The Pine Apple Bag
This bag is based on the instructions for a "Pine Apple Bag" published in 1840 by Mrs. Jane Gaugain in her book "The Lady's Assistant, for executing useful and fancy designs in knitting, netting, and crochetwork" and on a picture of a tiny purse (Knitting Reference Library, University of Southampton), which appeared in the book "Mil anys de disseny en punt", Centre de Documentació i Museu Tèxtil http://www.cdmt.es/), Terrassa, 1997.
Unexpected Belgian textiles
Mon, 12/14/2009 - 23:03 — admin
Anyone familiar with Belgium's great reputation in the field won't be surprised when I say that, while searching for textile museums in that country, I found countless references to the finest bobbin laces and the most sumptuous tapestries. Not to imply that the results of the search were predictable to the point of becoming boring, but here are three pages with unexpected subjects, which would have made the search worthwhile on their own:
List of museums with textile collections
Thu, 12/10/2009 - 11:57 — adminIt happens to me quite often that I only learn about a museum with an interesting textile collection after I come back from visiting the city where it is located.
Certainly, one can find on Internet plenty of sites with tourist or cultural information on cities or countries, or even lists of all the museums in the world, but many non-specialised museums tend to hide the textile-related objects at the bottom of their catalogues or their less prominent web pages. What I try to do here is to limit the list to museums with some kind of textile collection while keeping it as complete as possible.
Encuesta sobre la elaboración de la tortilla de patata
Con esta encuesta se pretende recabar información actualizada sobre los diversos métodos de elaboración de la tortilla de patatas, sin entrar en valoraciones sobre cuál es el mejor método para hacer la tortilla.
Para hacerse una idea de cómo se van a tratar los resultados, ver el artículo sobre la encuesta de 2006.
Tantes Zolder's charts
On February 2007 Lilian Kok set out to digitise and publish on her blog the handwritten charts for cross stitch she had found in her aunt's attic. By September 2008, when she had reached the bottom of the pile, the collection counted almost 300 images.
Many of the charts are also appropriate for filet crochet or even jacquard knitting.
Dictionary of macramé terms
The list is based on the American terms.
Dictionary of crochet terms
The list is based on the American terms.
Knitted boleros for little Princesses
Thu, 05/28/2009 - 19:36 — adminThe knitted boleros worn to church by the little Spanish Infantas on Easter Sunday were front-page news all over Spain, so they were bound to catch my knitter's eye.
Picture © letiziaortiz1972, flickr.
addie-Express Kingsize - some advice
A while ago I bought an addi-Express Kingsize manual knitting machine because I wanted to finish a relatively simple project as quickly as possible. Did I succeed? Yes, but, even though the machine is really as easy to use as the manufacturer says, it took me several days -evenings, really- to be able to produce flat panels good enough to be used in my project.
So, if you have never used a crank knitting machine before and you are considering buying one in order to finish a project in two or three days, be warned: it will take you a little longer to learn how to use it properly.
Yarn weight
In Europe, knitters count on the yarn labels to indicate the size of the needles recommended for that yarn or wool and even the number of stitches and rows that go into a 10 x 10 cm (4") knitted square -the swatch.
Knitting magazines will mention the brand, type and colour of the yarns needed for each pattern. They also contain information about the size of the needles and the measurements in stitches and rows of the swatch; if we cannot find exactly the same yarn, this information will help us find another one to use instead.
