a little bit of patience

This photo is from my March 2009 folder. That may have been the last time I had any patience. I've never been blessed with patience and I seem to have none lately.

I find there is a direct correlation between available time and patience. The less time I have (or feel like I have) the less patient I am.

All this blather is just to point you, once again, to Mary Corbet's wonderful blog post featuring a stunning piece of Battenberg lace. Man-O-Manischewitz that is a beautiful piece of Battenberg.

Battenberg lace, a needle lace, starts with a framework of purchased tape which is first manipulated then connected and filled with needlemade bars and lace fillings. There is a gathering thread that runs along each side of the tape. By pulling and adjusting this thread you can shape the tape to match a drawn pattern. Baste the shaped tape and work your fillings.

The Sept/Oct 1995 issue of Piecework magazine had a wonderful article, "Sara Hadley & Royal Battenberg Lace" by Jane Viking Swanson and it was accompanied by a pattern for a collar designed by Jane.

Oh, those old Pieceworks; what a treasure they are!

See a lovely butterfly made by Jane at this link; about three quarters down the page - but while you're scrolling you can see lots of other lovely ornaments in this exchange!

Oh, and if you are sitting comfortably and want to see even more wonderful Christmas lace, see several years of exchanges on the Arachne site.

Speaking of Battenberg. Do you know the first time I saw it made? It was some lovely work of my friend, Pat. Pat does such beautiful work.

Designs drawn out in my photo above are from an old Creative Needle magazine (Sept/Oct 1998; what is it about September that sends magazine editors to Battenberg??) When I pulled the issue out just now to check the date, I found a nice angel all finished except for her head. Sigh.

Perhaps I ran out of patience. Or Time.