In the Irish village of Bellanalek, there is a lace museum, which is currently the country's unrivaled brand. The ancient crochet lace technique was invented in Ireland at the very beginning of the nineteenth century, and still these lace are considered the most exquisite of all that were crocheted at different times and in different countries of the world. The sophistication and grace of Irish lace is explained by the unusual technique of their execution. They are assembled from individual knitted elements using a thin mesh, which serves as a transparent background of lace fabric. Once upon a time, Irish lace was crocheted in almost all homes, this craft allowed families to survive in the most hungry years. Moreover, all members of the family were engaged in knitting, and each, as far as strength and ability was, contributed to the creation of amazingly beautiful lace.
Irish Lace for Beginners
To create a thin lace fabric with many small details and elements can only be done by an experienced craftswoman. But everyone can try their hand, starting with the simplest elements and gradually moving to more and more complex ones. Classic lace was crocheted from silk or cotton thread. Modern designers offer models where the elements of Irish lace are knitted from thick wool with a thick hook, which greatly facilitates the work. In addition, often in models of knitted clothes they use separate fragments of lace for decoration, decorating them with the bottom of the garment, sleeve cuffs or simply stitching over the knitted fabric.
There are a lot of recommendations for knitting Irish lace for beginners. This is the subject of web pages and print media. Many useful tips and workshops can be found in the online club, where they teach how to create Irish lace ("Osinka"). It is quite difficult to master this technique on your own, you need to have some crochet skills. And yet, having made a certain idea of the technique of knitting a lace fabric, it will be quite possible to master the technique and hone your skills.
There are basic rules for creating lace. Firstly, all individual elements must have a volume and convex details on one side only, their base must be flat. Knitted elements are punctured on the paper with the pattern drawn on it face down and connected to each other by a knitted mesh or bricks made by a needle.
Irish lace for beginners is best to start by knitting the common details of the future product with a mesh, leaving voids in it for individual elements. Or choose a model where lace elements are located on the edge of the grid in the form of a border. In any case, work begins with the manufacture of a full-size product pattern. Then, a dense flat edge is tied along the contour of the pattern, which is fixed to the pattern. After that, the entire inner fabric is filled with lace elements that are connected by breeches (breeches are jumpers that are made from threads stretched between two parts that are swept with a needle), a net, and then attached to the knitted edge of the product.
The classic elements of Irish lace are a dense shamrock made with single crochet, a rose with three rows of voluminous petals, a simple leaf knit, gradually increasing the number of crochets in the columns, a leaf with a central vein, a round leaf, a leaf with an openwork window. A bunch of grapes is collected from individual small rings that are made of a chain of air loops closed in a ring and tied with columns without a crochet. Some elements are made of crocheted columns without a crochet braid, which is figuratively stacked in the form of various figures.
The use of Irish lace in modern fashionable clothes provides unlimited opportunities for creative improvisation. Knitted Irish lace for beginners is a wide scope for experimentation and imagination.