Today, pineapples are a produce department staple, available year round. But not so long ago, pineapples were an exotic treat, reserved for nobility and the upper classes of the west.
The story of Mary Elizabeth Greenwall Edie’s knitted-lace sampler book is included in the May/June 2016 issue of PieceWork.
Ever the industrious and thrifty crafters, Victorians found a use for almost everything. Case in point: Victorian fish-scale embroidery.
The story of the Green family’s lace wedding veil begins when Mary Elizabeth Mulligan (August 31, 1835–March 8, 1911) selected a point d’Angleterre lace veil to wear for her wedding to Robert Stockton Green (March 25, 1831–May 7, 1895).
April 24, 1731: English journalist and acclaimed author Daniel Defoe dies. Here’s the needlework connection to this date.
Back in the 1880s, Victorian knitters relied on illustrations to gauge the worthiness of a new knitting project. Weldon’s Practical Needlework is filled with page after page featuring marvelous depictions of all manner of Victorian needlecraft.
Nature-inspired stitchwork spans the globe and is captured in Elizabethan tapestries and depicted in intricate embroidered Chinese Imperial Rank Badges. Issue after issue, PieceWork rejoices in nature’s glory and timeless splendor.
In past posts, “Tips for Practical Sock Knitting” has covered all manner of anatomical-sock-knitting topics from heels and toes to refooting. But we have yet to cover the beginning, which is a very good place to start.
The role William Morris played in the development of the Arts and Crafts movement alone elevates him to star status.
While we don’t know if President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s wife, Eleanor, was knitting while he gave this first fireside chat, we do know Eleanor was a consummate knitter.