace and it’s various methods and uses. In August of last year I was
inspired to learn how to crochet lace. The catalyst for this new endeavor was a
mixture of some family lace that my mother had stowed away in her closet as
well as a seller on Etsy, MonicaJ who crochets rocks.
Yes. Rocks. Gorgeous
weathered stones wrapped in hand crocheted lace, each one a unique piece. The
practice may or may not stem from the tradition of covering buttons, but
regardless, it’s beautiful intricate work and it, as well as my family lace,
became my muse.
As a
young child, I remember my Grandmother sitting me down in the dim light of her
reading lamp and teaching me how to crochet. Over her lifetime she had
crocheted who knows how many afghans, and all I managed to learn was a chain.
Last August, I was determined to teach myself how to crochet. I purchased a few
books and using random yarn from my stash, I slowly made my way through a
portion of the book until I had a grasp on the various stitches and started my
first lace piece that, for a number of reasons, went unfinished for nearly a
year. Here it is.
It’s
one square from a tablecloth pattern and the primary motif is the pineapple. I
had only planned on making one square and in addition to running out of thread
a number of times, I also discovered that the original thread that I had
selected was no longer in production. In fact, the entire line had been
discontinued. I finally found a replacement and finished the piece, but discovered that the color was off. Lesson learned.
