08.11.08
Mediterranean or Armenian Knotted Lace
I just discovered this form recently — there was a post asking about the book by Elena Dickson on the h-needlework list. I was so intrigued that I bought it sight unseen and without any real reviews.
All I can say is wow – it’s beautiful! And faster than a lot of needlelace, unless you mess up. Errors have to be fixed by carefully cutin gout the offending area and beginning the knotting again.
I’ve been playing with larger threads than she recommends – both becuase I thought they’d be easier to learn on (they were, for me) and because I saw a potential to use this as an alternative to crochet for hip scarves and other bellydance embellishment (I’ve also been playing with macrame for this purpose, more on that later!)
I like the effect, and may make myself a hipscarf using this technique. One of the advantages I can see immediately is that if a thread breaks I wouldn’t lose an entire row of beads and coins, the way I do on the purchased, crocheted scarves.
And since I try to go through all the stitching on the purchased scarves myself because of that ravelling tendency, starting from scratch with this technique doesn’t sound quite so bad right now, although time is always an issue!
Carmelina Andrade said,
March 19, 2011 at 1:04 pm
Romilly: I live in Mexico. Do you have the book? ¿Can you share with me? Maybe I have something that you need. Please, contact me.
deRomilly said,
March 21, 2011 at 9:07 am
I do have the book, but frankly, it’s one I’m still playing with. It’s available on Amazon.com currently for a little over $13.00 US. http://www.amazon.com/Mediterranean-Knotted-Lace-Milner-Craft/dp/1863513469/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1300716379&sr=8-1 (by the way that is NOT an affiliate link!)
Antonina said,
May 10, 2011 at 12:11 pm
Hello! So far as I know this kind of lace have to be made with sewing needle. It’s famous in Turkey as Oya lace and in Armenia (but don’t remember the name). My Ukrainian Grandma tough me how to do simple stitches in my childhood. Very attractive, easy and very elegant!