Circular Netting, Centers, and Edges

I have been copying the net centers, edges, and stitches from my old netting site and placing them in what will be my updated netting site.  This week I finally got the centers and the edges copied over with a slightly new look.  I also included the instructions to that particular center or edge when the name is clicked.

The increase, decrease, and decorative stitches still have just the name and picture (or in some cases just the name).   Putting the instructions up for these stitches will have to wait for another week.

I am starting to decide which patterns to use for my next netting class.  Since the class will focus on circular netting, I decided to include one of the patterns my grandmother used to teach me.  I've narrowed it down to 3 patterns.

Carnival

Chandelier

Simplicity

Which doily would you like to see included in the class?

Net Miser Purse

A few weeks ago I received an e-mail in which the writer expressed a desire to learn to net to make a net purse like those from Jane Austen's era.    I had not considered making a net purse, but after looking at several websites, they began to intrigue me.

In fact, I went so far as to order one from Trinity Antiques (they still have two left: a green one and a blue one).  After all, it is easier for me to figure out a pattern when the article is in my hand.  It arrived this morning.  It appears to be made from end to end rather than around.  Now I have one more project to add to my collection. 

In the course of my searching for Regency period net purses, I found a couple of links filled with information.


A couple of pages from Candice Hern - one on Miser Purses and one on Georgian Knitted and Netted Sovreign Purses

An article, The Reticule, A Regency Handbag, which gives background information on what a reticule is.

If you get tired waiting for me to finish this project, you could look at the instructions for netted purses in  The lady's assistant for executing useful and fancy designs in knitting, netting, and crochet work by Mrs. Gaugain (Jane) on Google Books. 

One more top-down net shopping bag

The final net bag I made on my recent trip was smaller than the circular one and bigger than the spiral one.  Like the other two, I started with a piece of previously-made netting for the middle of the handle. 

The handle had some wrapped loops in it, but no overhand knot.  The use of wrapped loops and the increased number of loops help the mouth of the bag stay nice and wide.

This bag was made with circular netting.  By tying an overhand knot to join the string from the bag and the string from the netting shuttle, it is easy to know when each round is finished.  That makes it easy to know when to start the decreases for the bottom of the bag.

The grommet at the bottom of the bag is the last thing finished on this style of bag.   This grommet will be one of the techniques taught in the next netting class I record.

I'm still looking on a name for the next class, which will focus on circular netting.  For some reason Circular Netting class seems rather bland.  I'll keep thinking and see what I come up with.

Square-Mesh Netting Class is Completed

If you've been waiting for me to finish the Square-mesh Netting class, I've got good news for you.  It's done!


The class is $35.00 through PayPal and you should be able to start soon after you pay.  If you have problems getting into the classroom, email me and I'll discover where technology went wrong.  There is no ending date for this class, so you can watch the videos over and over.  Print the PDF file handouts to use when you're away from the computer.  Try some or all of the patterns.

What is Square-mesh Netting?   Look at this video to see a brief explanation.

Scroll through the class syllabus to see what information is given and which patterns are included.

Register for this class to learn to make square-mesh netting.

Large Circular Net Bag

Last week, as I returned home from visiting my youngest granddaughter, I finished a circular net bag.  I had started the handle a couple of years ago when I was trying to figure out the size of net handles for my Net Like a Lace-maker class.







Because I had only finished the one long strip of netting, I decided to try a top-down net shoulder bag.

To make it long enough for a shoulder bag I decided to experiment with some wrapped loops at each end of the previously made net strip.

Decreasing the last two rounds brought the number of loops down to an amount that would work for a grommet.  

This bag worked up fairly quickly since I used a 1.5 inch mesh stick for the body of the bag.  The long wrapped-loops made the mouth of the bag larger than the spiral net bag discussed last week.  I finished the bag with only a few yards left from over from one ball of yarn.  

Next week I'll either show the third bag I finished on my trip, or announce that the Square-mesh Netting class is finally ready for students.

I hope it's the class.

Spiral Net Bag Made from the Top Down

This past week I have not had access to my computer since I was visiting a new granddaughter and her family. That meant I was not able to work on finalizing the Square-Mesh Netting class.

Of course there was no way I was willing to stop all netting during that time.  I found three handles I had made back when I was creating the Net Like a Lace-maker class, and  I took them on the trip with me.  I was able to turn all three handles into bags and use up most of each ball of yarn in the process.

I decided to make this first bag using what I call spiral netting instead of circular netting.  With spiral netting there is never an end to a round of netting.  You just keep netting around and around.  Circular netting on the other hand has a definite end to each round of netting.




For the first bag, I started with two rectangular strips of netting.  I net across one end of the first strip and then across the second end of the first strip.  I repeated that process with the second strip.

Here is one of the strips formed into a handle.  Below it is what became the rest of the bag.






Once I had net across all the strip ends, I kept netting around and around and around (spiral netting) until I had finished about 20 rounds.  Then I started decreasing to make the hexagon base of the bag.

Before I knew it, I had a finished a net bag with two handles.

Next week I'll show the second bag I created.

One More Square-mesh Net Bag

I thought I was all done with square-mesh netting for a while.  Then I got an invitation to another baby shower. I remembered that I had a blue rectangle of netting left over from preparations for the square-mesh netting class.  So I thought I would use that.

As I looked at the rectangle I realized why it was still a rectangle and not a bag.  It had a different number of squares in the width than any of my other square-mesh net bags.

That meant that none of the handles I had designed would work for this bag.

No problem.  I took some features I liked from a couple of the square-mesh bag handles and placed the overhand knot in a different location.

There it was.  A new handle.

And a new gift bag.  The tea-towel bibs fit in just fine.