Needlework pattern (Lace pattern)

Description

The Chicago-based company K. and K. Products published this booklet of “Polka Spider-Web” lace patterns in 1941. This type of lace, also known as Tenerife or sol lace, is woven using a circular handheld loom, which K. and K. Products also sold. To create this type of lace, the handheld loom is “warped” with string or crochet cotton, then a design is woven back and forth between the warp using another decorative thread, such as pearl cotton. The resulting square or circular motifs can then be joined together to fashion household accessories such as tablecloths, bedspreads, or scarves. This pattern booklet and the accompanying loom were used by artists Gertrude Aronson and Edith Blumsack to create a large tablecloth in Winterthur’s collection: see objects 2017.0019.112.001-.004. This object is one of a large group transferred to Winterthur from the American Textile History Museum when it closed in 2017.