Irish Lace Pincushion

This is a pincushion that I saw online, a free pattern, and really wanted to make for myself. I’ve been doing it in my (lack of) spare time. I like to do small projects in between client ones and/or my long, involved personal projects. This one was a *bear* to do! It is made with a tiny steel crochet hook (size 10) and thread that is more like string. I think the thread was size 30, which makes for very delicate lace.

Here is the finished project:

It’s only 4”x4” but so involved!

And here are some of the parts of it, close-up so you can see the stitches:

		Leaf, FLower, Picot Stitching VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

Whew! Glad I did it, but what was I thinking?! Definitely not for beginners, but I’ve been left-handedly crocheting since I was 10 years old, so I guess I’m experienced enough. Still, I re-did those leaves about 5 times, and on the fifth attempt I had to sketch out the rows before I understood what she meant in her directions. Sometimes you have to see it, apart from the “whole” in the photo, in order to understand the pattern writer’s method.

One Mother, Two Beautiful Bedspreads

Technorati Tags: crochet bedspread,handmade bedspread,bedspread repair,crochet repair,crocheted repair,needlework repair,needlework doctor

After I had repaired Bob of CO’s crocheted spread (see previous post) I was very happy when his sister Kay from CA contacted me. She, too, had a beautiful bedspread their mom had made for her about 75 years ago. Hers was in need of repairs as well.

With Kay’s spread, there were quite a few split threads in the cotton, simply from age and use. That doesn’t bother me a bit, since why *have* a bedspread if you don’t use it? There is SO much work involved in crocheting or knitting a bedspread/counterpane. So many hours. When people go to the trouble to make them, they imagine many, many years of gracing someone’s bed. Which reminds me, I once made some felted slippers for a dear friend, and when she opened the package, she said, “You *made* these for me? I’m putting them right up in my closet.” I said, “Um. You’re supposed to wear them.” And she said, “Oh, no way. You made them for me!” I appreciated the thought, but really, when people make you functional items, they intend for them to be used. 

And so the repairs began, on various double crochets, single crochets and chain stitches. (the popcorn stitch (baubles) was all intact):

 

 

Some are re-weaves and some are crocheted chains where a chain link is missing.

There were many hours involved in this project, as I had to very carefully check each motif area and see if there were any loose threads at all. And there were many. If I had to estimate, I would say there were at least fifty tiny spots that needed some sort of repair. Some of the splits were more evident than others that just needed to be tacked or reinforced. All of the fringe was in good shape, and there were only a few areas at the border that needed to be whip-stitched back in place.

Once my repairs were completed, I put the spread on one of my beds so that Kay could see how it looks now! It’s a really lovely spread. There are small “rust” spots in several places that my textile cleaner partner, June, will remove for my customer. June is a very talented woman who has been cleaning every type of textile imaginable for over thirty years, and she did Bob’s bedspread and he was amazed at how well it came out!

Here’s the spread, repairs completed and before going to June, as displayed on one of my beds:

Completed Bedspread Repairs VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL