Old Lace

There are few things quite so whimsical or romantic as lace, particularly old, hand made lace. This isn't old, but it is crocheted by hand. It counts.

The style is called fillet crochet, and it consists of open squares or "windows" and closed windows created by making stitches through the middle of them. You can make patterns with the closed windows, but it's not always easy to discern unless your stitches are very tiny and even. The sample at the left is what I did last night. It's been over a year since I crocheted anything, so it's a little crooked and awkward, but still pretty in it's own way. I made it a little longer and finished it into a bracelet.

I'm making another strip now, this one 7 windows wide, with a pattern of x's and o's along the length of it. I'm thinking of my sweetie with every stitch while we're apart, and pouring all that love into the lace. I think it shows. I haven't decided yet whether it will decorate my next re-enacting dress, or if perhaps I'll use it to trim a cotton nightgown I'm thinking of making. Who knows?