Playing For Time.....

It was a bright sunshiny day and Hudson was a hungry bird....To no avail. He sat there on the fence for quite a while, deep in thought....Maybe studying the menu. He finally gave up after a while and went to a different eatery. I just liked the look on his face this morning, so I had to put him on the blog.

Anyway, I am doing laundry and cleaning house today, so no minis. I confess that I did stop to look at a couple of tatting websites. That made me think about all of the antique needlework tools that I have. I have been collecting longer than I have been doing minis and they just seem to materialize out of nowhere...

I thought that a few of you would like to see some of the things that I have. You notice that I said "some of". These are just scratching the surface.

The first photo is some of the ivory and bone crochet hooks that wandered in. On the right of the photo there are three awls for punching holes in fabric. On the far left there is a one of a kind crochet hook with a wire wrapped handle. I am sure that there are more out there somewhere, but I have yet to see them. It works pretty well. Non slipping. Next to that is an early punch needle. the third item is a three size crochet hook. the Hooks fold in and the little metal case slips over them to protect them, or maybe the person carrying them. They are very sharp.

I had to dig around to find the Chinese basket that my Grandma Daisy used as a sewing box for as long as I could remember. It still has it's original glass beads and glass ring for a handle.

The metal box to the far left is a cast bronze pin box with a peacock on the lid in a raised design.

Most all of the lace that you see is hand made.

The piece down front is probably the oldest. It is embroidered on net and every stitch is perfect. It needs to be gently pressed so that the design can be seen better.

It is at the bottom of this photo and as you can see, someone embroidered dots on the background above the main design...I do not envy the person that had to do that. Each one is separate from the next.

The two Victorian collars are also hand done. The person the did them was an amazing needlewoman.

The needle case is carved ivory and still has some of the needles that were in it when I purchased it. Very old.

You may ask why I am boring you with this stuff, aside from playing for time? Actually, it was all an introduction to a new website that I was introduced to this morning by Elga's blog. http://elgakoster.blogspot.com/ She is one of the most talented miniaturists that I know. She does amazing French knotted rugs and makes fantastic furniture. She is doing a rug from this site on #40 canvas with french knots right now. Do go look! As I said, "Amazing!"

Anyway, this is a site for real people, not just mini people. It is called "Antique Pattern Library" and it preserves all kinds of antique needlework patterns for our use. No selling them or anything. http://www.antiquepatternlibrary.org/ It was great for me, because I was looking for antique tatting patterns. If you go there, poke "catalog" at the top of the page. When you get there, Poke the word technique. That will take you to the list of different kind of needlework that is included. Take your pick. Grab a cup of coffee or a soda and prepare to stay a while if you like any kind of old needlework books and patterns.

I have to get back to the laundry and mopping floors now. You can just sit back and browse while I do that....Have fun!

See you tomorrow.