This is an absolutely charming book! It features some jems of the antique lace collection of Japanese lace enthusiast Mitsuko Fukuoka. She accumulated her lace collection during the many years she lived in France, and the patterns have been beautifully adapted into charming purses and shawls etc.
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Tämä on aivan hurmaava kirja – nimensä mukaisesti! Japanilainen Mitsuko Fukuoka keräsi Ranskassa asuessaan vanhoja pitsimalleja ja on toteuttanut niistä kauniita virkattuja laukkuja ja asuja. Kirjan on suomentanut Hanna Alajärvi ja mallit on esitetty tutuilla merkkikaavioilla.
This was one of the first little motifs I tried from the book. It soon started to ring some bells since my mother has had this beige little doily on her side table for a long time. The pattern is very similar although the rings in the corners have been substituted by chains and there are less little squares in the centre.
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Tämä neliö oli tutun tuntuinen ja melkein samanlaisista onkin koottu tämä äitini eteisen pöydällä vuosikaudet koreillut vaaleanruskea liina. Kirjan ohjeessa on vähemmän pikkuneliöitä keskikuviossa ja kulman rengas on korvattu ketjulla.
Going through my mother’s linen cupboard I also found some lovely old sheets, one of which has a lace insertion with the same motif.
Äitini liinavaatekaapin kätköistä löytyi myös tutun näköisiä lakanoiden koristepitsejä. Tässa ylhäällä samasta neliöstä on virkattu välipitsiä. Toisen lakanan lehdykkäpitsiä olen virkannut metrikaupalla ja käytin sitä esimerkiksi saunan pukuhuoneen uusien verhojen koristelemiseen pari vuotta sitten. Se on mielestäni yksi viehättävimmistä Mary Oljen Kauneimmat Käsityöt -kirjan malleista.
KB kirjailtu lakana on kaikkien sääntöjen mukaan taiteltu kolmeen osaan niin, että monogrammi on keskellä. Äitini opetti minulle lakanoiden vetämistä ja samoin minäkin vedin lakanoita omien lasteni kanssa. Tiukalle rullalle rullattuna lakanasta tuli melkein yhtä sileä kuin mankeloituna ja se oli myös helppo työntää kaapin hyllylle.
The second sheet has another very familiar lace pattern. I’ve made meters of it in different sizes and used some for the new curtains for our sauna a couple of years ago.
Here on the right you can see the way my mother taught me to fold sheets and store them rolled up. To do this you had to have a helping hand which meant that children too learned to “pull sheets”. First the sheet was straightened by holding by all four corners, lifting them up and then pulling down at the same time so that there was a good bang. The smaller children would sit under the sheet and have a good laugh! Then the sheet was folded, in four (and in a special W fold) if it was a little wider, or in three if there was a pretty monogram in the middle. The hard part was to get it to fold into three equally so that the inside edge would fit snugly inside the fold. Both “pullers” on either end would hold on tightly to the edges and pull away simultaneously and equally hard to stretch the sheet. First you stretched the outer edges and then moved on towards the middle. When mother was happy with the result the ends of the sheet were folded together and then together again. Mother would lay the sheet onto a table and roll it up into a tight roll. This way the sheet was nearly as smooth as a mangled one when it was taken out of the cupboard. It was also easy to store into the small space on the shelf.
