Fats, Vitamins and Minerals

Finally, I’ve gotten down to using my hairpin lace staple and here’s my new work in progress - a capelet for my 80-year old auntie. However, I fear that it is starting to look too fancy for her. We met her near the church the other day and I saw that she was carrying a simple mustard color silk scarf. So now I am thinking of making another shawl (capelet, scarf, stole, or whatever comes up) that has a more subdued design.

In the meantime, I’m still undecided as to whether I should use buttons (and of what color, presumably crocheted buttons would be nice), whether I should make the crocheted lace edging longer and whether I should make the collar bigger. Some subtle beadwork might be nice too.

While I’ve already done a number of Maltese crochet or Hairpin lace projects, I still need to get more acquainted with it.

Also, it seems that there are two methods of making hairpin lace. One involves turning the crochet hook upside down as the hairpin is turned; the other involves simply dropping the loop as the hairpin is turned and putting the hook back in pace again.

The first technique is described in a website called Wrights. The instructions are:

1. To begin, loop yarn around each prong of fork and tie knot in center tightly (See illus. 1).

2. Hold fork in left hand and crochet hook in right hand.

3. Bring yarn from ball around right prong of fork from front to back. Insert hook between the 2 strands of loop on left prong (See illus. 2). Yarn over and draw loop through, then chain 1.

4. Leaving loop on hook, turn hook upside down and move handle of hook through top center of fork to opposite side (See illus. 3). Turn fork 1/2 turn from right to left, wrapping yarn around other prong of fork (See illus. 4).

5. Holding hook in correct position in right hand, insert hook in new loop on left prong (See illus. 5). Yarn over and draw loop through (2 loops now on hook), yarn over and draw loop through both loops on hook (single crochet made).

6. Continue as in Steps 3 and 4, turning the fork from right to left after completing each stitch and then working single crochet in loop on left prong (See illus. 6).

The other method is described in one of the scarf patterns on the FreeVintageCrochet website. The instructions are:

Hairpin Lace: Make a loop at end of yarn and place left prong of staple in loop just made, wind yarn around right prong of hairpin staple, insert plastic crochet hook in loop, yarn over hook and draw loop through keeping work at center of staple, * drop loop from hook, turn staple 1/2 turn to the left, pick up the dropped loop at center, yarn over and pull through loop, insert hook through top part of loop on left hand prong, yarn over and pull through (2 loops on hook), yarn over and pull through both loops completing the single crochet (sc), repeat from * for desired length.

I find the second method easier, although I have been using the first method more when I am working with cotton threads. The first method seem to be more suitable for acrylic yarns, mohair and bulky threads that don’t slip out of the stitches as easily as cotton or rayon threads.

There may be other methods out there. Nevertheless, do experiment and see which is most suitable for you and your projects.

Perhaps subconsciously delaying responsibility to my hairpin staple  I’ve just started crocheting a new turtle.

This time, it will be a mother turtle with three baby turtles.

Here is a photo of the crocheted parts. I’ve already sewn the legs and tail to the inner bellyside (plastron) of the turtle. The three yellow orange ovals are the three baby turtles’ shell (carapace) and the short green strip is the mother turtle’s head. I’ve also already made a few cross-stitches along the neck of the mother turtle.

I plan to put the baby turtles on top of the mother’s carapace. This is a common depiction of turtles in Chinese fengshui figures. However, supposedly no known species of turtle have been actually known to care for their young!

Nevertheless, turtles are considered lucky symbols because of their longevity.

Researchers have recently discovered a turtle’s organs do not gradually break down or become less efficient over time, unlike most other animals. It was found that the liver, lungs, and kidneys of a centenarian turtle are virtually indistinguishable from those of its immature counterpart. This has inspired genetic researchers to begin examining the turtle genome for longevity genes.

Anyway, this turtle isn’t going to be a purse, but will rather be a stuffed toy (or something like that). So I’ve already prepared the stuffing.

Here are two pods of kapok that I collected from a tree in the neighborhood last year. I’ve collected several more this year. Last month was kapok season.

Great stuff!

The kapok tree is a truly lovely majestic tree. It can grow very tall with large wide trunks and buttress roots.

Some of the kapok trees here also have green color trunks, which I find unusual for a large tree.

And when the tree is full of those kapok fruits, it’s just such a lovely sight!

Well, now that the turtle parts are finished, I’ve just started work on the hairpin staple. After several tries with 2-ply cotton and 3-ply rayon, I’ve decided to stick it out with the mohair.

I am thinking of making a nice mohair shawl for my 80-year old auntie. Although the Philippines is a tropical country, shopping malls here offer temperate climate.

I thought of this after my husband and I had lunch with her at the mall, and I saw her using a black shawl because of the cold air-conditioning. My auntie likes going to the mall, good exercise for her too. And because it’s now summertime, lots of people flock to the mall to cool themselves and the building’s air-conditioning is working double-time. That means height of winter here in mall country.

So, here is a photo of the mohair in the hairpin staple.

Finally, work has started!

I still have no idea what shape this shawl is going to take - capelet style? triangular shape? rectangular? And yet to decide whether I’ll use a different color for joining the hairpin lace strips. Maybe I’ll put a few glittery beads on it too.  But not too flashy, since my auntie is a very simple old stick.

“Booksale” is a chain of second-hand book shops in malls across the country. This is where I’ve have found a lot of really good and inexpensive books on a variety of topics. There’s a lot junky books, of course, so it takes patience and luck to find the gems.

As far as crochet and needlework books are concerned, I’ve found a few at “Booksale” and all of them are quite rather ‘retro’ (but not too bad). However, just a week ago I stumbled upon a pretty good one.

The book is “150 Favorite Crochet Designs” from Dover Publications. I got it for only 90 pesos (that’s less than 2 US$).  The book is a collection of classic heirloom-quality patterns for tablecloths, bedspreads, doilies, edgings and insertions.

And I love this book - I’ve already been able to use some patterns of edgings for my new crocheted corset (that has now turned into a crocheted blouse with puff sleeves!)

There I realized how beautiful antique patterns really are, and how fine and meticulously made they are. They really provide one of the best foundations for learning crochet.

Because of this re-newed interest and appreciation for things antique, and the fact that such antique knowledge should already be in the public domain, I decided to look up a couple of things on the Internet and see what the past could provide.

1942 Modern Pattern Design
by Harriet Peppin

I found this book because I wanted to know about the technical terms used in dressmaking, particularly, the various styles of collars and necklines. Nevertheless, I did buy 2 locally written and published books (in Filipino language) on the subject matter: “Basic Course in Pattern and Dressmaking” and “Ladies Fashion Wear Volume 1″ - both by Yoko Shirane Venzuela (costs around 250 pesos each at National Book Store).

The two new books are very comprehensive, including patterns for blouse, skirt, pants, one-piece dress, jacket and coat among others, as well as instructions for proper pattern making and measurement. The books also include full-size block patterns.

The Full Roll CollarThe “1942 Modern Pattern Design” book seemed to be written more for the layperson. Nevertheless, the book has sufficient technical information on pattern design, and some interesting, insightful remarks, for instance, on the “Full Roll Collar” also known as the “Peter Pan Collar” due to its youthful style:

“Because of the roll, it is especially pleasing for the woman who has an exceptionally thin, long neck as its round shape softens her angular features. It is youthful, so is not suited to elderly or mature women and should be definitely avoided by the woman having a round face and short, broad neck.”

Tight Linings and Boning, Woman’s Institute of Domestic Arts & Sciences, by Mary Brooks Picken1922 - Tight Linings and Boning,
Woman’s Institute of Domestic Arts & Sciences
by Mary Brooks Picken

I found this book while doing a search on corsets and corset making. While my own crocheted corset has now evolved into something else, finding detailed information on corsetry will surely make my second attempt more successful.

The book by Mary Brooks Picken introduces, “Pay particular attention to the definitions; a correct understanding of them is essential.”

Indeed, definitions and the use of technical terms are essential. This is the foundation of professional meticulous work,

… this book covers how to properly bone a bodice, including how to finish the ends of the bones, and what is meant by “springing the bone.”

Although some technical terms have changed since then, and there are of course some variations on the local cultural practice, it aids much in understanding if I could establish more consistency in my use of terms and definitions in my own work.

Elizabethan Corsetry

And yes, of course, I did stumble on Elizabethan corsetry. The website provides easy-to-understand instructions on making the patterns, selecting corset material, sewing the corset, and putting it on.

There is also a special item on “The Effigy Corset: A New Look at Elizabethan Corsetry” by Drea Leed.

Gems are hard to find, that’s why it’s good to share them…
Just like at “Booksale”, finding gems on the Internet is getting harder and harder. Obviously, one can say that there’s just more junk than gem nowadays.

For me, however, there are more reasons. For one, the Internet is becoming more and more commercialized and even knowledge that should be in the public domain hasn’t made it yet to the Internet, and even when they do, they are accessible only at a cost (for example, the book on vintage Crochet Designs from Dover Publications costs nearly 10 US$ plus the cost of shipping).

Secondly, search engines which are essentially our gateway to materials on the Internet (and therefore very powerful gatekeepers), tend to rank highly those websites and materials that are accessed by most people. Thus, a keyword search for the different types of necklines and collars would serve links to videos I can’t access because I use a slow dial-up access to the Internet. Surely, video materials on the Internet are extremely popular now with majority of users connected to the Internet with broadband access. However, there are still people like me who can only access low-bandwidth materials, and actually prefer textual data to video. Websites with large images are also becoming nearly impossible for me to browse, and there is a growing number of such websites because people who put the photos on them have broadband connections and do not realize the enormity of file sizes they are uploading. Image compression and optimization for the web now seem to be passe.

Anyway, there are still some more interesting finds - on-line and off-line - and I’ll surely write about them when I find them!