The Handbook of Needlework by Miss Lambert

Published in 1842, Miss Lambert's book The Handbook of Needlework can be found online in two different places.  Click here to see it at one location and here to find it at the other location.  She includes information on the tools used in netting, some information on the history of netting, a description of how to tie the netting knot, some stitches (with illustrations of the finished stitch), and some patterns.  Four of the instructions are in French, and, since I don't read French, I can't say what she is describing in those four portions.

1. Implements: Netting Needles and Meshes (page 92)
2. Antiquity of the Art (page 224)
3. Plain Netted Gentleman's Purse (page 228)
4. A Lady's Purse (page 229)
5. Gentleman's Purse with Ends of Different Colours (page 229)
6. A Lady's Purse with Points (page 229)
7. A Pretty Purse with Chinè Silk (page 230)
8. Netting with Beads (page 230)
9. A Plain Netted Purse with a Bead Mouth (page 230)
10. A Pretty Sème Purse with Steel or Gold Beads (page 231)
11. An Elegant Netted Purse with Steel Beads (page 231)
12. Plain Netted Mittens (page 232)
13. A Knitter's Bag with Ring (page 232)
14. A Checked or Dice Pattern Purse (page 233)
15. Grecian Netting or Filet Rose (page 233)
16. A Purse in Grecian Netting (page 234)
17. Mittens in Grecian Netting (page 234)
18. Netted Fringe (page 235)
19. Single Diamond Netting (page 235)
20. Treble Diamond Netting (page 236)
21. Diamond Netting, with Five Stitches (page 236)
22. Sème Purse, Diamond Pattern (page 238)
23. Open Plain Netting, or Filet a Bagaette (page 239)
24. Fond de Berlin (page 239, written in French only)
25. Filet Rose (page 240, written in French only)
26. Filet a Baton Rompu (page 240, written in French only)
27. Filet Rond (page 241, written in French only)
28. Netted Mittens with Silk and Wool (page 241)
29. Netted Cuff with Silk and Wool (page 242)

I have been asked to teach a beginning netting class for Novice Schola this coming Saturday.  I have been trying to come up with a pattern that teaches the basic skills, uses the sizes of the inexpensive mesh sticks I got, can be finished within 2-3 hours, and is something that might have been used several centuries ago.  I decided on a net bag.

In trying to create a pattern that would fit my needs I felt a bit like Goldilocks.



The first bag had way too many knots - 618.

The second bag was better, but still had too many knots - 558.

Finally, the third bag looked just right - 360 knots.

I can finish it in under an hour.  I hope the students can get close to being done within two to three.