Contact me by comment or email textiles@lacebuttons.com.
If you are looking for my photography site go to nancynehring.com.
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Contact me by comment or email textiles@lacebuttons.com.
If you are looking for my photography site go to nancynehring.com.
Good day
I want to buy the crochet hook lite from you please mail me your pricelist so I can have a look at your prices.
Thanks,
Susan Schoeman
From: Annes-Needles
On your Web page you show instruction on how to make a rug using stripes of material (like wool) with a chain stitch. My question is where might I find the hump needle? My Grandmother made several of these. 2 of them I still have. Plus the old one sheet instructions. I would like to find the needles so I can pass this information on to my daughters and Grand-daughters. They may never make one, but it will be in the family. Let me know if you have any ideas as to where I might find one. I am in Sacramento, CA. Thanks for your time
I also got my needle from my grandmother. Reproductions are available on the internet under the names Shirret or Shirren.
Hello Nancy,
I recently purchased a old leather sewing bag that had a lot of sewing items including Mildward Cleopatra Crochet hook size 6 or 9. It had a lot of items that I did not know what they are. It had a pair of scissors with the markings A.L. & Co Germany. Could you date the items? Sheila
Other than crochet hooks, I do not date old sewing items. I just don’t have the necessary expertise.
Do you sell the Crochet Lite & replacement batteries? Thank you !
No. I don’t sell crochet hooks.
Hello Nancy,
I would like to purchase a signed copy of your book, 50 Heirloom Buttons to make. Please email me to let me know how to do this. Thank you so much!
Danielle
Email me at textiles@lacebuttons.com
Thank you for a wonderful class at the IOLI convention. I would like to order your book 50 Heirloom Buttons to Make. Please e mail me with the next step.
Hi Nancy
I read your blog on William Hall & Co [Needles] with interest. My father [now mid 70’s] tells me that our family in South Africa is connected to the Halls of Yorkshire [Bolton Abbey I think] and that they owned William Hall Elephant Needles. Any further information you have on this bit of history will be most appreciated.
Kind regards
William
South Africa
I have been looking into how people can sell copies of patterns on the likes of Ebay and would like to know how you would find out if a pattern from Olney Amsden & Sons, Ltd is out of print. I feel that it is unfair on genuine sellers if people can do this illegally and after looking into it I have found that it is ok if it is “out of print”, so was wondering how they would find this out.
Most publications before 1929 are in the public domain and can be used freely. Occasionally the copyright owner renewed the copyright and you can not use it without permission even if it is old. Most copyright owners don’t renew copyrights but a few, such as Disney, do. So first, check the publication date. If you don’t know the publication date, you can try to find out when the company was in business. Olney Amsden & Sons was in business in the 1880s. I don’t know how long after that but if it was out of business by 1929, publications are probably in the public domain – unless the rights to the publications were sold to someone or company and that someone or company renewed the copyright. So, you research the publication and the company that published it and, if you are still in doubt and it is important, hire a lawyer who specializes in copyright law.
In the IOLI class on Romanian Point lace it mentions purchasing (or making) the Romanian cord. Where can this cord be purchased?
Lacis, Berkeley, California has it in store or in their online store. An online search for Romanian braid or Romanian cord will give other sources.
Hi Elizabeth
I work at Lacis and I am an expert in crochet and knit lace. The romanian lace available at Lacis is limited to a small amount of ecru tape. I will need to test it to be sure it can be unraveled from both ends. If you would like a specific color of size 20 and size 10 cord, please contact me and I will provide these to you. Please contact me for cost and color availability. Eilene Cross eilenecross@yahoo.com
925 487-5469
Elizabeth — where you ever able to find the Romanian Cord for Nancy’s class at IOLI? I couldn’t find anything online at Lacis. Maybe we could make it ourselves if Nancy could give us the instructions and the weight of thread we need to use?
Nancy,
Thanks for the tips….I’ll send you some pics of our program.
Janice
Nancy,
Our Sewing Guild group has given me and a buddy the assignment of “Buttons”. We have your book and are studying it but many of the suppliers in the back are no longer offering molds.
Where can we obtain molds and what is a current supplier of button making?
Thank you,
Janice in NM
For wood molds, most craft stores now carry a 1″ x 1/8″ wood blank without a hole in the wood craft section. Most buttons don’t need the hole but you can drill one yourself if you need it. Cherry Tree listed in the back of the book carries other wood molds and has a website. Metal rings are more difficult to find but try the plumbing section of a large hardware store or home improvement store. Metal rings are used as gaskets. Or you may be able to substitute a plastic ring.
Hello Nancy,
I wonder if you could tell me the name of the Estonian knitted lace pattern that you have featured below your picture of the Lacis Textile Museum. It is one of those patterns that gets into your head ( I’m sure lace knitting is actually an illness) and I would dearly love to know how it is worked properly rather than being dis satisfied with my own attempts to emulate it. Many thanks in anticipation, Susan
I don’t know the name of the pattern but I think it is in Nancy Bush’s collection. Try googling her and Estonian lace or try her ravelry page.
Hi Nancy,
First, I would like to compliment you on your blog. It’s wonderfully well written and very informative. Thanks you for the care you take in putting it together.
Second: I love the beautiful lace pattern displayed under the Lacis Museum post: https://lacebuttons.com/?cat=10. Is there any chance that you or someone else has charted it? I’m a fledgling lace knitter and would love to take a whack at knitting it, but I’m not sure I’m up to the task of charting it yet.
Thanks for any help you can give.
Oops! So sorry. After I posted I took a look & half way down the page was the answer to the question!
Please disregard the question but not the comment on your very interesting blog.
Nancy, I thoroughly enjoyed your class on Designing for Larger Sizes at the Summer 2013 CGOA conference. I wanted to thank you again for taking the time to review my sample (prototype) garments and for your feedback. Your suggestions and recommendations are valuable to me. Thanks!
Hello Nancy, I recently got some of these Ross Hooks, When did they stop making them? I’ve never seen them other than here on your site. I now have a set of eight of them, they seem to be different sizes but are so small, I’m afraid to use them. Are they supposed to have black handles? They arrived today in a tiny little lacquer box and I decided to see what i could find out about them, you had the only information. Thanks
I too have one Roos hook with Pat applied for. This was used on items after the patent was applied for but before the patent was issued and given a number. After that an item would say Patent usually followed by the patent number or date issued. In 1879 the time from patent applied for and patent issue was short, maybe 6 months or so.
I have not seen the Ross hooks with a Japanned finish before. I don’t see any traces of a black finish on mine, not even in the recesses of the stamping or in the cracks, so I’m leaning toward the opinion that the hooks were made with and without the finish.
In 1879 crochet hooks usually came in a much narrower range of sizes. This might be six sizes of steel hooks to cover the range of 00 to 14 that we have today. The crocheter was expected to change her gauge (by crocheting looser or tighter) or adjust the pattern.
Hi Nancy, I do not know if I have told you how much I enjoy all your information on crochet hooks, but I certainly do!!! Anyway, I have been seeing a lot of L’Oreal “crochet” hooks lately, in plastic, metal, and in metal with plastic handles. I suspected that these hooks were all for highlighting ones hair and did a little online research. It looks like my suspicions are correct. You may want to add highlighting hooks to your non-crochet hook article. Regards, Karen
Yes, you are right. These are real crochet hooks branded L’Oreal and packaged with “frosting” kits for hair for home use. They were from the last 1970s or early 1980s I think. You put a plastic shower cap thing over your hair and used the crochet hook to pull little strands of hair through holes in the cap. Then you bleached the just the strands. I think the steel one only came in one size.
Hi I just love your picture of the Crocheted Butterfly for the picture of Irish Crochet. What I am looking for right now is Raised Spanish Point Collars and any old Booklets with mlle Riego’s Spanish point crochet Collars patterns to add to my collection. Would you know of anyone who might be able to tell me if they are finishing a book with these exact patterns in that book any time soon. I am an avid advanced crochet designer and need these to make my own designs. Thank You for all your help.
The most recent book that I know of is The First Twelve Cochet Books of Mlle Riego de la Brachardiere by Lacis. You can find it on the Lacis website.
Trite I know, but words cannot express my joy at finding your site! What began as a legitimate attempt to get rid of my excess knitting and crochet tools has morphed into a small business and a huge obsession. I’ve learned more about needlework tools in the last three months than in the previous (cough) decades.
I respect the research that you have obviously done in support of this site. When I get excited about something, I want to share, especially when that something is knowledge. While I have been careful not to plagiarize, you are without a doubt my best resource. I would like to include a link to your site in my listings so that others who share my passion can find this valuable resource.
Please let me know if this would be acceptable, or not. Please let me know either way, I will do as you ask.
Thanks & Blessings
Diana
Yes, links are always appreciated.
Thank you so much 🙂
Hey there! about halfway down the first page of your blog you have a blurb about Lacis, and there is a BEAUTIFUL picture of lace accompanying your post! I was wondering if you could give me any information on the name of the stitch or where to find it. it’s this lace stitch:
https://lacebuttons.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/Estonia-knit-lace-2-800px-blog.jpg
any information on it would be most appreciated!
thanks!
It’s called Lily of the Valley on a leaf pattern. The piece was from Nancy Bush’s collection. Nancy Bush is a well known knitter and instructor. You might try contacting her for more information.
I think your retractable brass crochet hook pictured under “200. Wire needle permanently mounted in handle” is stamped PATENT. I thought I’d share with you that I have one marked PERFECT. I don’t know if this is the manufacturer or not, especially since it is difficult to Google an adjective. I just found your website tonight and really like it. Thanks for sharing. Reeni.
Hello:
Am in need of assistance. I have come across a MILWARD needle with an ivory handle. It appears to be a very small crochet needle and measures around 4 1/2″ long; the ivory handle is about 2 5/8″. It has a band around the middle with MILWARD.9.
Can you give me any info on this item. I am planning on selling it as I bought it for fly tying but have been told that is a waste of a nice collectible.
Thanks much,
Steve Olson
This is the hook you are looking for – the Milward Cleopatra. It doesn’t have a great value so if it works for fly tying, go for it!
Hello there! I am trying to date some vintage Boye crochet hooks and have a question for you. This page (https://lacebuttons.com/?page_id=4059) has been invaluable, but I was wondering about the dates for the hooks after it says, “June 1942 – May 1945 black oxide finished hook.” Do you have a date range for the hooks with the cents on the back? I have a couple that have 10 cents on them. I was also wondering about hooks with U.S.A. on them. Would you just say they are pre 2005? Thanks so much!
I don’t have dates for the hooks with cents on them. They started after WWII and continued with increasing prices until sometime in the 1960s when hooks were sold in individual packages with the price marked on the package. If anyone has information on dates for these hooks, please let me know.
The photo of your wedding heart – filet crochet edging is superb! How wonderful that you are carrying on the tradition.
I have studied the photograph until I’m nearly cross-eyed, but I cannot figure it out.
Do you have a chart or a written pattern for this edging? The reason I ask is that my grandson who is in the Marines, is getting married next year and would really like to make them a set of pillow cases (maybe a flat sheet, too) as their gift.
I’m very willing to pay you for the pattern and/or your time to help me out.
Chris Dabis
The pattern for this edging is in Donna Kooler’s Encyclopedia of Crochet