Spindle Lace, Spinning, Weaving, Cabin Beam Making and Forging

Hi Dear Folk,

Just popped in to share some more of the crafts being shown at the Bement Billings Apple Fest.



 

Spindle lace making



 



Another form of lace making is tatting which became very popular in the Victorian era, but has older origins.  In the Orient laces were made as frills, some of them have been found in Egyptian tombs.  In Italy its name was Occhi (eyes) for the shape of the rings with the picot; in France Frivolite; in Germany Schiffshenarbeit which means work of the little boat referring to the shape of the shuttle.  The English name Tatting, means speaking under voice, and perhaps that is why in Italy it is commonly know as Chiacchierino, chatty.

 

In England, this lace was called knotting

In France frivolet
In Germany schiffshenarbeit
In Italy chiacchierino

In America tatting  

COVER FOR CUSHION FROM HARPER'S BAZAAR - 1868

Many 19th century women’s magazines, such as Godey’s and Harper’s Bazaar, included tatting patterns and instructions in their issues. In the 1940s, a magazine called The Work Basket featured patterns for needlework tatting, crochet, knitting, and quilting.

FIGURES FOR TABLE COVERS FROM HARPER'S BAZAAR - 1868

CROCHET TATTING ROSETTE FROM HARPER'S BAZAAR - 1868

Spinning

Weaving

Logs for a cabin

The iron forge

Christy

36th Annual Apple Festival at Bement, Billings, NY

Hi Dear Folk,

At breakfast Jean was reading in the local newspaper and found out about this local Apple Festival that was just down the road from where we were staying.  This was on Sunday, now we had already been to the Apple Festival in Ithaca on Saturday and that one I knew about. 

But what a difference a day make, as much as Sunday was sunny and bright, Saturday was misty, rainy and damply cold.  We left from home really early, stopped off for breakfast half an hour before Ithaca which was nice, it hit the spot after the drive through mist and rain.

We found a parking spot and walked all the streets with vendors lining them, some from as far away as Guatemala.  Lots of food and quite a few crafts and of course apple everything.  Hardly any pics because of the rain.  We had lunch at the Jewish Deli which I think I have mentioned before, we were ready for a warm up and a hot sandwich.  There was so much to food to buy at the street vendors, but no where to sit and eat it and have a warm up.  Later in the afternoon we found a natural foods store where we were able to get a hot cup of tea.

We met up with the Boy after he had finished a shoot.  Saturday evening in Ithaca at any restaurant is a long wait.  We settled on a small highly recommended Vietnamese restaurant where we did have to wait half an hour.  I think Jean and I were the oldest folk in there except for the Vietnamese proprietress, definitely a young college vibe.

I really am a fan of those Vietnamese sandwiches made on a baguette roll, you know that French/Vietnamese fusion and we ate a delicious one in Brooklyn.  If I was more familiar with Vietnamese food I think I would have made a choice more in tune with what I like, but was still good.

So here is Sunday bright and sunny and here we are at the Bement Billings Farmstead Apple Festival, and what fun it was.  Definitely far more local people sharing their skills and selling their wares, which made it so special.

This young couple made some lovely pieces, I bought a barrette/hair clip made from an old Czech glass button, really pretty and a Maple Leaf pendant.

An old apple cider press.  American apple cider is not fermented, unlike when you refer to cider in the UK.

A coyote.

Some of the original explorers in North America were in the fur trade, both in Canada and the USA; selling their goods to such companies as the Hudson Bay Co.  The beaver fur trade in the 1600's was considerable and the success of the original New England Pilgrims hung on the balance of the beaver fur trade.  Their financing for sailing and settlement in the new world was based on a return for the investors, thus their success in the New World. After their initial first decade of the 1620's their finances picked up considerably in the 1630's when the trade and price in beaver furs rose in Europe and so did the influx of new settlers.

My husband's forbears, same family name as ours came over from England in 1638, so very early on.  They originally settled in Massachusetts and then later New Hampshire and ending up in northern Vermont, where there is still distant family and the farm.  They never kept going West like Laura Ingalls family.  In fact Bob's grandfather did not move away from there until 1911, moving down to the Baltimore area and that is when contact with the family in Vermont was lost.

What was my thought in saying all this, well that trapping, hunting and furs have been an integral part of many North Americans life's and livelihood.  These furs were all local to New York State.  Something we saw were fisher cat paws, I had never heard of the fisher cat nor had Jean.  I was thinking of a cat, but actually they are more akin to a polecat, quite ferocious and can climb trees, so decimate the wild turkeys.  Their cry is unbelievable Google You Tube to listen to them.

I think that there are many alternatives to wearing fur, so is not personally something I would infest in, I would also think is this humane and how does this effect the wild population of animals.

The travelling ironsmith.

Apple fritters straight out of the pan, delicious.

To me he looks like a French settler.

The creek running behind the property.

More to follow on our lovely time spent here.

Christy

The John Howland Farm on Airbnb

Hi Dear Folk,

We have now left Brooklyn and I'm going to whisk you up to New York State.  I wanted Jean to see Ithaca and meet up with the boy, plus the trees were turning.

As I said I am now a total fan of Airbnb, we booked this place just a day before going.  In and close by to Ithaca was all booked because of their Annual Apple Festival, so we had to look a little further afield and this is what we found , about half an hour south of Ithaca.

Let me tell you trying to find the road that led up to this farm in the pitch black of night was not easy and I think we went past it by about eight miles and had to turn back but eventually we found the road.  What a lovely quiet rural area this is in the Newark Valley, Tioga County.

The house was built around the end of the 1700's in some places you can see the age but in much of the house it has been covered over.  I would probably go around ripping those ceilings down, and pulling up carpets.  All said though it was a lovely place to stay.

We ate breakfast at the table by that very sunny window, looking at the birds feed. We had run of the kitchen to ourselves and could use the fridge, but we couldn't get the coffee machine to work, one of those Keurig machines.  Here we are in the depths of the country and I said to Jean "Let's Google it."  Boy did we laugh, talk about old meets new, isn't that the way life is now?  People live in Africa in shanty towns using an iPhone.

Jean and the owner, it has been in his family for a while.  Most of the land is rented out.

You cross this bridge leading up to the farm.  His mum was a local school teacher and all the children used to come to this creek here to learn to swim, then they would have treats at the farmhouse, sounds good to me.  But probably a school now would not be allowed to take children to a creek to learn to swim, how things have changed.  Seems it would have been totally fun to me, maybe a little squidgy on the bottom, all the more reason to keep on swimming.

Looking across the field to one of the barns and farmhouse.  The metal barrier leads onto the bridge, to the right of the picture.

Christy

Joys

Hi Dear Folk,

My three little joys for anytime, sorry four, but especially in the Winter with long dark evenings is this:

1. A visit to the library - books to read
2. A visit to the fabric store - things to sew
3. A visit to the thrift shop - bobs to enjoy
4. Dare I throw out there Italian leather - what more can you say

In keeping with that I have just finished reading A Writer's Diary by Virginia Woolf edited by Leonard Woolf.

And what always thrills me is to get a first edition book from the library and with my repertoire of reading it seems to happen quite often.  I'm always pulling out the books from upstairs in old shelving that no one else seems to read.

So when I went to pick up another Virginia Woolf book, The Years, I stumbled upon this biography in the newly released section, by Vivianne Forrester, 1925 - 2013 nee Dreyfus, of French Jewish decent, what a coincidence was that finding the biography and of course Leonard Woolf was Jewish.

In the clearance section was a Sewing Step by Step book for fifty cents.  And sitting on that is a pencil case in painted Italian leather, if I can afford Italian leather, I will buy it.  There's just something about Italian leather don't you think?  The colors, texture and the smell, yes the smell.

One of my favorite writers Laura Ingalls Wilder, an annotated autobiography also in the newly released section of the library.  Just the cover and unusual sizing of the book, made me pick it up.  So I am good for an evening read by the fire.

A little sun from Down Under, it is now their Spring.  I found these at the thrift and even their name tag is Down Under.  Waiting for a sunny day next year to adorn my patio table.

Japanese print fabric, anything in this style is a link to my grandmother who loved Chinese and Japanese art and incorporated much of this into her sewing.  So just a yard purchased to do something with?

Last but not least is my passion flower that has brought summer into my Simla Room (sun room) to weather out it's third winter indoors.

My Simla room named after the Indian town in the Himalayas is my go to retreat, by the stove, with Tuppence, where is your retreat for winter time?

Christy