The Lady's Manual of Fancy-work: A Complete Instructor in Every Variety of Ornamental Needle-work by Mrs. Matilda Marian Pullan

Mrs. Matilda Marian Pullan  was busy promoting needlework in the mid to late 1850s.  This week I'm listing the netting information found in her book, The Lady's Manual of Fancy-work: A Complete Instructor in Every Variety of Ornamental Needle-work.  This book was published in 1858.

1. Plain Stitch - with illustration (page 84)
2. Square Netting (page 85)
3. Oblong Netting (page 85)
4. Honeycomb Netting - with illustration (page 85)
5. Round Netting - with illustration (page 86)
6. Grecian Netting - with illustration (page 86)
7. Long Twisted Stitch (page 86)
8. French-Ground Netting - with illustration (page 87)
9. Spotted Netting - with illustration (page 87)
10. Diamond Netting - with illustration (page 88)
11. Large Diamond Netting - with illustration (page 88)
12. Spotted Diamond Netting - with illustration (page 89)
13. Leaf Netting - with illustration (page 89)
14. Double-stitch (page 90)
15. Long-stitch (page 90)
16. Netting With Beads (page 90)
17. Darned Netting (page 90)
18. Flanders Lace - with illustration (page 90)
19. Embroidery on Netting (page 91)
20. Vandyke Square Netting (page 91)
21. Another Pointed Edge (page 92)
22. Shell Edge (page 92)
23. Another Shell - with illustration (page 92)
24. Another Lace (page 93)
25. Another Edging (page 93)
26. Netting Needles (page 182)

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I'm nearly done making and photographing all the doilies I have photocopies of that my grandmother designed.  This is the next to the last one.  I would have finished the last one, but I ran out of thread and had to order more so it would match. Fortunately it was a "no dye lot" type of crochet thread.  It arrived today, so maybe by next week I can have the last one completed.

I named this doily Gyre.  The heart stitches in the middle made me think of circular motion, and that is what gyre means.  The Block Edge was a favorite of Grandmother's.

I spent most of today at the Connecticut Sheep, Wool, and Fiber Festival held in Vernon, Connecticut.  A good friend, who belongs to the Society of Creative Anachronisms (SCA), invited me to join with her group as they demonstrated some of the fiber arts that were done during the Middle Ages.  She offered me a ride and furnished some garb (so I would not look out of place with the rest of the group).   How could I refuse to demonstrate netting?

I met many wonderful people who had no idea what I was doing when they first saw me.  There was also a handful of people who recognized what I was doing.  It was a great experience.  I'll have to do it again.

The Lady's Dictionary of Needlework by Matilda Marian Pullan

As I looked at Matilda Marian Pullan's book, The Lady's Dictionary of Needlework , published in 1856, I noticed that the patterns are for stitches and not for objects.  She describes how to get ready to net and how to tie the netting knot.  She has an illustration at the beginning of many of the stitches. 

1. Preparation for Netting (page 18)
2. Plain Netting - with illustration (page 18)
3. Square Netting - with illustration (page 19)
4. Oblong - with illustration Netting (page 19)
5. To Make a Piece of Netting of Six, Eight, or Ten Sides, Working from the Centre (page 20)
6. Round Netting - with illustration(page 20)
7. Honeycomb - with illustration Netting (page 20)
8. Long Twisted Stitch - with illustration (page 21)
9. Grecian Netting - with illustration (page 21)
10. Ground Net - with illustration (page 21)
11. Spotted Netting - with illustration (page 22)
12. Diamond Netting - with illustration (page 22)
13. Large Diamond Netting - with illustration (page 22)
14. Spotted Diamond Netting - with illustration (page 23)
15. Leaf Netting - with illustration (page 23)
16. Double Stitch (page 23)
17. Long Stitch (page 23)
18. To Work with Beads (page 24)
19. mesh - definition (page 24)
20. Embroidering on Netting (page 24)
21. Implements For Netting (page 57)
22. Printer's Marks (page 63)
23. Contractions in Netting (page 63)

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I want to have a photograph showing the entire doily for each doily I have a photocopy of.  This doily, Star In The Center, is one of the last of those that my grandmother designed that did not have a digital photograph.  Here is the photocopy.

 Here is a photograph of the full doily I just finished.

It's hard to see the individual stitches on the photograph.  I think both the photocopy and the photograph have a use.