Next Lace -- Neck Lace

I checked a few online dictionaries and not only is the word pronounced neck-less, no where in the definition is LACE mentioned at all.  I suppose it was irrational of me to hope for a detailed etymology of the word online and I'm starting to wonder if the internet is the best thing for absolutely everything -- like as a replacement for a trusty unabridged to get that wordophile fix.  True it's English and obvious right now, but the closest most online definitions come to the actual individual words in the necklace portmanteau is the probable date of the word's creation -- 1590. Elizabethan, of course. 

If you google "neck ruff," you will find pages like this Elizabethan Ruff tutorial or truly delightful items for sale that you could only wear on Halloween or to a Society for Creative Anachronisms get-together.  With many of the more expensive Ruffs tipped in extravagant (machine knit/sewn) lace you can see where the word actually came from.  Most lace "edging" patterns I've seen have a handy row of eyelets written into the pattern.  I'd always thought them ugly, and they are, but they are also perfect for sewing the lace to the edge of a ruff or threading a ribbon or gold chain through to make a Neck Lace.

I don't want to buck any sumptuary laws so I'm going to keep it simple -- which isn't actually all that simple. Once I translated the written lace pattern to a grid there are only four pattern rows. Unfortunately, the pattern rows are all distinct strands of stitches and holes.  It's not something that can be easily knit like the perennial shetland lace favorite, Feather and Fan.  My first set of Necklaces will be of little leaves and here's a completed piece, with gold seed bead accents.  

I am working on a version using larger needles and higher grist yarn in a different color for a choker that will be attached to itself with seed bead buttons.  I also picked up some #10 cotton thread and #1 needles to take another crack at that elusive Kali Choker as well.  And I'm still on a treasure hunt for online sources of lace inserts and edgings that lend themselves to this type of ornament.

The beret knitting frenzy has not stopped either.  It's just slowed a bit as I spin some yarn for 'variegated windows' and rolled novelty brims.  I'll be adding several new berets to the Etsy store and will preview them here for you first.  Next Week.