Piecework Fall 2023, Or What Have They Done to the Capelet? 

This issue has several projects all of which you see here. These include a knitted colorwork hat inspired by a stained glass window designed by Hazel Tindall, a Cherry blossom embroidery done in stumpwork by Jane Nicholas, and a bag in blackwork by Melinda Shebring. And then we have the knitted capelet on the cover by Shirley Paden with an ornate lace and beads design.

Once upon a time, the evening capelet was a small cape. Like a cape, it opened in the front, often tied at the throat and might have a collar or ruff at the neckline. Its charm lay in its grace, the way it could be untied and swept off the shoulders as our heroine came in from the chill and onto the dance floor. It could be made of fabric or fur, or knitted or crocheted.  

Then, somebody came up with the silly idea of the knitted capelet as a tube on pulled over the head. Why? Possibly because it was easier to knit certain ornate stitch patterns circularly rather than back and forth. But whatever is gained in the knitting is lost in the wearing. To take off a tube capelet means raising your arms as you would to take off a t-shirt, hardly the most graceful of movements. It also means pulling an ornate, possibly fuzzy knitwear over your elaborate earrings, your delicate up-do, and perhaps your hat if you are really dressed up. Imagine for a moment what happens if an earring catches a strand of yarn as you pull this capelet over your head. Yikes! Doffing a tube capelet it at best awkward and risks chaos. In short, a silly design. Although here the lace pattern is so interesting that it is worth taking and using on something else.

In addition to these projects, there are several historical articles on Portuguese embroidery, on metallic yarns and fabrics, on Louisa May Alcott, and more.

You can find at you local yarn store, bookstore or online here: https://pieceworkmagazine.com/

For anyone who is interested in #puncettovalsesiano, I have found an article in Piecework magazine, May/June 2015, with a small project and basic instructions. #pieceworkmagazine #needlelace #puncetto #puncetto_valsesiano #lacemakersofinstagram https://www.instagram.com/p/CQqmXappFyr/?utm_medium=tumblr

The perfect way to start the day. No alarm clock! Now, after 10 hours of sleep, I have old @interweavecraft #PIECEWORKmagazines (from @otterwise ), & a big cup o'tea. Nothing better than that. Will be at @joann_stores working afternoon-close. Bring it! #MTAAPmasterartist #colorwork #fairisle @msumuseum

Piecework Spring 2023

This is the education issue, so there are some articles on the different ways that information was passed down from one generation to the next or via books or manuals by like those by Louisa May Alcott or Elizabeth Zimmerman or Ann MacBeth, or through schooling.

The Rose Leaf Shawl by Carolyn Wyborny was inspired by the doilies of Herbert Nibling, a German knitting master. She also explains how one can take a doily pattern and turn it into a shawl. For the young, a doily was an astonishingly ornate flat piece of crochet or knitting that was put on a table as decoration and or to keep a vase of other item from scratching it; you can find them in antique stores and the amount of effort they took is astonishing. 

You can see on the cover a Pinwheel Scarf for left-handed crochet by Katrina King which takes inspiration from Weldon’s, a Victorian needlework compendium. Weldon’s in also the origins of the pair of blue, textured socks adapted by Liz Stewart. The last image is of a woman holding an example of Hungarian embroidery which is part of an article by Sarah Pedlow who also wrote the accompanying technical article explaining the stitch used.

You can find this issue at your local bookstore, or yarn store or online here: https://pieceworkmagazine.com/

Piecework Summer 2023

I like to feature the projects with full directions contained in this issue although there are multiple historical and contemporary articles that offer inspiration as well.

The cover project with the dragons in cross-stitch is a linen pin-cushion created by Deanna Hall West based on a 1885 needlework book which had me thinking what we really need is to put some dragons on sweaters.

The 1909 Lady’s Mitts in lilac are a re-working of a pattern from Weldon’s Practical Knitter by Liz Stewart using size 2 needles and Cascade Yarns Heritage Silk a mix of merino and silk. Although they did not have cell phones to play with, they did need their fingers free yet warmed.

The cream colored square with the puffy set of leaves was inspired by the novel Anne of Green Gables, the story of a spunky orphan, and an 1871 book of patterns for knitted counterpanes, or bedspreads. This is such a daunting task that Joyce Noverr who reworked the pattern, suggests you ponder a throw, a pillow, or even a pin cushion instead.

The tiny bird with the black bead for an eye is a first project in bobbin lace created by Karen H. Thompson from DMC Perle Cotton size 8. This accompanies an article by Evelyn McMillan on far more elaborate lace projects which depicted mythical stories, and there is another on applique embroidery upon netting--called Swiss embroidery, for some reason by Karin J. Bohleke.

The cover story on Aran sweaters, the heavily cabled versions we know today, explains how no one wore such a thing in Ireland before the mid-20th century, which makes them what historians call an invented tradition. Invented, in this case, in order to create a mythic story about how old and symbolic the stitch patterns were so as to sell more sweaters! Suffragettes knitting are another topic and so are thimbles, plus there is more.

Find it at your local bookstore or online here: https://pieceworkmagazine.com/search/?search=magazine