Saturday, August 9, 2014

Trimming, with Thick Loops and Fan Edge from Tatting and Netting and a hairnet from the early 16th century


On page 108 of  Butterick Publishing Company's Tatting and Netting is found Trimming, with Thick Loops and Fan Edge.



The instructions are fairly straightforward.  They do not tell exactly what size knitting needle to use, but they leave it up to you to decide.  I used a #5 knitting needle along with the 1/2" flat mesh stick they suggest.

The one problem I found was that row 5 should be deleted, at least if you go by the illustration included with the instructions.

I wonder what the edge would look like if, in the next to the last row, I were to skip 1 loop instead of the 3 loops the pattern suggests.


*          *         *         *         *         *         *         *         *         *         *         *         *         *

Several weeks ago I was browsing online for hairnets and snoods.  I wanted to see what had been found before 1700. One hairnet that caught my eye was labeled "Hairnet, beginning of the 16th century, Linz Museum."

I liked the stitch pattern and decided to see if I could figure out how it had been made, just using the photo online.  It took several attempts, but here is my version of that hairnet.



























I made this hairnet as a rectangle, instead of my customary circle or triangle. That created a few problems for me at the upper corners. I suspect if I had sewed the cord to the loops, I might not have had the same problems - probably different ones though.

I experimented with different size mesh sticks and found that a 1/2" and a 1/8" seemed to give the same look and ratio that the online photo had.

I was surprised to find that the stitch was based on what I've called the Crisscross Decorative Stitch. The difference in look was created because this hairnet used one row of large mesh and two rows of small mesh.  The Crisscross Decorative Stitch version used two rows of large mesh and one of small mesh.


3 comments:

Anonymous said...

a) This hairnet is not from Linz, but from Lienz in East Tyrol (note the `e´!).
b) you worked it wrong. Not the criss-cross, but the cut of the hairnet as a whole.
It´s just a rectangular piece of netting, folded in half, sewn together on one side and gathered at the back. I should know, I´ve seen the extant one which is now in the Tiroler Landesmuseum in Innsbruck.

Anonymous said...

This hairnet has now been published with good images and a good description of how it was made. The article can be found in: Archaeological Textiles Review 61, 2019. It´s titled "Nets, Knots, Lace."

Emma Brampton said...

While I do think you will very much enjoy the article the commenter references above (it has high-quality, accessible scholarship on this net and several others, including pushing back dates for macrame and bobbin lace in hair nets! ) I wanted to take a moment to say this is an excellent piece of work going from just a few online photos: I’m guessing Pinterest since I’ve seen the Linz misspelling for Lienz there. I’ve only been netting for a little while and am very inspired to see more practiced hands at work! Have you tried any of the silks from the Handweaver’s Studio or Piper’s Silks in the UK? They’re my next trials, fingers crossed. Thanks for your educative and inspiring site!