PIECEWORK July-August 2015

Enjoy an issue of PieceWork celebrating cotton. Cotton’s history goes back at least 7,000 years. Greek historian Herodotus (circa 484 - 425 B.C.) wrote about trees in India that were “. . . growing wild, which produce a kind of wool better than sheep’s wool in beauty and quality. . . .” A fourteenth-century European traveler writing under the pseudonym of Sir John Mandeville started the myth surrounding “vegetable lamb”: “. . . there grew there [in India] a wonderful tree which bore tiny lambs on the ends of the branches. . . .” Cotton has been a favorite of needleworkers for ages. For this summer issue of PieceWork, we’re celebrating this marvelous fiber!

This issue includes an irresistible story by Katherine Durack that inspired the delicate Square and Border Pattern for Annie’s Tablecloth to Filet Crochet Pattern. Also, enjoy Mary Polityka Bush's A Handkerchief to Embroider in Shadow Work Pattern. The Counterpane Baby Blanket to Knit Pattern by Carol Huebscher Rhoades is inspired by the nineteenth-century Weldon’s Practical Knitter Volume 1. The Victorian lace pattern has a woven look to it and just the right amount of variation from row to row to keep it interesting but also easy to knit.

Learn about Traditional Handprinted Scarves with Needlework Edgings with Yazma and Oya from Turkey. These edgings are incredibly intriguing, historical, and layered with meaning. Try your hand at it with the Turkish Bell Oya to Make and work up sweet bells, perfect as an addition to small projects. Plus, explore Cluny Tatting in A Square Doily to Make by Dagmar Pezzuto.
With seven projects and plenty of storytelling incoporating historical references, this issue of PieceWork is sure to keep your mind entertained and needles clicking all summer long.