About Me & My Artistic Expression (or Thread Obsession)

When I was a small girl, every Sunday afternoon my mother took us kids to visit my Grandparents. While my mother and grandmother chatted at the kitchen table over coffee, I wandered through the company rooms of the house admiring all the fancy workings that adorned the furniture. Every table top was covered with at least one fancy working. Towels were trimmed in lace, as was every hand cloth, pillowcase and tablecloth. And every week this fascinating display changed!

In my Grandparents home my Grandmothers "private" area was in the basement right next to the cloths washer and across from a very large stove. While my grandmother sat waiting for the cloths to wash and the oven to bake, she would create her fancy workings. As a little girl I would sit on the floor at my Grandmothers feet and watch her knit or crochet. This is how I learned . . . . by watching. To this day I still knit backwards.

What fascinated me as a child remains a passion of mine today - some 40 years later. I naturally gravitate towards century old patterns and have a fondness for Victorian and Celtic designs. I draw a great deal of my inspiration from nature, which is probably why I'm so hooked on Irish Crochet. I also recently I began creating some of my own designs and will some day put them to patterns. I work with a variety of fibers in creating my work such as cotton, bamboo, wool & linen - and lots of color!

In this blog I'll talk about things like fiber, crochet tips and techniques, and share my knowledge in the crafts history. Resources are immense with the internet, but I'll list my favorites here too.

My greatest passion is crochet, but I do still knit from time to time.

You can browse through an array of my creations at:

Artistic Needlework: www.etsy.com/shop/ArtisticNeedlework

Facebook: www.facebook.com/pages/Artistic-Needlework/101214780007413

Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/ArtisticNeedleW/

Posted by Artistic NeedleWork

Irish Crochet Lace:

Irish Crochet Hexagon Doily
"Irish crochet" is a type of lace that has its origin in the famine years of the 19th century in Ireland. This type of lace is characterized by separately crocheted motifs, which are later assembled into a larger piece. In the mid 1800's it became a large industry because of the need of the people to supplement their income due to the great potato famine of that time. It was a common practice in that time for each person to become skilled in making one thing and one thing only, such as a leaf or a flower. Another person would then crochet the different motifs together using a background stitch.

If you have ever tried to crochet an Irish crochet pattern you can understand why it becomes such a difficult and tedious a project. The people who crocheted the Irish laces were truly masters of their craft. They didn't create from patterns, but from their imagination. They looked at a flower and replicated it in crochet. They didn't have radio, television, or books during this time in history. This contributed to their ability and desire to focus on such an intricate and elaborate art and create such finely detailed work.



Now up with the times! If you are interested in learning how to Irish crochet here is a great web site: http://www.irishcrochetlab.com/  Irish Crochet Lab offers online labs (for a fee) or video lesson (free) via their YouTube channel
www.irishcrochetlab.com/

I will always be a student of Irish Crochet and from time to time I will post Irish Crocheted items for sale in my shop.
Irish Crochet Rosette 


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