where did I take the shuttles?

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Italiano: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1-59o3zbzk0jU1facPB5NtSHmHceLRUF2/view

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I know, I don't update my blog much, and yet there would be a lot to say. This summer Muskaan and I spent a lot of our time reviewing all documents in the “Endrucks 1920 Project” (#Endrucks1920Project), a titanic work and still ongoing. I feel as I worked a lot (on computer) but achieved nothing (with shuttles). To reassure myself, I need to take stock of my summer.

The title here is not for the fact that I cannot locate my shuttles ;-P on the contrary I even bought three amazing wooden shuttles (rosewood, birch root and mahogany), made by Laszlo Horvath aka Banyek, from Budapest (Purchased via his Ebay shop “smalcointattingshuttles”).

Rather, the title is a good pretext to tell you that on 7th June I took my shuttles to Orvieto, a city in Central Italy, a small city with ancient history, a monumental Cathedral and local delicacies, not far from Bolsena Lake. 

That day I went to the exhibition “An Iris for Orvieto”, that was initially held from 5th to 8th June 2025 and then extended to 14th and 15th June.

This is an annual event, among the organizers there is Mrs. Loretta Lovisa, Master of her lace “Merletto di Orvieto”, a tradition started at the end of the 19th century when the Irish lace was introduced in Italy in that area, and it soon became a distinct lace technique following the reproduction of the figures featured in the 14th century bas-reliefs of the Cathedral. Here is a very informative page prepared by Loretta: https://www.merlettodiorvieto.it/en/history-of-orvieto-lace/

Loretta is an enthusiastic promoter, and organizes and attends exhibitions, events and collaborations. Among these there is one recent collaboration with the brand Fendi for which she designed and realized one of their “Hand in Hand” Baguettes. The event “An Iris for Orvieto” was part of the annual “Orvieto in Fiore” (Orvieto in bloom) event which takes place on Pentecost (a religious festivity). This year Loretta chose the iris, since this flower is also a symbol of hope, in line with the theme chosen for Jubilee 2025: “The Thread of Hope.” 

There were really beautiful works of art, masterpieces of embroidery and lace, made with various techniques, sent from different parts of Italy. I took some photos, but here is a reel shared by Loretta in Facebook with all the flowers: https://www.facebook.com/share/r/1AYafu68Ri/ 

In spring she invited Luigia Tosin and me, both belonging to the Association "Ago, Filo e Fuselli", to send our flowers on behalf of the association, respectively in bobbin lace and tatting. 

Here is the flower designed and executed by Luigia, who is a Master in bobbin lace:

I received a wonderful welcome, I felt like I was visiting old friends, united by the same passion for lace. Our sincere thanks, from me on behalf of all in our association, goes to the organizers of the "An Iris for Orvieto" event, especially to Loretta and our hosts Maria Antonietta and Marco, who welcomed us so warmly. The exhibition was set up in a noble palace, “Palazzo Bisenzi”, one of Orvieto's historic residences. A curiosity: the palace is also famous for having hosted Sigmund Freud, who stayed in Orvieto several times, starting in 1897. 

During the exhibition, Loretta let me have a table for promoting our association, and I took the opportunity to display the models from the "Endrucks 1920 Project", and to briefly explain it to dozens of visitors, including foreign tourists, who came to admire the lace irises.

I designed my iris starting from pattern E11 (the 11th pattern) from the German book ‘Die Schiffchen-Spitzen’, 1920, by Frau Eleonore Endrucks-Leichtenstern. Thread is my favourite DMC Special Dentelles, size 80. I promise to share the pattern, sooner or later, but with the current schedule ongoing in the Endrucks 1920 Project, I could take long to transform my notes and scribbles into a shareable pattern!
The idea started because the shape of part of the edging E11 looks like a petal. I consulted a certain Smiling Lady you know, for one of her precious tips, and she approved the choice. As usual, several tests followed, but given the limited time available, I followed the advice of my aunt, an occasional painter, to use all the prototypes: she convinced me that the flower would look more natural if the petals weren't all perfectly identical!

 

For the leaves, I needed a compact, elongated structure, so I tried block tatting shaped into a long, narrow strip. Again, I made several prototypes before getting the right shape.

At the tip I attached the wire (0.3mm), sewed it along the leaf and then wrapped it to form the stems. In a similar way, I added wire to shape the petals (only along the middle of petal). The flower is 14cm high, from the bottom of the stem to the highest tip.

Here is a very short video of the tatted Iris, taken before sending it to the exhibition: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Vy4Af5rN34Eh6BFRnx37ReVl8IwY9r3O/view 

Here is the link to the reworked pattern E11 from the German book ‘Die Schiffchen-Spitzen’: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1qwj9o6vfjMUckkYB1t0z_HRBgOR9zJ15/view 

Note: If you like exploring the vast range of derivative patterns, ideas, models, information related to the Project, start your exploration from the document called EPLinks - https://docs.google.com/document/d/1w1TZBg-HIzseGEUoJ-rko7tNbtSgZY5A18Oy2Y9Hh0Y/view

Muskaan and I will be happy to see your tatting. When you post remember to write the name of the designer and pattern number and also use the hashtag #Endrucks1920Project . Thank you.

Ciao,
Ninetta

P.S. Summer recap has just started!

let's go promoting lace!

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Italiano: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1THbEMD5LFi-951i8U1OM5IhKfPTxhxMe/view?usp=drivesdk

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The Exhibition ‘Threads and Schools – 2nd Edition’, held from 8th to 16th March 2025, was the second in a series of annual events, organised by the local association “Ago, Filo e Fuselli”, mostly thanks to our President Luigia Tosin, with the collaboration of Alessandra Caputo (President of “Merletto Italiano” and the owner of the site www.merlettoitaliano.it). We usually organise an exhibition each year in March, to promote lace and the lace’s cultural heritage. 

The theme we want to explore, that is highlighted in the subtitle: "To educate, To know, To know how to do", is the transmission of historical and artistic knowledge, both material and immaterial, of Italian lace. The crucial aspect is how to pass down the art of lacemaking, and we all can agree that it is very important to raise the issue and discuss it. 

We – in our association - are particularly sensitive to the topic, because our city is relatively new. Founded in 1936 and destroyed in 1944, it was reborn after the WWII, with the arrival of people from various parts of Italy, and also from abroad. The flow of people moving here never stops and we now live in a big city with 80 thousand residents. We do not have a long local tradition of lace. Everyone used to have their own culture and traditions, but the elders are struggling to pass on the art to the new generations.

Of course, the exhibition is a great opportunity for lacemakers to showcase their work. But mainly it is an amazing opportunity to invite school children, and our main goal is to involve as many children as possible. Fortunately, a small percentage of parents show some interest, and some children return to take lessons, even after the exhibition is over. Last year I met Elena, a sweet 8yo, who came for 2 months and learned the basics of the shuttle. There are pics of her, taken for the “International Lace Day 2024”, shared in Fb with her parents’ permission, but I’ve never asked the permission to share her in my blog. Obviously, you can easily guess, I felt as though I won the lottery!!! She didn’t come back this year, but I’m sure she will tat again, one day or another, in her future!

Pic taken during this year’s exhibition, when some little girls tried tatting.

Last year lacemakers came from North Italy, this year they came from Central Italy. 
I’ll share here some pictures taken during the week. For pictures of the single panels please visit the Fb page of our association "Ago Filo e Fuselli". The exhibition was opened with a conference in the city Hall, followed by the official opening.

In the table dedicated to our association, we had the artwork entitled: “Women Weave History”, the 3D work created by assembling the works of the ladies of the association “Ago, Filo e Fuselli”, according to the design by Luigia Tosin. The work stood out in 2012 at the 10th International Lace Competition titled “Women: the long road to emancipation”, held in Sansepolcro(Italy), when the judges awarded the association with the following motivation: “as an interesting work demonstrating the stages of the most prominent women in recent centuries”. The competition was promoted in Sansepolcro by the “Lace in the city of Piero” Association, during the 15th International Biennial of Sansepolcro.

We had on display also the bobbin lace work made by Luigia Tosin (for the red bag on the left the design is by Luigia, for the bag on the right the design is by Michela Zoncher). In addition, other works by the associated ladies were also on display.

And at our table we were proud to display the bobbin lace made by the youngest member of our association, Giulia, who is only 7yo!

I was in charge of preparing the posters, the maps and all the captions, many "do not touch" labels, and of producing (with the help of online tools) the vocal texts to be associated with the QR codes positioned next to the panels. We aren’t a big group, and most of us are retired ladies, so I’m one of the young girls, lol!, also available for flyer distribution and “quick tasks”! 

The day of the conference I was really anxious, but everything went well. The aim was to share experiences of teaching, and every speaker confirmed that there are great difficulties in transmitting the art of lace. Everyone searches, and experiments with, ways to approach the new generations. The most moving testimony was from the manager of the Museum of Pescocostanzo, a small town of 1000 people, with a centuries-long tradition of bobbin lace. He concluded his speech with a very sad phrase, hypothesizing that their lace will no longer exist in 30 years... But we also had optimistic testimonies, from a city were an association regained vitality during the COVID season: they are currently around 300 lacers, and in their region they have also been allowed to teach in schools. We all agree that we need to create opportunities to reach young people. In our association we try to do it with our annual exhibition, relying on visits from schools.

The laces displayed in the exhibition were wonderful, all with their peculiarity - techniques, tools and drawings. We had a lot of samplers, too. Pictures are here: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.1044929907659801&type=3 

I talked about the “Endrucks 1920 Project” but not in the conference. I’m really happy that the Project has received many compliments from expert lacemakers. I told to the visitors about the “Game of the Month” and how many tatters have learned new techniques just to be able to take part. Of course, I stated clearly, it's not only my work, I’m only one of the many designers from all around the globe who contribute to the Project. I therefore gladly share the compliments with Muskaan and all the Endrucks group.

Also in this edition, I presented the Project like a school's work or a sampler book, but this time I tatted a subset of the derived models from E's vast collection and glued them in a second handmade accordion book. Many visitors knew only the “mandala-like” version of tatting designs, and couldn’t believe that it’s possible to reach such variety in shapes with tatting. In fact in the Project we have a vast range of motifs, from foliage to jewellery and many different shapes, including letters, and also 3D; these designs are not the tatting usually seen in exhibitions here in Italy! 

In January, February and March, I had very little time for the Endrucks’ Project, but I thought the exhibition could not have passed without something new, tatted especially for the occasion. So, in late January I had the insane idea to tat my banner to be put on top of the accordion book. I tatted one letter per night, about one hour and half per letter, I didn't mind if there were cuts and they were not perfect, they had to be good on the first try, I really didn’t have time to tat them twice. They were very fast to tat, because I had already tatted all the original patterns and I knew the patterns well. I also had the help of Muskaan, who saw a preview of my models and suggested to add chains for a bold look. I’m very grateful to my talented Partner In Crime, she’s always present and positive, and always encourages me.

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UPDATE: Here is the list of the patterns for the letters in the banner: 
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1_arrhYZfmim2XEoczaLnZtW08ULYUvlW/view 

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Me wearing the earrings tatted with a pattern derived from E32 from the book 'Die Schiffchen-Spitzen', 1920, author Eleonore Endrucks-Leichtenstern, and already included in the “Endrucks 1920 Project”.

 A heartfelt thanks goes to all those who made this event possible, and to all the participants and visitors. Next appointment will be next year (2026), with participating associations from South Italy.

In the meantime, I try to promote tatting and the “Endrucks 1920 Project” whenever I can. I sent one of my works, together with a work made by Luigia Tosin in bobbin lace, to an exhibition in Orvieto (a city in Central Italy), that will be held in June. The event is called “An Iris for Orvieto”, and in fact I tatted a 3D iris flower, with a pattern derived from E11. I promise you that the pattern will be available in the Project’s collection. Pictures will come soon!

Ciao, Ninetta. 

…and the offline life

I belong to a local lace association, and thanks to the initiative of Luigia Tosin, master in bobbin lace, we organise an exhibition each year, to promote lace and the cultural heritage of lace. 

Past years we held a series of exhibitions on the history of lace, from the fifteenth to the twentieth century. From this year on, we started a different project, a series of exhibitions focused on how we can pass the know-how to make lace to the future generations, it’s titled ‘Threads and Schools’. The first event has just ended, it was from 9th to 17th March. We invited a dozen participants from associations, single persons and schools from North Italy to exhibit in our city. The project will continue next year (2025) with groups of lacers from Central Italy and the year after (2026) from South Italy. Fingers crossed!

All participants have enjoyed it and welcomed our intent. For more pictures please visit the Fb page of our association "Ago Filo e Fuselli". The exhibition was started by a conference in the city Hall, our moderator was Alessandra Caputo (the amazing “multitasking” lady who is behind the site www.merlettoitaliano.it ):

The "Endrucks 1920 Project" had a little place in our exhibition, too!

My humble attempt to spread the voice here in my city is starting to get some fruits. Eleonore won against the prejudice that tatting is "just rings and chains", or "just knotting", and the Project is a great way to study/research, teach and learn, and it is a wonderful example of international collaboration. I thought it was connected to the title/subject of our exhibition. I received many congratulations and I'm very happy to share the compliments with Muskaan and all the Endrucks group. I stated clearly it's not only my work, and presented the Project like a school's work or a sampler book: I tatted all 44 models from E's and glued them in a handmade accordion book, like it used to be done in many vintage sampler books. Many visitors had to come close to the tatting to persuade themselves that the models were tatted and not printed! That was really fun, and gave me the opportunity to explain! 

You can see my work in a short video: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1X-11fHJliaA1WWBigcK51oJMGRv6Xjag/view?usp=drive_link 

We had the honour to host a rare copy of the original Endrucks book, thanks to a generous lady collector. The cover page is slightly embossed, which is evident in the back, as shown in the next collage pic. Also the last page of the cover has the initials for "Verlag Otto Beyer'' embossed, as shown in the internal side. Emmy Liebert's books by the same publisher have the covers with the tatting image embossed, too (from what we read in the review by M. Leigh Martin at her site "Something Under the Bed", link - http://www.somethingunderthebed.com/CURTAIN/REVIEWStat/REVIEWS_ItoL/LIEBERT1.html). We cannot say if this was a characteristic of the publisher Otto Beyer because we don't have enough information.(UPDATE: Yes we have the proof! Read here - https://ninettacaruso.blogspot.com/2024/06/the-embossed-cover.html)

 On the same table with my sampler book, we had the artwork that won the second prize, "silver bobbin", at the competition "Intr3cci 2022 – Inno al merletto: una stele tridimensionale” (Hymn to lace: a three-dimensional stele), promoted in 2022 in Sansepolcro (Italy) by the Association "Il merletto nella città di Piero". The lace and the artistic installation were designed by Luigia Tosin and made with various techniques (mainly bobbin lace, then filet and macramè - unfortunately tatting was not admitted!) by many of us belonging to "Ago Filo e Fuselli", in a collective way. The title is “Il mondo è come una trina sottile: complesso, ma unico e meraviglioso.” (The world is like a thin lace: complex, but unique and wonderful.) – each side represents a continent in the world. Luigia is the president of our local association, and our Maestra in bobbin lace. I’m sorry that the pic was difficult to take, for the stele is quite big, height is about 60cm and diameter about 40cm.

 Ciao, Ninetta.

something in common

All those have something in common...

I'm quite sure that you recognize the little motif that is at page 15 of Priscilla#3.
I've already tatted it, with cotton, but this time threads are poliester metallic silver and red. Well, now that it's finished, I'm dithering, I don't know if I still like it or if I prefer the cotton version 🤔
My first version is here:  https://ninettacaruso.blogspot.com/2016/09/time-means-nothing.html

The red sampler is my first time with roll tatting.  Pattern is at page 24 of Priscilla#3. That's cotton, dmc cebelia size 10. I don't think I gave it justice. I'm going to tat it again, I'll tell you...

The work in progress on the left is a bracelet, I changed the stitches' count, but it's quite the same as the one at page 9 of Priscilla#3... I also added coloured Swarovski bicone beads and pearls.

All those pieces are my tests for something that I'd like taking to an exhibition that the local lacers' association will host in March. It will focus on lace of the first half of XXc.
I hope I'll have enough time to prepare what I've in mind, fingers crossed 🤞!
Ciao,
Ninetta

useless work

They did it again (have you read my post are you serious?)!
Here it is another authoritative source:
Dictionnaire critique et raisonné des étiquettes de la cour, des ..., Volume 2 - by Stéphanie Félicité de Genlis
"Cet ouvrage en général ne servoit a rien" ... Dear Milady, every lace is a frivolousness, nevertheless I've found it very useful on several occasions...

knotting - detail

Pictures are details of my knotting work, that I purposely made for an exhibition held by the local lace association, to show what this work was about.

knotting - the flower drawing is designed by me

The exhibition hosted authentic lace from 1600 and 1700, private collections, and reproductions of costumes of that age. Many thanks to the precious help given by Alessandra, her site is Merletto Italiano.

That is how the knotting was displayed:

knotting - displayed on a table, near by a short description and a picture

Madame de Genlis, in 1818, wrote that the work with the shuttle was useless. Also, I found a play written by Goldoni (Italian source!) in 1756, "The Dutch Doctor", in which the knotting is mentioned, in fact there's a lady who says that knotting is her hobby ("lavorier non si chiama") and she's going to do couching and put it on a dress. The oldest portrait I've found with knotting it is one from 1743, in Pinterest, but I followed the link and it is from a museum (THE MET) where unfortunately they write that the picture is "not in view". I've been collecting pictures in a board in Pinterest. Here is the link: https://it.pinterest.com/ninettacaruso/ritratti-knotting/

Follow Ninetta's board ritratti knotting on Pinterest.

To make my knotting, I followed the instructions showed in this site: knotting shuttle videos (http://www.cfgriffith.com/image-gallery/knotting-shuttle-videos/). I also designed the 2 flowers for the picture.

For couching, I used the same stitches showed in the mentioned site, that in Italian we call "punto posato", literally it is laid down stitch, it is something very well known in the gold and silver embroidery. (http://www.iccd.beniculturali.it/siti_tematici/Scheda_VeAC/lemmario/index.asp@page=consultazionealfabetica&lettera=P&idCapo=298.html)
(http://www.iccdold.beniculturali.it/siti_tematici/Scheda_VeAC/lemmario/index.asp@page=consultazionealfabetica&lettera=p&idCapo=298&indietro=1.html)

knotting - back side

Many children came to visit the exhibition, of course they wanted to try making little knots! Very useful way to catch their attention!

And in the next picture, there are 3 little gifts for friends, bag mirrors, made with the same technique:

Ciao,
Ninetta

Related posts:

are you serious?

quite a story 

sparkling

A friend's given me a clear crystal, diamond shaped, asking for a bezel with tatting. The shape is odd and the "diamond" is lovely and sparkling. She's a very nice lady and I like challenges with tatting, so I've started the game 😍

The pattern is quite similar to the centre of the "Under an African Sky Doily" designed by Jane (http://janemactats.blogspot.com/  pattern's link is in her blog), a beautiful doily that I tatted in 2014.
I remember that I could tat the centre with interlocking SCMRs thanks to a tutorial posted by HisKid (Tatting Lace in Grace) here: Interlocking SCMRs

I hope to write down the stitches' count, before I forget!

During these last days I've been very busy with my friends of the local lace association, we are running an exhibition of original old lace from 1600 and 1700.

In a little corner there is also my little embroidered work, with knotting. I will share pics of that, in a week.

Ciao,
Ninetta

had nice days

I spent last week tatting more cabochons, they're such fun, I tried some different options and rummaged through my buttons' stash, but did you know that almost all of them are those which have that ring behind? So, what do you think, is the back of the earrings acceptable? Beg your pardon, I need time to tat something else that can "use" that ring...

I like having all beads already loaded in the shuttle. I've made another very short video, about the way I put beads in picots, they need to be a little loose because those picots are going to be used as joining picot. Please, I love reading your comments.This is the link:
https://youtu.be/FO-2JwiKRe4

On Sunday I went with friends, to the National Museum of Popular Arts and Traditions, which is in Rome (EUR). It was the "International Lace Day 2017" (there's a group in facebook with the same name plus the word ITALIA, you can go there to find some pictures) and I enjoy meeting others who loves lace. There's a lace exhibition too, until the 9th of July it will be open.

Old bobbin laces were in a glass showcase, those are just bits of the enormous collection (thousands of pieces) owned by the museum, unfortunately not always visible to visitors and they not always let you take pictures, they let us do it just because of the international lace event.

 

I was prepared to meet only bobbin lacers but as soon as I entered in a big room, a nice smiling girl looked at me, I was wearing a blue top with tatting sewed on, and she introduced herself as a Canadian tatter! The surprise was not only just for me, in fact she was there as a tourist, not even knowing about the event. What a lovely happy coincidence! Thank you for your kindness, Stephanie!

During the meeting, in the morning, there was the inauguration of the beautiful exhibition, with amazing bobbin lace designed by Keyko Fukumoto, you may want to watch her video here in Youtube:


Ciao,
Ninetta

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