Henrik Ibsen - "John Gabriel Borkman"

Queen Victoria - "The Letters of Queen Victoria, Volume 1 (of 3), 1837 to 1843)"

Walter Horatio Pater - "Gaston de Latour: an unfinished romance"

Bartolome de las Casas - "A Brief Account of the Destruction of the Indies"

Annual Bibliography of Commonwealth Literature 2007
This paper argues that discourses of love in Ghanaian market literature for youth offer a view into complex negotiations of agency and empowerment. Drawing on Deborah Durham's notion of youth as "social `shifters'" and Francis Nyamnjoh's conception of the "interconnectedness" of agency, I take Ghanaian market literature as one specific case of how African literature for youth foregrounds questions of continuity and change as African societies enter into increasingly complex global relations. In this literature for youth, received notions of love, often constructed out of impressions from American pop and hip hop music, carry new notions of agency that compete with existing "domesticated" forms. Authors like Ike Tandoh and Evelyn Tay employ discourses of love to offer youth alternative avenues for empowerment in a context of socio-economic disenfranchizement. In a creative process of "straddling", this writing both reveals and reproduces the contradictions that obtain in youth configurations of agency.

Encyclopedia of Needlework

T >> Therese de Dillmont >> Encyclopedia of Needlework




Fig. 692 represents the kinds most commonly used, in their original
size, together with a specimen picot, or purl, as they are called in
England, for the outside edge, also to be had ready made, for those who
do not care for the trouble of making them themselves.

For the stitches and bars by which the braids are joined together, the
best material is Fil a dentelle D.M.C,[A] (lace thread) a smooth even
thread, now made in every colour to match the braids.

[Illustration: FIG. 692. PATTERNS OF THE DIFFERENT TAPES AND BRAIDS USED
FOR IRISH LACE.]

TRANSFERRING DESIGNS FOR IRISH LACE.--The best way is to trace them on
oiled tracing linen with a watery ink, free from greasy matter. This
tracing linen, which is of English make, is white, glazed on one side
only; the unglazed surface should be turned uppermost, as it takes the
ink better.

As this tracing linen is quite transparent, the pattern can be
transferred to it at once without recourse to any other process.

It will be found less trying for the eyes to lay a piece of transparent
coloured paper, or stuff, under the pattern whilst you are copying it.
The Irish lace designs are almost all drawn with double lines, between
which the braid is tacked on with small back stitches. We may mention at
once that it is advisable to make the stitches longer on the right side
than on the other, or at any rate to make them of the same length.

TACKING DOWN AND GATHERING IN THE BRAIDS (fig. 693).--Where the lines
of the pattern describe a curve or a circle, the outside edge of the
braid, as shown in fig. 693, must be sewn down firmly, so as to form
little folds or gathers on the inside edge, which are first tacked down
and then gathered in with small overcasting stitches in fine thread, so
as to fit exactly to the pattern.

[Illustration: FIG. 693. TACKING DOWN AND DRAWING IN THE BRAIDS.]

The stitches, made for the bars and the fillings, must never be drawn so
tightly as to drag out the edges of the braids and thus spoil the
outlines of the pattern. Nor should the stitches be caught into the
tracing cloth, but only rest upon it.

When the embroidery is finished, turn the work the wrong side up, cut
every second or third tacking stitch and pull the threads carefully out,
from the wrong side, when the lace will separate itself from the backing
without difficulty; it has then to be damped and ironed also on the
wrong side. (See the concluding chapter on the different processes for
finishing off needlework).

It is of no consequence which are made first, the bars or the fillings;
we however incline to the former, more especially in the case of
buttonhole bars, as they are easier to do than the fillings and once
done, there is less risk of puckering or drawing the edges together, in
making the fillings.

THE STITCHES.--We shall now proceed to describe a series of bars and
stitches, which, if carefully studied, will serve as a preparation for
making all the finer kinds of laces described in the ensuing chapter.

Without pretending to have exhausted the infinite variety of lace
stitches that exists, we hope to have brought before our readers' notice
a sufficiently numerous selection to satisfy all tastes and capacities.

With regard to the names, the same stitches are known by so many
different ones, that excepting in the case of those universally
accepted, we have disregarded them altogether and merely numbered the
stitches in their order.

[Illustration: FIG. 694. PLAIN TWISTED BAR.]

PLAIN TWISTED BAR (fig. 694).--Secure the thread to the braid and
throw it across from one braid edge to the other, put the needle in
downwards from above, and overcast the first thread, so as to form the
two into a cord. If you do not make enough overcasting stitches to
tighten the two threads, the bars will be loose and untidy and spoil the
general appearance of the work.

[Illustration: FIG. 695. DOUBLE TWISTED BAR.]

DOUBLE TWISTED BAR (fig. 695).--Throw three foundation threads across
the space to be filled and overcast them loosely, so that they remain
visible between the stitches.

PLAIN BUTTONHOLE BAR (fig. 696).--Throw three threads across and cover
them with buttonhole stitches, made from right to left.

In making this and the subsequent bars, we recommend turning the needle
round and holding it as it were the reverse way, so that the eye not the
point passes first under the threads; strange as it may seem, it is
easier in this manner to avoid splitting the threads. The working thread
should always issue from the edge of the braid, one or two threads
before the foundation threads of the bar, to prevent the bars being of
unequal width, or getting twisted at the beginning.

BUTTONHOLE BARS WITH PINNED PICOTS (figs. 697 and 698). After covering
half, or a third of the bar with buttonhole stitches, pass the thread
without making a loop, under the foundation threads, and fasten the loop
with a pin, fig. 697, then slip the needle, horizontally from right to
left, under the 3 threads and tighten the knot close to the last
buttonhole stitch.

[Illustration: FIG, 696. PLAIN BUTTONHOLE BAR.]

[Illustration: FIG. 697. BUTTONHOLE BAR WITH PINNED PICOTS.]

[Illustration: FIG. 698. BUTTONHOLE BAR WITH PINNED PICOTS.]

[Illustration: FIG. 699. BAR WITH LACE PICOT.]

Fig. 698 shows a picot made in the same manner, but with several
buttonhole stitches inserted between the loop and the buttonholed bar.

BAR WITH LACE PICOT (fig. 699).--Here the picot is made by bringing
the thread out through the loop and beginning the buttonhole stitches, 4
or 5 in number, according to the size of the thread, quite close to the
pin, so that they entirely cover the loop. The pin must be stuck in the
width of 4 stitches, distant from the bar, and the foundation threads
should be completely hidden under the bar.

BAR WITH PICOT MADE IN BULLION STITCH (fig. 700).--Put the needle
halfway into the last buttonhole stitch, twist the thread ten or twelve
times round it from left to right, draw it through and tighten the
thread, so that the spiral on the thread form a semicircle, then
continue the bar (see also for the bullion stitch figs. 179 and 661).

BAR WITH BUTTONHOLE PICOT (fig. 701).--Cover rather more than half the
bar with buttonhole stitches, carry the thread three times to the 6th
stitch and back, then buttonhole these threads that are attached to the
bar in the same way as the bar itself and finish the bar in the usual
way.

These buttonhole picots are generally used for edging lace; they may in
their turn be adorned with small pinned picots to produce a richer
effect.

[Illustration: FIG. 700. BAR WITH PICOT MADE IN BULLION STITCH.]

[Illustration: FIG. 701. BAR WITH BUTTONHOLE PICOT.]

[Illustration: FIG. 702. BAR WITH TWO ROWS OF KNOTS.]

BAR WITH TWO ROWS OF KNOTS (fig. 702).--Over two foundation threads,
make double knots, far enough apart to leave room for the knots of the
next row between.

These double knots consist, in the first place, of one plain buttonhole
stitch and then one reversed, that is, made by bringing the needle out
in front of the thread and passing it under the loop; the result being
that the thread will lie behind the thread and not before it, as in an
ordinary buttonhole stitch.

[Illustration: FIG. 703. BRANCHED BARS.]

BRANCHED BARS (fig. 703).--Where you have a larger surface to cover
with bars, you are generally obliged to make them with branches. For
this purpose you prepare the threads as for an ordinary bar and cover
them halfway with buttonhole stitches; then you carry on the foundation
thread to the next bar, buttonhole it also halfway, lay the next
foundation thread, and finally buttonhole all the half-covered bars till
you reach the dotted line, from whence you lay the last foundation
threads.

The last bar is worked over 2 or 4 threads, so that the working thread
can be taken back to the edge of the braid by means of the last
buttonhole stitches.

[Illustration: FIG. 704. PLAIN RUSSIAN STITCH.]

PLAIN RUSSIAN STITCH (fig. 704).--Stitches of all kinds can be used,
as well as bars, for joining braids together that run parallel to each
other, and for filling up the spaces between. These stitches, which
serve as an insertion, are some of them very elementary, whilst others
require great skill and patience to execute.

The simplest of all is the Russian stitch, which bears a great
resemblance to the crossed stitch, shown in fig. 39, and the crossed
back-stitch, fig. 176.

You pass the needle from left to right, under the edge of the braid,
then again from right to left under the opposite edge, taking care
always to leave the thread in front of the needle.

[Illustration: FIG. 705. TWISTED RUSSIAN STITCH.]

TWISTED RUSSIAN STITCH (fig. 705).--Instead of passing the needle
behind the thread, pass it before it and round it, so that the needle
always comes out again beneath the thread, which will then be twice
twisted.

[Illustration: FIG. 706. COLUMN STITCH.]

COLUMN STITCH (fig. 706).--At the bottom, the stitch is made like the
plain Russian stitch, and at the top, like the one in fig. 705, with the
difference that the second thread is passed three times round the first.

[Illustration: FIG. 707. INSERTION OF SINGLE BUTTONHOLE STITCHES.]

[Illustration: FIG. 708. INSERTION OF PLAIN BUTTONHOLE STITCHES.]

INSERTION OF SINGLE BUTTONHOLE STITCHES (figs. 707 and 708).--Make
very loose buttonhole stitches along both edges of the braid, all the
same size and the same distance apart, and vertically, opposite to each
other.

When these two rows are finished, pick up each loop with Russian stitch,
either single, fig. 704, or twisted, fig. 705. Fig. 708 shows the double
Russian stitch made in each loop; it may be trebled or quadrupled,
according to whether you wish your insertion to be very transparent or
not.

[Illustration: FIG. 709. INSERTION WITH BEAD STITCHES.]

INSERTION WITH BEAD STITCHES (fig. 709).--Join the opposite rows of
loops together by four stitches. The threads of these stitches must lie
quite flat, side by side, and not one on the top of the other. After the
fourth stitch, you wind the thread round the bottom loop and then carry
it on to the next, whence you repeat the four stitches as above.

CLUSTER INSERTION (fig. 710).--Over the middle of two finished plain
bars and one half-finished one, a short distance apart, you make five
buttonhole stitches and overcast the remainder of the third bar. The
first bar of the next cluster must be set quite close to the last.

INSERTION WITH BRANCHES (figs. 711 and 712).--Throw the thread across
the middle of the space between two edges of braid, and lengthways,
from one end to the other, pass the needle horizontally under four or
five threads of the braid, across the insertion; then carry it in a
similar manner, first to the left and then to the right, take up the
same number of threads of the braid and connect the three loops together
by a knot, as is clearly shown in fig. 711.

[Illustration: FIG. 710. CLUSTER INSERTION.]

[Illustration: FIG. 711. INSERTION WITH PLAIN BRANCHES.]

[Illustration: FIG. 712. INSERTION WITH BRANCHES AND WHEELS.]

Fig. 712 represents a similar beginning, and a similar interlacing of
the threads, but ornamented this time with a wheel, added after the knot
has been made over the loops.

[Illustration: FIG. 713. INSERTION WITH LEAVES WORKED IN DARNING
STITCH.]

INSERTION WITH LEAVES IN DARNING STITCH (fig. 713).--Fasten on the
thread where, according to the illustration, the first leaf in the
insertion ought to come, carry it across to the opposite side, draw it
through the edge of the braid and bring it back to the point whence it
started, lay threads across to both sides, like in figs. 711 and 712,
unite them by a knot, such as described in fig. 711, lay the thread once
more round the middle leaf, and finish the leaf in darning stitch,
working downwards from the top, as described in the preceding chapter in
figs. 646 and 647. As may be seen from the second middle leaf, your
darning stitches have to be made over five threads, subdivided into two
and three.

[Illustration: Fig. 714. INSERTION WITH SMALL WHEELS.]

INSERTION WITH SMALL WHEELS (fig. 714).--Here, you have to make two
rows of Russian stitches opposite each other and carry the thread to the
point of intersection, then, you make a wheel over five threads and pass
the needle under the completed wheel to reach the next point of
intersection. Half wheels may also be added at the edge of the braid, as
in figs. 658 and 659.

[Illustration: Fig. 715. INSERTION WITH BIG WHEELS.]

INSERTION WITH BIG WHEELS (fig. 715).--Carry the thread horizontally
across the middle of the space intended for the insertion, to the
opposite side, and then conduct it by means of overcasting stitches into
the corner; thence make a loose loop over to the opposite corner, pass
the needle under six or eight threads of the braid edge, slip it under
the horizontal thread first laid and behind the loop, and finish the
stitch on the other side in the edge of the braid.

Throw the thread again across the empty space and over the first thread,
bring your needle back to the middle, make a big wheel over four
threads, passing each time under the same threads, then overcast the
single thread, come back to the edge of the braid and make the second
loop, bringing out the thread at the same place where the other stitches
came out.

INSERTION WITH CONES (figs. 716 and 717).--Over plain but very
distended Russian stitch, make darning stitches backwards and forwards,
beginning at the point and reaching to the middle, so as to form small
cone-shaped figures.

To reach the point of the next cone you overcast the thread of the
Russian stitch several times.

You may also, as in fig. 717, double the Russian stitch and make the
darning stitches in such a manner that the points of the cones touch
each other and their bases meet the edge of the braid. The same thing,
worked the reverse way, that is, with the points turned outwards to the
edge, produces a not less pretty effect.

[Illustration: Fig. 716. INSERTION WITH CONES.]

[Illustration: Fig. 717. INSERTION WITH CONES.]

[Illustration: Fig. 718. INSERTION WITH EMBROIDERED SQUARES.]

INSERTION WITH EMBROIDERED SQUARES (fig. 718).--After making rows of
loose buttonhole stitches along the braid edges, as in figs. 707, 708,
709, run a thread through the buttonhole stitches; this thread serves as
the foundation to the Russian stitches by which the two edges are joined
together. The empty square space left between the Russian stitches is
then filled up with buttonhole stitches, like those in fig. 651, in the
foregoing chapter.

[Illustration: Fig. 719. INSERTION WITH HALF BARS.]

INSERTION WITH HALF BARS (fig. 719).--Fasten on the thread in one of
the corners of the braid and conduct it by means of overcasting stitches
to the middle of the insertion, draw it through the edge of the braid on
the right and make buttonhole stitches over it, to the middle of the
space to be filled, then carry the thread to the left, draw it through
the left edge, a little higher up than on the other side, and make the
same number of stitches over it as over the first. You can vary this
insertion with very good result by making more stitches on one side than
on the other, but it should never be more than 10 or 12 stitches wide.

[Illustration: FIG. 720. PLAIN NET STITCH. FIRST LACE STITCH.]

PLAIN NET STITCH. FIRST LACE STITCH (fig. 720).--Make rows of
buttonhole stitches to and fro, loose enough to form loops into which
the stitches of each subsequent row are set. You must be careful to make
the same number of stitches in all the spaces that are of the same size,
and also, when you begin a row with a whole stitch, to begin the return
row with a half, and so on, in regular rotation.

The number of stitches should vary with the width of the pattern and the
decreasing and increasing should always be done at the edge.

The loops must be as many threads of the braid edge long, as they are
wide.

[Illustration: FIG. 721. DOUBLE NET STITCH. SECOND LACE STITCH.]

DOUBLE NET STITCH. SECOND LACE STITCH (fig. 721).--You leave the same
distance between the stitches here as in the preceding figure, but in
each of the loops of the first row, you must make two buttonhole
stitches close together. It is as well to round the loop a little less
than is usually done in net stitch.

[Illustration: FIG. 722. THIRD LACE STITCH.]

THIRD LACE STITCH (fig. 722).--Here, you make three buttonhole
stitches close together, joined to the next three by a loop of thread,
just long enough to hold the three buttonhole stitches of the subsequent
row.

[Illustration: FIG. 723. FOURTH LACE STITCH.]

FOURTH LACE STITCH (fig. 723).--Working from left to right, make two
buttonhole stitches rather near together, and leave twice as long a loop
between them and the next two stitches as between the two first.

In the next row, which is worked from right to left, make one stitch in
the loop between the two stitches that are close together and three or
four in the long loop.

[Illustration: FIG. 724. FIFTH LACE STITCH.]

FIFTH LACE STITCH (fig. 724).--As in fig. 723, you begin this stitch
from left to right, but making three stitches very close together with
an intermediate loop as long as the three stitches in one.

In the second row, you make one buttonhole stitch in each of the loops
between the three stitches and six or eight in the long intermediate
loop.

[Illustration: FIG. 725. SIXTH LACE STITCH.]

SIXTH LACE STITCH (fig. 725).--Over wide loops, made from left to
right in the first row, make in the second, enough buttonhole stitches
entirely to cover the thread.

In the third row of stitches, put the needle into the small loop between
two sets of buttonhole stitches, so that the close stitches shall form
vertical lines across the surface they cover.

This stitch admits of every sort of modification, such as, for instance,
making the third row of stitches on the buttonhole stitches, in the
middle of the ones on the small loop; or making one row of close
stitches first, and then three open rows; in the former case you should
always make an uneven number of buttonhole stitches, so that you have
the same number on both sides of the needle, which you must put in
between the two threads that form the middle buttonhole stitch.

[Illustration: FIG. 726. SEVENTH LACE STITCH.]

SEVENTH LACE STITCH (fig. 726).--Begin, working from right to left, by
making one row of pairs of buttonhole stitches, a very short distance
apart; in the second row you make one buttonhole stitch between each of
these pairs, and in the third row, two buttonhole stitches in every long
loop. Here, the stitches must not be crowded together but have a small
gap left between them.

[Illustration: FIG. 727. EIGHTH LACE STITCH.]

EIGHTH LACE STITCH (fig. 727).--This stitch is generally known as the
"pea-stitch" on account of the holes occasioned by the different
distribution of the stitches.

The first row consists of stitches, set rather closely together, and all
the same distance apart. In the second row, you make one buttonhole
stitch in the last stitch of the first row, then, missing two loops and
three buttonhole stitches, you make two stitches in the next loops and
so on. In the third row, you make three stitches in the big loop, and
one in the loop between the stitches of the second row.

[Illustration: FIG. 728. NINTH LACE STITCH.]

[Illustration: FIG. 729. TENTH LACE STITCH.]

NINTH, AND TENTH LACE STITCH (figs. 728 and 729).--Both, the small and
the big pointed groups of stitches, begin with a row of close buttonhole
stitches.

Fig. 728 requires three rows; in the second you miss two stitches and
make two in the next loops; in the third, only one stitch is introduced
between the two loops of the lower row.

Fig. 729 requires five rows. The stitches of the first must be set as
closely together as possible; in the second row you make four stitches
and miss two of the first row, in the third row you make three stitches,
in the fourth, two and in the fifth, one only. The long loops of the
last row must not be too slack so that the first stitches of the next
scallop may quite cover them.

[Illustration: FIG. 730. ELEVENTH LACE STITCH.]

ELEVENTH LACE STITCH (fig. 730).--This stitch is not really more
difficult to work than those we have been describing, but requires
rather more attention to learn.

The first row consists of plain net stitches; in the second, you have
three buttonhole stitches in the middle net stitch; in the third, three
buttonhole stitches in the whole loops on either side of the three
buttonhole stitches of the second row, and one stitch in the half loops
that precede and immediately follow them; the fourth row is similar to
the second.

In the fifth row the close stitches are changed. The three buttonhole
stitches are made in the third whole loop, before and after those of the
fourth row, so that between two groups of three stitches you have six
single buttonhole stitches and seven loops.

[Illustration: FIG. 731. TWELFTH LACE STITCH.]

TWELFTH LACE STITCH (fig. 731).--Fasten on your thread, take it by
overcasting stitches over the braid edge, half a c/m. from the corner,
and make three buttonhole stitches downwards, quite close together. The
next loops, over four or six threads of the braid, must be left long
enough to be on a level with the first stitch reaching downwards from
the edge.

In the second row, you cover the long loops with three buttonhole
stitches and draw the intervening thread quite tight.

The third row is like the first, with the difference, that you put the
needle in between the two threads of the buttonhole stitch, instead of
through the loops.

[Illustration: FIG. 732. THIRTEENTH LACE STITCH.]

THIRTEENTH LACE STITCH (fig. 732).--The stitch here represented, as
well as the two next ones are looped from left to right and then again
from right to left.

As it is more unusual to make the loops from left to right than the
reverse way, the proper position of the needle and the course of the
thread are shown in the illustrations.

Fig. 732 requires, in the first place, two buttonhole stitches very
close together in the edge of the braid, then a third stitch covering
the two first stitches and set quite close to them; the connecting
thread between these stitches must be tightly stretched so as to lie
almost vertically, that the stitches may form straight lines.

[Illustration: FIG. 733. FOURTEENTH LACE STITCH.]

FOURTEENTH LACE STITCH (fig. 733).--This begins, likewise, with two
buttonhole stitches, above which you make two buttonhole stitches
instead of one, as in fig. 732, producing an open ground with vertical
bars.

[Illustration: FIG. 734. FIFTEENTH LACE STITCH.]

FIFTEENTH LACE STITCH (fig. 734).--This resembles the two foregoing
stitches and consists of three buttonhole stitches, made over the edge
of the braid or the intermediate bars, and joined together afterwards
under one transverse stitch.

[Illustration: FIG. 735. SIXTEENTH LACE STITCH.]

SIXTEENTH LACE STITCH (fig. 735).--You begin this by a row of net
stitches worked from right to left, or as the engraving shows, by a row
of stitches called "seed stitches".

[Illustration: FIG. 736. SEVENTEENTH LACE STITCH.]

The second row, worked from left to right, consists of short bars, set
slanting and shaped like a seed, and made the same way as the picot in
fig. 699. The first stitch is carried through the loop of the row below,
the second over both threads and far enough from the loop to leave room
for three other stitches. The first of the four buttonhole stitches of
the next group must be set quite close to the last.

SEVENTEENTH LACE STITCH (fig. 786).--Here we have the same pattern as
the preceding one without the row of net stitches; the engraving shows
us at the same time, the proper direction of the needle and thread for
the row that is worked from right to left.

[Illustration: FIG. 737. EIGHTEENTH LACE STITCH.]

EIGHTEENTH LACE STITCH (fig. 737).--This is the first of a series of
lace stitches, often met with in old Venetian lace, and which can
therefore with perfect right be called, Venetian stitches.

Owing to the manner and order in which the rows of stitches are
connected and placed above one another, they form less transparent
grounds than those we have hitherto described.

In these grounds you begin by making the row of loops, then you throw a
thread across on the same level and in coming back, pass the needle
through the row of loops under the thread stretched across, and under
the stitch of the previous row.

[Illustration: FIG. 738. NINETEENTH LACE STITCH.]

NINETEENTH LACE STITCH (fig. 738).--The close stitch here represented
is more common in Venetian lace than the loose stitch given in fig.
737.

[Illustration: FIG. 739. TWENTIETH LACE STITCH.]

TWENTIETH LACE STITCH (fig. 739).--By missing some loops of the close
ground in one row and replacing them by the same number in the next,
small gaps are formed, and by a regular and systematic missing and
taking up of stitches, in this way, extremely pretty grounds can be
produced.

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