With Nancy's permission, I gently washed one of them. This is one of the larger pieces. It is about 34 inches long and 7 inches wide. Does anyone recognize the pattern? It appears to be knit in very fine thread — size 40? 50? Maybe finer?
The lace is cleaner than it was but still discolored and is damaged in some places but overall it's in pretty good shape for something that's 100+ years old. I think any further cleaning and conservation should be done by a professional.
3 comments:
Sue, as I mentioned on Laceknitter's, I think this is the traditional Shetland pattern, Cockleshell.
I have no clue what it is, but it sure is pretty!
Just a tip about what I did cleaning something this old. My mother-in-law had a beautiful handkerchief with a crocheted Irish lace border that was around one hundred years old. It had yellowed due to age and she asked me if I had any idea what to do with it. I put in in a basin of lukewarm water with Biz and changed it every day for a week. By the end of the week the only thing that gave away its age was the design. It wasn't harmed at all by the Biz.
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