Mystery stole 3 and old books with netting

The past two weeks have been very busy what with getting two sons ready to college. During that same time I spent several days creating a picture type music book for the younger siblings of several of my piano students and my youngest daughter has been busy tearing apart the couch (and re-upholstering it under the directions of the mother of my piano students). So, though things have been busy my projects have not moved as quickly as I had hoped.

That being said,

I finished Mystery Stole today!!!


Now I have to learn a new skill and block it.

As for netting:

I found a site to look at -- Nets and Netmaking at the Pineapple Knot Forum

and the following old books that MIGHT have some fun netting patterns:

The Ladies Knitting and Netting Book by Miss Watts (1840)

The Illuminated Ladies' Book of Useful and Ornamental Needlework by Mrs. Henry Owen (1844)

The Ladies' Work-Table Book (1844)

The Practical Companion to the Work Table for Knitting Netting and Crochet work by Elizabeth Jackson (1845)

The Work-Table Magazine by Mrs. Mee and Miss Austin (1847)

Parlour Recreations for Ladies (1848)

Plain Needle-Work (1852)


Isn't the internet wonderful! And a special thanks to the wonderful people who digitized these and other books.

More examples of Gauge - Netting Style

I had fun today working on some oval netting. Several years ago I made a unique bookmark for each member of my family still at home. I wrote down the directions, or so I thought, and scanned each bookmark. When I went to make another bookmark using the Caterpillar instructions it came out larger than the one I had originally made. I eventually realized that I had used a larger mesh stick for rounds 1 and 2.

The pink background is the original Caterpillar bookmark. The brown one is the second one I made.








Yesterday I decided to make one like the original. I used the same type of thread (size 60 tatting thread) but a variegated color. It was then I discovered that I had goofed on more than just the mesh stick size. I had the wrong number of loops and the instructions were not working as I thought they should. The thread was so fine I had a hard time figuring out where I went wrong, so I started another one. Using a thicker size thread, #10 crochet thread, and two different blues, I finally figured out what the correct instructions should be. Then I went back, cut off the incorrect rows, and made it correctly. It finally worked just like it was supposed to.

Even though the brown bookmark had some problems with the instructions, the size of the bookmark was not affected. The last three bookmarks are all made with the approximately the same instructions; however because of using different sizes of thread or mesh sticks, all three are not only different sizes but present three different looks.

Mystery Stole continued

I have been trying to keep up with Mystery Stole 3, but life keeps getting in the way. So, I have not quite finished the 5th clue. I've completed row 87 of clue 5 (which leaves about a dozen rows until I can start clue 6).



I took the stole with me today (oops, today has become yesterday) to the Family History Center where I was to help the people who came in with the genealogical questions. Last month when I went in no one came during the entire 4 hours I was there, so I had hopes of getting most if not all of clue 5 finished. This month though there were a number of people who came in needing help. I was glad to help, and it is exciting when they find a family member or documentation on their family, but I only progressed about 10 rows on the stole.

I think the next shawl I make will be netted. I've alomost decided to take a pattern from one of my doilies and change the size of the mesh sticks to make it big enough for a shawl. Anyone have any suggestions as to which one?

Net Garden Trellis

Earlier this spring our family decided to try a new garden idea - a Square Foot Garden. Part of the Square Foot Garden concept was a 6 foot by 4 foot trellis to let plants grow upward instead of along the ground. Since I had some extra bonded cord, I decided to make my own net instead of buying it at the local gardening store. This week the plants had actually grown big enough to start using the netting.























It was rather exciting to see the beans, cucumbers and tomatoes start to climb up. Tonight I made an additional net to go on a smaller 4 foot by 4 foot metal frame behind the beans and cucumbers. There are a couple of tomato plants at that end of the box that could use some extra support.

I discovered I needed to change the directions slightly when making these square mesh rectangles from what I had on my website. These had an even number of meshes both across and down. The sample on my website had an even number across and an odd number of meshes going down.