Page 357 - J. C. Turner "History and Science of Knots"

A History of Lace 351

braid woven with the bobbins, and linked to a previously worked part of the
same braid to hold the piece in shape. Lace in this style may be made with as
few as six pairs of bobbins, and grows fast. In the more sophisticated types of
braid lace, pairs of bobbins are added into or taken out of the braid to give
variation to the width of the `drawing line'.
Mixed lace (III) needs little explanation. The lace producers found the
most cost-effective combination to be bobbin-made motifs joined by needle-lace
links, for the individual motifs could be made by several workers and linked
into the design by another person. This team-production resulted in a far
greater output, for each member specialized in a limited number of processes.
Some styles also used a braid tacked to a parchment design linked and filled
with needle-lace. This technique became popular only after machine-woven
tapes were readily available.
Knotted laces (IV) are something of a misnomer for all needlepoint is
made with knots. However, this set of techniques covers those laces which are
made by knotting the thread without using a needle.
Macrame derives from the Arabic word `migramah', meaning fringe. As
we practice the skill today, there is little relation to lace; but worked in fine
threads, the pieces are both strong and delicate. The topic is being discussed
elsewhere in this book; but it should be borne in mind that when fine threads of
any length are used, reels of some sort are required to simplify their handling.
Tatting derives its English name from the Anglo-Saxon for tufts (taeta),
its Italian name (occhi) from its characteristic form, and its French name
(frivolite) from the appearance of both the completed lace and those who
made it. The lace is formed by cow-hitches (larks' heads) on a running loop
which is then pulled up to close the ring. The special tool designed to hold the
thread is boat-shaped and called a shuttle-which gives the craft its German
name of schiffchenspitze. Today two shuttles and a fine crochet hook (for
linking) are the standard requirement, but originally a single shuttle and a
purling-pin would have been used, with a needle to link sections.
Lace netting is the craft of net-making with a very fine thread. A fine
netting shuttle (made of ivory or steel) and gauges to give a regulated mesh
size are the tools needed for this craft, and the one knot used is a sheet bend.
Many variations may be obtained by spacing, scaling, and embroidering upon
nets of square mesh. This last variation is known as filet-work. One style
of lace has a sunburst design formed by laying a continuous thread across
equidistantly spaced diameters of a circle, and joining them into a geometric
pattern by knotting and weaving across the thread diameters to make a web.
These `sols' laces are attributed to Brazil and Teneriffe, where specialists make
the little sun motifs while others join them into larger pieces.
The embroidered laces (V) are a subset of what needlewomen describe as
`white-work', and range from fairly heavy designs on coarse linen to the very