Bobbin lace!

I’ve taken up bobbin lace weaving again! While this is a hobby I love, my last class finished when I was at a very tricky starting point (the pace of the classes is individual, so the bad timing was totally my own fault). So I figured I’d wait until next semester, I anyway had lots of stuff I wanted to sew. Then there was too few participants… for four semesters in a row! (and there’s 2 semesters/year in this school). I could have removed the new, tricky pattern and just worked on a pattern I knew, but I got out of the habit… 

Oh, and btw, did you notice I now know the correct term for this craft?! In Swedish it’s called “knyppling”, but apparently the English term is “bobbin lace”, since it’s made from wrapping yarn/thread around a “bobbin” and then moving the bobbins around (no resemblance what so ever to a bobbin that goes into a sewing machine). They look like this:

In Swedish we just call it a “stick”. Not very inventive… ; ) However, these can look very different depending on where in the world you’re weaving. Just take a look at this video, which will also give you an idea of how the lace is made:

Wish I had that speed and control over the bobbins! Maybe if I practice very hard for the next 40 years or so... =)

I’ve also seen this type of lace refered to as “pillow lace”, since it’s woven on a pillow. Personally I think it gets a bit confusing as the pillow used is called “a lace pillow”.

“So, what’s your hobby?” “I make pillow lace on a lace pillow.” Really??? =)

Anyway, this is a fun, meditative craft. No sudden progress, no smash and dash-glamour, certainly no “I’ll just make a shortcut here, no-one will know” cause here anyone looking at the finished lace will know. Sure, small mistakes can be hidden from an amateurs eyes, but there’s no covering up big mistakes or turning misguided shortcuts into design features. Then what’s the thrill? It’s seeing the lace take shape, inch by slow inch. It’s crossing, twisting, crossing, twisting, place a needle, and do the whole thing all over. Relaxed, calm and focused.

When I sew I have music on, I like chatting with people, my mind tend to wander to all sorts of interesting topics and daydreams. Hemming and the like is best done in front of the TV. But for weaving lace I need total silence. No talking, no music. No daydreaming of sewing a blouse to attach the finished lace to. I usually make a cup of tea, I usually don’t finish it. It stands half-full, forgotten as I’m lost in total concentration of moving the bobbins over the pillow. Why on earth haven’t I’ve done this in TWO YEARS?! Well, the class has finally started, I’m back on track and this time I’ll keep the skill alive.

For a little bit of fun, here’s a video from the 40s about Swedish laceweaving. It’s a lot of panorama over landscapes and so on, and if that’s not your cup of tea, I’d suggest skipping ahed to 2.20 and then 8.2o in the video.

Here, you’ll also see another geographic style-difference: the hand-placement. In some of the videos I found they hold the bobbins very differently from how I was taught (using thumbs). The way they handle the bobbins in this old clip is how I've been taught.

Anyone else who’s weaving bobbin lace?

Love, Erika

Lace-mania

I det här inlägget berättade jag om min nya passion: knyppling! Det är ett otroligt kul hantverk där lite lingarn förvandlas till vacker spets. Jag har haft så mycket jag vill göra på sistonde, jag vill träna, sy, sticka, blogga, fota, baka, men ändå varje förmiddag före jobbet (min mest kreativa tid) så har idéerna forsat genom huvudet, jag har tittat på knyppeldynan på bordet, och på något vis hamnat där. Kan i och för sig bero på att solen äntligen är en regelbunden gäst på himlen, efter evigheter av gråhet. Ljuset är som synes på bilden nedan, lite kallt men klart och vackert. Så jag gör en kopp te, tittar ut genom fönstret och låter knypplingen och ljuset absorbera mig. Underbart!

In this post I spoke of my new passion: making lace! It's a really fun craft where some linen threads are transformed into beautiful lace. There's been so many things I want to do lately; I want to work out, sew, knit, blog, take pictures, bake, and yet every late morning before work (my most creative hours of the day) I've somehow found myself sitting by my lace pillow. It could be because the sun is finally a regular guest in the sky again, efter an eternity of grayness. The light is as you can see above, a little cold, but clear and beautiful. So I make myself a cup of tea, look out the window and let the lace weaving and light absorb me. Wonderful!


In my lace class, we start with nine practice laces (making about 10 cm or 4 1/2 inches of each), they hold the basics and teaches you how to read a pattern. The ones above are the first two.


A variation of the first lace, plus my current favorite for now: lace #3, wood anemone (vitsippa).


And where I'm now, in the middle of lace 4, "braid lace" (Flätspets). I haven't really gotten the hang of the braids when done to the left, so don't look too close =) Hopefully you'll see some of the lace, even with the needles still in (the needles aren't so close to each other in this lace, so it should work).

All for now!
Love, Erika

(P.S. Sorry if the mixing of languages is a bit confusing. It's just that some things I want to write in Swedish as well, it's about the forming of the words. But I promise that everything gets said in English as well! And sometimes only in English... =) )

En ny hobby

Det har varit en fullbokad vecka, med dubbelt så mycket arbetstid som vanligt. Att bli väckt klockan 6 av sin chef gör resten av dagen lite dimmig... Hade vissa förhoppningar om att hinna sy lite, men det föll bort någonstans mellan jobb och föreningsmöten. Så istället för att prata om syprojekt tänkte jag visa lite bilder från min nyaste handarbetshobby: knyppling.
Knyppling, för er som inte stött på det tidigare, är när man gör spets med hjälp av en massa spolar man snurrat upp tråd på. Det fantastiska är att det görs utan knutar eller vävlåsningar el dylikt, men det går ändå att klippa i.

Mitt allra första försök. My very first attempt.

Min knyppeldyna, en riktigt fin gammal dyna som jag ärvt från min farmors mor, via farmor och sedan mamma. Det är inte helt klart hur gammal dynan är, men om man betänker att "farmor" Kerstin föddes lite innan förra sekelskiftet (min farmor föddes 1923) och sedan jämför denna dyna med andra jag sett som är från 50-talet, så skulle jag gissa på 30-talet. Men den kan lika gärna vara från 40-talet, eller - lite mer osannolikt - 20-talet.

Nästa kurstillfälle är ikväll, jag ska påbörja en ny övningsspets! =)

Kram!
/Erika


It's been a busy week, with twice as much work as anticipated. Having your boss wake you up at 6 o'clock in the morning makes the rest of the day a bit fuzzy... Had been hoping to sew a bit this week, but somewhere between work and meetings, that aspiration died. So instead of rambling on about different sewing projects I figured I'd show a few pic's from my newest hobby: knyppling.
The swedish word "knyppling" is the making of lace, using thread rolled onto small bobbins. The amazing thing is that it's done without tied knots or weave technique, but the lace is still so strong that one can cut it.
First image is my first ever handmade lace. I need to practice... Lol!
Secong image is of my lace pillow, a beautiful old one I've inherited from my paternal grandmother's mother (Kerstin). I'm not sure how old it is, but Kerstin was born in the late 19th century. That in combination with comparising this pillow with those I've seen from the 50's, makes me guess it's from the 30s. But it can be the 40s, or the 20s (the latter seems less likely though).
Next class is tonight, I'm starting a new practice lace! =)
Love, Erika