Netting In Magazines - The Ladies’ Companion

I was able to find three issues of The Ladies' Companion online that contained netting.  The years were Vol. 20 (published in 1861), Vol. 23 (published in 1863), and Vol. 27 (published in 1865).  The netting patterns were as follows:

1. 1861
1. Netting for Window-Curtains and Fire-Grate Veil (page 317)
2. 1863
1. Netted Cheese or Cake D'Oyley (page 336)
2. Long Black Silk Mitten - Netting (page 336)
3. 1865
1. Netted Border (page 55)
2. Raised Embroidery on Netting (page 107)
3. A Fly-Catch (page 166)

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Last week I showed the Plain Star I made.  This week I finished another star.

The center for this Fancy Star began as a circle.  It measures five inches from the center to the end of a point.

Netting in Magazines - Modern Priscilla

"Netting Outlives the Centuries," an article found in the December, 1920, issue of Modern Priscilla, includes some netting patterns common to colonial America.

1. Boston Tester (page 14)
2. Dancing Girls Coverlet Border (page 14)
3. Wrap Yarn Border (page 14)
4. Moonshine and Matrimony (page 14)
5. Pincushion Cover (page 28)

According to The Free Dictionary and Dictionary.com, a tester is "a canopy, as over a bed or pulpit."  The borders in this article are created with tassels of thread tied to the netting.  

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I wanted to make a net star about 6" in diameter.  Today, with some helpful suggestions from the women in the knitting group I attend and some mathematical guidance from my son, I came up with this. It measures three inches from the center to the end of a point.  Since it looks so plain, I decided to name it Plain Star.

I already have ideas for others.  Next time, maybe I'll make something not so plain.

Netting in Magazines - The Illustrated Magazine

The Ladies' Page sections of The Illustrated Magazine, published in 1864, included the following netting patterns and stitches:

1. A Netted Tidy (page 55)
2. Double Netting in Two Colors (page 56)
3. Grecian Netting (page 56)
4. Simple Sleeping Net (page 57)
5. Invisible Net (page 57)

I knew that Grecian Netting was a popular netting stitch.  After looking at the instructions for Simple Sleeping Net and Invisible Net, I could tell that they were hairnets.  I did not realize that tidy was a noun.  I discovered that a tidy is "a piece of fancywork used to protect the back, arms, or headrest of a chair or sofa from wear or soil" (http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/tidy).  It is a synonym for an antimacassar ( http://www.thefreedictionary.com/tidy).

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It took me a few years to get there, but today I spent the day demonstrating netting at the fourth annual Fiber Festival of New England.  It was wonderful talking and visiting with those who came by.  Most people did not know what I was doing, but there was a handful of people who either knew how to net or knew someone who nets.  I loved hearing them ask me, "What are you netting?" instead of "Are you tatting?"

What was I netting?  One of my doilies - Exuberance.  I finished the last couple of rows.  It took over 100 yards of size 30 crochet thread to make it.

Once I finished it, I immediately started another one, Swan.  After all, I was there to demonstrate netting.  I was able to complete about 5-6 inches of the new pattern.  

Netting in Magazines - The Delineator

For just over a year I have been listing digitized books that have netting information and patterns in them. Today, with my current list of digitized books exhausted, I decided to move on to digitized magazines that contain netting patterns.  The problem with magazines is that not all the issues of a particular magazine have been digitized.  My hope is that if I list what I can find, those who have more skill in searching or those who own the actual magazines will help us locate more netting information.

The Delineator, published by Butterick Publishing Company, began in 1873 and continued until 1937.

I have been able to find the following online:

1. January 1903
1. Section: Netting - Doily with Fluted Border (page 139)
2. July 1903
1. Section: Needlework - Dainty Hand-made Handkerchiefs (page 98)
3. The Art of Netting - No. 59
1. Doily with Netted Border - figure 1 (page 350)
2. Doily with Netted Border - figure 2 (page 350)
3. Netted Doily (page 350)
4. The Art of Netting - No. 61
1. Table-Center (page 245)
2. Tray-Cloth (page 245)
3. Plate Doily (page 245)
5. The Art of Netting - No. 62
1. Netted Handkerchief (page 473)

I would love to know which year these The Art of Netting sections appeared in.  I wish I could find all the Art of Netting series published in this magazine.

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Several months ago I remade one of my bag patterns.  I put it carefully away until the next time I needed a gift bag for a baby shower.  I found it last week and realized that I did not need to make a new bag for the latest baby shower I was invited to.  I just needed to fill the one I had.

Handicrafts For The Handicapped by Herbert J. Hall and Mertice M. C. Buck

In Handicrafts For The Handicapped,  the authors, Herbert J. Hall and Mertice M. C. Buck, have gathered together a variety of crafts and skills, including netting.  While the book, published in 1916, mentions many different and practical ways netting has been used, it gives only a few patterns.

1. Netted Loops and Borders  (Chapter III; part 2)
2. Baby's Cap  (Chapter III; part 2)
3. Hammock  (Chapter III; parts 1 and 2)

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This week I've remade another of my doily patterns.  I called this one Aurora.  It is 16 inches in diameter and used 94 yards of size 20 crochet thread.

Encyclopedia of Needlework by Therese de Dillmont

Therese de Dillmont authored many books on needlework.  I recently learned that her Encyclopedia of Needlework, published in 1886,  is available in digitized format. Among the types of needlework, she includes a section on netting, which includes the following:

1. Netting (page 395)
2. Implements and Materials (page 395; illustrations 611-613)
3. Stitches (page 397; illustrations 614-116)
4. Patterns Produced in Netting (page 400; illustrations 617-633)
5. Embroidered Netting (page 410; illustrations 634-691)

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I've been promising to post the photos of the sun catchers I net during the last two weeks of September.  So here they are.  There are some 4", 5", and 6" ones.  If you want to see all the sun catchers I have designed, click here.

Chrysalis 

Flame

Ferris Wheel

Masaka

Jellyfish

Merry-Go-Round

Mum

Waves

Winter Festival

Glisten

Scallops

Music

Zinnia

Sand Dollar

Peony

Pompom

Moonlight

Poinsettia

Ferris Wheel, Poinsettia, and Zinnia are in 6" rings.  Glisten and Waves are in 4" rings.  All the others are in 5" rings.

Varied Occupations in String Work by Louisa Walker

Many years ago, in the days before the internet, I purchased a copy of Graded Lessons in Macrame, Knotting and Netting by Louisa Walker.  This week I received a new link from Anthony Emery for Varied Occupations in String Work by Louisa Walker.  I was surprised to learn that my copy, published in 1971, is a reprint of the digitized version which was published in 1896.

1. Netting (page 116)
2. Tennis Net (page 122) [miniature version for children to make and use]

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I needed a gift bag for a baby shower, so I pulled out the pattern for a small bag. I needed to remake this bag in order to double-check the instructions.  I like giving baby shower gifts in a net bag because it gives the new mother something to hold baby bibs or anything else she wants to use it for, it saves on wrapping paper, and it introduces people to netting.

net bag with tea-towel bibs

empty net bag

    nearly invisible base of bag

This particular bag pattern has a small piece of diamond mesh for the bottom of the bag.  The sides are then formed by netting in a spiral around the edge of that piece.  It is hard to find where the sides and base of the bag meet.