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.

Treasures in Needlework by Mrs. Warren and Mrs. Pullan

Many of the net patterns included in Treasures in Needlework by Mrs. Warren and Mrs Pullan are accompanied by an illustration.  Several of the patterns, both diamond-mesh and square-mesh, have designs darned into them.  The digitized copy was published in 1855.

1. Introductory Chapter - page xi
2. Piece of Netted Lace (with illustration) - page 13
3. Net for the Hair (with illustration) - page 42
4. Netted Mitten (with illustration) - page 46
5. Lady's Netted Cap (illustration on p. 131) - page 132
6. Netted Tidy - page 176
7. Instructions in Netting (with illustrations) - page 178
8. Round Netting (with illustration) - page 178
9. Square Netting - page 178
10. Grecian Netting (with illustration) - page 178
11. Honeycomb Netting (with illustration) - page 179
12. Herringbone Netting (with illustration) - page 179
13. Netted purse (with illustration) - page 185
14. Netted Mat (with illustration) - page 186
15. Fairy Purse (with illustration) - page 227
16. Harlequin Hand-screen in Netting (with illustration) - page 229
17. Gentleman's Long Purse in Netting - page 234
18. Doyley, in Portuguese Guipure (with illustration) - page 238
19. Netted Music-Stool Cover (with illustration) - page 258
20. Netted Shell Edging - page 289
21. Nepaul Smoking Cap (with illustration) - page 295
22. Square-Netted Antimacassar (with illustration) - page 300
23. Round Netted Antimacassar (with illustration) - page 344
24. Darned Netted Vandyke Edging (with illustration) - page 373
25. Octagon Antimacassar (with illustration) - page 384
26. Netted Vandyke Trimming (with illustration) - page 407
27. Doyley in Portuguese Guipure (with illustration) - page 440

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Back in the early 1980s I was able to obtain photocopies of many of my grandmother's doilies.  My aunt, who still had the doilies, placed the doily on a copier, covered it with something black, and copied it.  That meant I could tell how big it was supposed to be and what size mesh sticks Grandmother had used.  Over the years I have gradually written up the instructions.  Once I got a digital camera I photographed the doilies.

One of the doilies was too large to entirely fit on one copier screen, so my aunt made two photocopies of that doily.  Eventually I combined the two photocopies into one - to remind me what the doily looked like. 

I kept putting off making this doily because I knew it would take many hours to complete.  Then, in January of this year, I had the opportunity to travel for several hours and no other project to work on, so I started Grandmother's Pineapple Doily.  I finished it in March.  It contains 13,240 knots, measures 38" in diameter, and uses 400 yards of size 10 crochet thread.

Looking back, it did not take me nearly as long to make as I had anticipated.  Life is like that sometimes.  We put off doing something, only to find that when we get started, it is quicker and easier than we expected.

The Ladies’ Complete Guide to Crochet, Fancy Knitting and Needlework by Ann Sophia Stephens

Although she lists several uses for the "delightful art of netting" in her introduction to The Ladies’ Complete Guide to Crochet, Fancy Knitting and Needlework, published in 1854, Ann Sophia Stephens leaves the instructions and patterns for "sleeves, cuffs, rigolettes, and over-shoes" to others.  Besides the introduction, which briefly discusses the uses of netting, the book contains only two patterns for netting.  Both of those patterns involve square-mesh netting.  She does note on page 94, "All the designs given for D'oyleys and AntiMacassars in square crochet may be equally well worked in square netting, the pattern being darned in afterwards."

1. Introduction (page 12)
2. Square Netting (page 94)
3. Netted Scarf (page 114)

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One of the net bag patterns I had sitting on my computer was for a single-handle, spiral, top-down gift bag.   I decided to make it not once, but twice, since I needed two gift bags for a baby shower for twins.  I decided to make the blue one with a moebius handle.  The pink one has a regular handle.

The pattern claimed to have a hexagon base.  It's true that when I started decreasing for the base there were six decreases that occurred in several rows, but I'm not sure I could truly call it a hexagon base.  

This is because, when making it, once I reached the point where I had only six loops left in the round, instead of netting them all together with one knot, like I did for the pentagon bags, I decreased the loops down to three and then joined them with one knot.

If you look closely at the base, you can see where the six decreases are.

The base does not look like a triangle because the bag was made using spiral rather than circular netting.



What would you suggest I call the base of this bag?

The Ladies' Self Instructor

There is no author listed for The Ladies' Self Instructor in Millinery and Mantua Making, Embroidery and Applique, Canvas-work, Knitting, Netting and Crochet-work.  The linked, digitized copy was published in 1853.  Even though it is "illustrated with numerous engravings," none of those engravings are included with the netting information.

1. Explanation of Terms Used in Knitting (page 152)
2. Netted Mittens (page 162)
3. A Net Purse in Points (page 167)
4. Corkscrew Netting for a Purse (page 168)
5. Netted Curtain (page 175)
6. Netted Scarf (page 175)
7. Treble Diamond Netting (page 176)
8. Single Diamond Netting (page 177)
9. Tuft Netting (page 177)
10. Double Netting for a Mitten (page 180)
11. Patterns for D'oyleys, Basket, or Fish Napkins and Purses: No. 1 (page 182)
12. Patterns for D'oyleys, Basket, or Fish Napkins and Purses: No. 2 (page 182)
13. Patterns for D'oyleys, Basket, or Fish Napkins and Purses: No. 3 (page 183)
14. Netted Lambs'-wool Shawl or Handkerchief (page 183)
15. Netted Sofa Tidy (page 183)
16. To Work the Backs of Netted Mittens (page 184)
17. Netted Cuffs (page 186)
18. Netted Bag (page 189)
19. Striped Purse (page 189)
20. Bead Netting (page 190)
21. Bead Netting, with the Bead on the Knot (page 190)

Thanks to this book I have become acquainted with some new terms:  

• Mantua - "loose gown worn by women 17c.-18c.," 1678, from Fr. manteau "cloak, mantle," from O.Fr. mantel (see mantle); form infl. in Eng. by Mantua, name of a city in Italy. Mantua-maker (1694) became the general early 19c. term for "dressmaker."Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper 

• Tidy - (used as a noun) an antimacassar

• Antimacassar - "a cloth covering the back and arms of chairs, etc, to prevent soiling or as decoration"; "coined 1852, from anti- + macassar oil, imported hair tonic from Indonesian island of Sulawesi. The cloth was laid to protect chair and sofa fabric from people leaning their oily heads back against it. Macassar is from native Mangkasara, name of a district on the island." Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper 

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A mobius or moebius strip is a continuous, one-sided surface formed by twisting one end of a rectangular strip through 180° about the longitudinal axis of the strip and attaching this end to the other.  To see how to make one click here or here.

Several years ago I became acquainted with moebius knitting through the delightful Cat Bordhi.  She would knit a moebius strip, thereby creating a scarf.  Sometimes she would add a hat or bag to the moebius strip.  I wondered how I could use the unique and magical techniques she had developed for knitting and apply them to netting.   Then one day I figured out how to net a moebius bag.

Since I am going through my patterns and checking out the instructions, I decided to take the pattern for the spiral net bag I made a few weeks ago, give the handle a twist when joining it, and create a moebius bag.  

The fun thing with a moebius bag is that even though it looks like the bag has an inside and an outside, it is really a one-sided surface.   There is only one surface!   All I did was stretch one portion of the moebius strip a little and put a few extra stitches in it.

The only difference between the patterns for the regular bag and the moebius bag is the twist in the handle. 

The Handbook of Needlework (5th edition) by Miss Lambert

Several weeks ago I listed the netting patterns that were in The Handbook of Needlework by Miss Lambert.  This week I decided to list the netting information found in The Handbook of Needlework (5th edition).  The digitized copy of the 5th edition of Miss Lambert's book was published in 1846.

Many of the patterns listed in the two editions appear to be the same, since the name is the same, but that is not necessarily true.  In looking closer at such patterns, I noticed a difference in the number of starting loops between the patterns in the two editions, the mesh stick size, or the number of rows.  These small changes are easy to miss and may make a difference in the way the final product looks.

There is one new pattern - #21 - Chain Pattern Netting for a Purse.

1. Netting (page 431)
2. Plain Netted Gentleman's Purse (page 435)
3. A Lady's Purse (page 436)
4. Gentleman's Purse with Ends of Different Colours (page 436)
5. A Lady's Purse with Points (page 436)
6. A Pretty Purse with Chine Silk (page 437)
7. Netting with Beads (page 437)
8. A Plain Netted Purse with a Bead Mouth (page 437)
9. A Seme purse with steel or gold beads (page 438)
10. An Elegant Netted Purse with Steel Beads (page 438)
11. Plain Netted Mittens (page 439)
12. A Knitter's Bag with Ring (page 440)
13. Grecian Netting (page 440)
14. A Checked or Dice Pattern Purse (page 441)
15. A Purse in Grecian Netting (page 442)
16. Mittens in Grecian Netting (page 442)
17. A Fringe (page 443)
18. Single Diamond Netting (page 443)
19. Treble Diamond Netting (page 443)
20. Diamond Netting, with Five Stitches (page 444)
21. Chain Pattern Netting for a Purse (page 446)
22. Seme Purse, Diamond Pattern (page 447)
23. Open Plain Netting, or Filet a Bagaette (page 448)
24. Fond de Berlin (page 448)
25. Filet Rose (page 449)
26. Filet a Baton rompu (page 450)
27. Netted Mittens with Silk and Wool (page 450)
28. Netted Cuff with Silk and Wool (page 451)

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I am gradually going back through my net doily patterns and remaking the ones that have only a partial picture - such as this one.

Here is how it looked when I finished it this week.  

I designed the pattern back in the 1980's and named it Friendship in honor of the wonderful friend to whom I gave it.  When I made it, I knew how to make only spiral netting.  In looking at the directions I discovered I needed to either increase or decrease the number of loops in the center by 16 to make the pattern work.  Since I no longer have the doily, I have no idea how I got the numbers to work the first time.  I chose to decrease the number of loops, since in my opinion it was already too full and did not show the stitches to their best advantage.

A Winter Gift for Ladies being instructions in Knitting, Netting, and Crochet Work by An American Lady

A Winter Gift for Ladies being instructions in Knitting, Netting, and Crochet Work by An American Lady was published in 1848.  I found an interesting netting note at the end of the Explanation of Terms used in Knitting.  It stated, "The netting meshes are numbered from the knitting needle gauge, as I am not aware there is any other rule for them."  If that sentence had been given in some of the first netting books I looked at, I would have been sure much earlier that my hypothesis, that numbered mesh sticks were referring to knitting needles, was correct.

The netting patterns and stitches in this book are as follows:

1. Explanation of Terms used in Knitting (page 10)
2. Netted Mittens (page 20)
3. A Net Purse in Points (page 23)
4. Corkscrew Netting for a Purse (page 26)
5. Netted Curtain (page 33)
6. Netted Scarf (page 33)
7. Treble Diamond Netting (page 34)
8. Single Diamond Netting (page 35)
9. Tuft Netting (page 35)
10. Double Netting for a Mitten (page 38)
11. Netted Lamb's-wool Shawl or Handkerchief (page 41)
12. Netted Sofa Tidy (page 41)
13. To work the backs of Netted Mittens (page 42)
14. Netted Cuffs (page 44)
15. Netted Bag (page 47)
16. Bead Netting (page 49)
17. Diamond Netting (page 49)

No pictures today, sorry.  I spent most of my day at Novice Schola (and most of my week preparing to teach netting).  Novice Schola is an SCA event held annually in Springfield, Massachusetts.  While there, I taught three novices how to tie the netting knot.  When they left,  all three could tie a netting knot.  I hope they retain that knowledge tomorrow.  

While I was at Novice Schola, a friend shared with me a picture she had seen in Woven into the Earth: Textile finds in Norse Greenland by Else Ostergaard.  Included in the picture were two men, and each of them was wearing a net version of our modern belt bag or fanny pack tied around his waist.  One bag seemed to be in diamond-mesh and the other in square-mesh.  Amazing where netting turns up.