Crafts - Where Everything Old is New

I’ve grown up with the saying that “There’s nothing new under the sun,” and something about how, if we wait long enough, old styles become new, or in fashion, again. This is especially true with crafts. There is a re-birth of interest in the old skills of tatting and quilling and lace making, weaving, and spinning. Antique laces are the basis of newer works which use newer materials, tools, and techniques.

I am trying hard to find time to go through my DM’s old pattern books. All the lovely lace collars and cuffs, lacey edgings for everything that lace can adorn or be attached to, aprons, and more, are all in demand once more. I will probably sell some of the knitting books and probably give some away, too. The crochet patterns I will savor and enjoy trying them with today’s materials and see how they come out.

My DM had lots of patterns for doilies. I’ve made doilies this year for the first time, with thread, and enjoyed the way they looked. I couldn’t believe it when I completed my first one. They seem so intricate, so delicate, like spider’s web, meticulous works of art. But when they are being worked, the one who is crocheting is only concentrating on one “round” at a time. The doily is a sample of life, in my eyes. Life can be a meticulous work of art. At least it can be if I do not concentrate or worry about the whole project. Instead, like with the doily, I must concentrate on one thing at a time. It all works for the greater good, the final picture.

Thank you, Lord, for this lesson on how to live my life by imitating the pattern of the doily and the spider’s web.