#melindasherbring

Piecework Fall 2023, Or What Have They Done to the Capelet? 

This issue has several projects all of which you see here. These include a knitted colorwork hat inspired by a stained glass window designed by Hazel Tindall, a Cherry blossom embroidery done in stumpwork by Jane Nicholas, and a bag in blackwork by Melinda Shebring. And then we have the knitted capelet on the cover by Shirley Paden with an ornate lace and beads design.

Once upon a time, the evening capelet was a small cape. Like a cape, it opened in the front, often tied at the throat and might have a collar or ruff at the neckline. Its charm lay in its grace, the way it could be untied and swept off the shoulders as our heroine came in from the chill and onto the dance floor. It could be made of fabric or fur, or knitted or crocheted.  

Then, somebody came up with the silly idea of the knitted capelet as a tube on pulled over the head. Why? Possibly because it was easier to knit certain ornate stitch patterns circularly rather than back and forth. But whatever is gained in the knitting is lost in the wearing. To take off a tube capelet means raising your arms as you would to take off a t-shirt, hardly the most graceful of movements. It also means pulling an ornate, possibly fuzzy knitwear over your elaborate earrings, your delicate up-do, and perhaps your hat if you are really dressed up. Imagine for a moment what happens if an earring catches a strand of yarn as you pull this capelet over your head. Yikes! Doffing a tube capelet it at best awkward and risks chaos. In short, a silly design. Although here the lace pattern is so interesting that it is worth taking and using on something else.

In addition to these projects, there are several historical articles on Portuguese embroidery, on metallic yarns and fabrics, on Louisa May Alcott, and more.