So to try to make the week more interesting, I'll show you a photo of a doily that my late aunt made which my uncle gave to me on our recent trip to Texas.
This is a string cotton crocheted doily, with lots of texture in it. All the petals in the outer scallops are three-dimensional. When I first got this I thought it was a beige doily, but after soaking it in detergent and oxygen bleach I discovered it was white! After washing, I starched it fairly well, then laid it on a padded surface and kept working it with my fingers until it lay flat with no bunching in the middle area. I kept gently pulling on the scallops and flattened the flower petals until they surrounded the centers nicely.
Now this is not No. 10 bedspread crochet cotton, it is much, much finer. It looks as though it was made with tatting thread, which is extremely fine and is rated as No. 30. Does this make it three times as fine as the No 10? Does anyone know? I certainly don't, but I do know that I don't want to try to crochet with it. After all, my recent crocheting projects are the first time I've picked up a need in over a decade.
A new week begins, so what to do?
I did start on the black and white quilt for my son, but as it drove my absolutely nuts after sewing just a few blocks together, I decided it could wait on the living room floor a bit longer. After all, it's been there a month already.
I think I'll continue working on the hideous green afghan until the yarn is gone, then find a nice embroidery WIP and work that.
Hi Cynthia,
ReplyDeleteThat's a beautiful lace doily from your aunt! I've wondered about the thread weights, too. I found this on Wikipedia:"Crochet thread comes in sizes from 3 to 100, although historically it came in much finer sizes, down to 200. Diameter is inversely proportional to number, so size 3 is nearly as thick as yarn and size 100 is as fine as sewing thread." Where did ladies find time to do beautiful hand work like this in a time without "modern conveniences"?
Exquisite! It definitely has the look of crocheted Irish lace.
ReplyDeleteThat doily is so gorgeous! That 3 dimensional crocheting is called Irish Lace. It's what I used for the crocheted color on my daughter's Irish Step Dancing dress too. Size 30 crochet thread is pretty fine! Yikes! I have used it before...like before I got this old! When my eyes could still see such small stuff and my hands could work with a hook that small! It's like working with sewing thread practically!
ReplyDeleteI hope the hideous green afghan is at least keeping your lap warm while you are working on it!
MGM