let's go promoting lace!

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Italiano: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1THbEMD5LFi-951i8U1OM5IhKfPTxhxMe/view?usp=drivesdk

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The Exhibition ‘Threads and Schools – 2nd Edition’, held from 8th to 16th March 2025, was the second in a series of annual events, organised by the local association “Ago, Filo e Fuselli”, mostly thanks to our President Luigia Tosin, with the collaboration of Alessandra Caputo (President of “Merletto Italiano” and the owner of the site www.merlettoitaliano.it). We usually organise an exhibition each year in March, to promote lace and the lace’s cultural heritage. 

The theme we want to explore, that is highlighted in the subtitle: "To educate, To know, To know how to do", is the transmission of historical and artistic knowledge, both material and immaterial, of Italian lace. The crucial aspect is how to pass down the art of lacemaking, and we all can agree that it is very important to raise the issue and discuss it. 

We – in our association - are particularly sensitive to the topic, because our city is relatively new. Founded in 1936 and destroyed in 1944, it was reborn after the WWII, with the arrival of people from various parts of Italy, and also from abroad. The flow of people moving here never stops and we now live in a big city with 80 thousand residents. We do not have a long local tradition of lace. Everyone used to have their own culture and traditions, but the elders are struggling to pass on the art to the new generations.

Of course, the exhibition is a great opportunity for lacemakers to showcase their work. But mainly it is an amazing opportunity to invite school children, and our main goal is to involve as many children as possible. Fortunately, a small percentage of parents show some interest, and some children return to take lessons, even after the exhibition is over. Last year I met Elena, a sweet 8yo, who came for 2 months and learned the basics of the shuttle. There are pics of her, taken for the “International Lace Day 2024”, shared in Fb with her parents’ permission, but I’ve never asked the permission to share her in my blog. Obviously, you can easily guess, I felt as though I won the lottery!!! She didn’t come back this year, but I’m sure she will tat again, one day or another, in her future!

Pic taken during this year’s exhibition, when some little girls tried tatting.

Last year lacemakers came from North Italy, this year they came from Central Italy. 
I’ll share here some pictures taken during the week. For pictures of the single panels please visit the Fb page of our association "Ago Filo e Fuselli". The exhibition was opened with a conference in the city Hall, followed by the official opening.

In the table dedicated to our association, we had the artwork entitled: “Women Weave History”, the 3D work created by assembling the works of the ladies of the association “Ago, Filo e Fuselli”, according to the design by Luigia Tosin. The work stood out in 2012 at the 10th International Lace Competition titled “Women: the long road to emancipation”, held in Sansepolcro(Italy), when the judges awarded the association with the following motivation: “as an interesting work demonstrating the stages of the most prominent women in recent centuries”. The competition was promoted in Sansepolcro by the “Lace in the city of Piero” Association, during the 15th International Biennial of Sansepolcro.

We had on display also the bobbin lace work made by Luigia Tosin (for the red bag on the left the design is by Luigia, for the bag on the right the design is by Michela Zoncher). In addition, other works by the associated ladies were also on display.

And at our table we were proud to display the bobbin lace made by the youngest member of our association, Giulia, who is only 7yo!

I was in charge of preparing the posters, the maps and all the captions, many "do not touch" labels, and of producing (with the help of online tools) the vocal texts to be associated with the QR codes positioned next to the panels. We aren’t a big group, and most of us are retired ladies, so I’m one of the young girls, lol!, also available for flyer distribution and “quick tasks”! 

The day of the conference I was really anxious, but everything went well. The aim was to share experiences of teaching, and every speaker confirmed that there are great difficulties in transmitting the art of lace. Everyone searches, and experiments with, ways to approach the new generations. The most moving testimony was from the manager of the Museum of Pescocostanzo, a small town of 1000 people, with a centuries-long tradition of bobbin lace. He concluded his speech with a very sad phrase, hypothesizing that their lace will no longer exist in 30 years... But we also had optimistic testimonies, from a city were an association regained vitality during the COVID season: they are currently around 300 lacers, and in their region they have also been allowed to teach in schools. We all agree that we need to create opportunities to reach young people. In our association we try to do it with our annual exhibition, relying on visits from schools.

The laces displayed in the exhibition were wonderful, all with their peculiarity - techniques, tools and drawings. We had a lot of samplers, too. Pictures are here: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.1044929907659801&type=3 

I talked about the “Endrucks 1920 Project” but not in the conference. I’m really happy that the Project has received many compliments from expert lacemakers. I told to the visitors about the “Game of the Month” and how many tatters have learned new techniques just to be able to take part. Of course, I stated clearly, it's not only my work, I’m only one of the many designers from all around the globe who contribute to the Project. I therefore gladly share the compliments with Muskaan and all the Endrucks group.

Also in this edition, I presented the Project like a school's work or a sampler book, but this time I tatted a subset of the derived models from E's vast collection and glued them in a second handmade accordion book. Many visitors knew only the “mandala-like” version of tatting designs, and couldn’t believe that it’s possible to reach such variety in shapes with tatting. In fact in the Project we have a vast range of motifs, from foliage to jewellery and many different shapes, including letters, and also 3D; these designs are not the tatting usually seen in exhibitions here in Italy! 

In January, February and March, I had very little time for the Endrucks’ Project, but I thought the exhibition could not have passed without something new, tatted especially for the occasion. So, in late January I had the insane idea to tat my banner to be put on top of the accordion book. I tatted one letter per night, about one hour and half per letter, I didn't mind if there were cuts and they were not perfect, they had to be good on the first try, I really didn’t have time to tat them twice. They were very fast to tat, because I had already tatted all the original patterns and I knew the patterns well. I also had the help of Muskaan, who saw a preview of my models and suggested to add chains for a bold look. I’m very grateful to my talented Partner In Crime, she’s always present and positive, and always encourages me.

Me wearing the earrings tatted with a pattern derived from E32 from the book 'Die Schiffchen-Spitszen', 1920, author Eleonore Endrucks-Leichtenstern, and already included in the “Endrucks 1920 Project”.

 A heartfelt thanks goes to all those who made this event possible, and to all the participants and visitors. Next appointment will be next year (2026), with participating associations from South Italy.

In the meantime, I try to promote tatting and the “Endrucks 1920 Project” whenever I can. I sent one of my works, together with a work made by Luigia Tosin in bobbin lace, to an exhibition in Orvieto (a city in Central Italy), that will be held in June. The event is called “An Iris for Orvieto”, and in fact I tatted a 3D iris flower, with a pattern derived from E11. I promise you that the pattern will be available in the Project’s collection. Pictures will come soon!

Ciao, Ninetta. 

what’s in a name

Here I am again, with another roundup for the #Endrucks1920Project. For the #NameMeEndrucks Game Of The Month in June 2024, we invited our group to go through the 44 patterns in the 1920 book, ‘Die Schiffchen-Spitszen’, and detect, adapt, and tat the letters of  ENDRUCKS’ name from the author’s own patterns, from any motif in the book.

June 28th is the birth anniversary of Frau Eleonore Endrucks, the author of the 1920’s tatting book for which our Endrucks 1920 Project (#Endrucks1920Project) has been created. She was born in 1885 in Cologne (Germany), exactly 140 years ago, and the book was published when she was 35yo. We should be very grateful to Simone Beyer, who discovered her birth date and even few biographical notes. This info is contained in a document with the translation into English of the book’s Preface and Tips. Here is the link – https://drive.google.com/file/d/1-LzBnvzj7azCWLXJACSvcNHegXfP4fv_/view 

We are planning to create a proper document about Frau Eleonore’s life and her family, thanks to the work behind the scenes by another lady, ElisaT, who’s also helping us in tracking down contemporary (1916 to 1935) patterns in the style of the Endrucks' book. I talked about it here: - https://ninettacaruso.blogspot.com/2024/04/findings-and-online-life.html

For years we had used a banner which I tatted following the alphabet designed by Edda Guastalla, very similar to Endrucks' style (but not included in our Project, it’s in Edda's Etsy shop). Frau Endrucks’ birth anniversary in June 2024 was the right occasion for organizing a game, with the aim to design our own Endrucksian letters, and hopefully assemble a new banner.

Eventually, the wonderful and clever group has produced many letters, banners, and numbers too, which continue to arrive till today! The list is growing and now they are all gathering in one specific directory - many have patterns, some are only tatted models. Here is the link: “Lettering & Numerals” – it includes letters, numbers, words, banners, and we hope there will be entire alphabet sets! –   https://docs.google.com/document/d/1S4AP67BmSNIRJ2Vo36EHgUQ3yQMkrIjCv43YvYvWWRE/view 

You can join the fun whenever you like! Here is the link to the game details, prepared by Muskaan - https://www.facebook.com/groups/1235560633606162/posts/1825973364564883/   .

And here is the link to the FB album dedicated to the Game - https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=oa.860405692809774&type=3

In this roundup there are ONLY pics of the letters and banners sent in DURING JUNE 2024 by members of the group, listed alphabetically. For this initial set, many patterns have been shared already and others are being prepared.

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1. Anita Spotz Barry – She posted a Number 2 extracted from E17, saying:– “I tried to stay true to Endruck’s pattern, yet tat a number 2 out of her arrangement of rings & chains”.
More surprisingly, the model turned counterclockwise 90° becomes a bird! Anita’s magic!

2. Julie Santos Villegas – She showed us her trials and first ideas and soon came up with a Number 2 extracted from E13, and a Number 8 extracted from E39 (models only). Then she showed us her work in progress for her own banner, and all her afterthought around the “S” in particular. Then, she put there a sentence we often read in our group! - “I learned a lot doing this project.“ - Me too, dear!
E is from E41 ; N is from E24 ; D is from E26 ; R is from E9 ; U is from E1 ; C is from E5 ; K is from E27 ; and S is from E23 .

We used the banner for happy new year wishes in the first week of 2025, and it is the current cover of our Fb group.

3. Lella Loops – Lella is the short name for Donatella, so she chose to needle tat the Letter D from E26.

4. Manju Talekar – Undoubtedly, she started with the idea of tatting a banner. She told us that she tatted the C and the E with two shuttles, in one pass, and used Lizbeth size 20 thread.
E is from E41 ; N is from E24 ; D is from E10  ; and C is from E1 .

Be prepared to something special, because she’s working on an entire alphabet, all letters derived from E17! In a few weeks she has already reached the halfway mark. Read updates in the “Lettering & Numerals” directory.

5. Muskaan – When we first talked about the Game, I was still in the nebulous phase when she immediately found 3 letters: in her words “E jumped right out from E2 without requiring any change; D could be extracted by rotating E5; and C was visible in E17 when flipped over!”. She thought she could not take an active (actual tatting) part in the game, but in June there was also the International Lace Day, a very tempting occasion to make the shuttles fly! By the end of that Day, she had two “C”, one from E17 and the other from E10 (both are still models only).
Then, for the Number 28 she tatted 3 versions, and shared in her blog a cascade of ideas (who else but she can see a squirrel from her number 2 ?????).
Read what she says here - https://tipsaroundthehome.blogspot.com/2024/06/see-cs.html
and here - https://tipsaroundthehome.blogspot.com/2024/06/evolutionary-addiction.html

6. Ninetta Caruso – Here is my tiny and crooked letter K adapted from E27. But the Smiling Lady said it’s “Italic” (or cursive), so I couldn’t object! 😄
It was not good at the first try and you can see my false starts in the background! Then I changed a little the stitch count and it eventually looked like the letter K!!

7. Paola Bevilacqua – She posted on 29th of June, just in time to gift us two letters, D from E19 (where she included two “captured picots”(*)!), and E from E32. Both were tatted using a metallic Sanbest thread, which she didn’t like working with. She was not fully satisfied with the E and reworked it later in October, with a more cooperative cotton thread. In October, she thought to use the E idea and transform it into a letter B or a number 8. Patterns are now all available.
(*) “captured picots” - https://ninettacaruso.blogspot.com/search/label/captured%20picot

8. Vani Kattoju – Just at the beginning of the month, she came out with an amazing full banner! Then she shared another R, from E9 (model only).
E is from E1 ; N is from E1 ; D is from E5 ; R is from E8 ; U is from E1 ; C is from E5 ; K is from E21 ; and S is from E28 .

We used her banner to celebrate the 3-year anniversary of the Fb group in the last months of 2024.

➤ Many more ideas and patterns, which have been shared afterward and still continue to arrive, are listed in the “Lettering & Numerals” directory –   https://docs.google.com/document/d/1S4AP67BmSNIRJ2Vo36EHgUQ3yQMkrIjCv43YvYvWWRE/view

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So, “what's in a name”? What we call just an edging, from another point of view, inspires and triggers creativity to transform into anything else, and it happens every time we look at it with new eyes. From me and Muskaan an enthusiastic thank you to everyone and the wish to always be inspired and have new eyes! We wouldn’t be wrong in saying in the name of creativity that Frau Eleonore would have been very proud of you!!  🥰

Read Important Endrucks 1920 Project links (EP Links) here
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1w1TZBg-HIzseGEUoJ-rko7tNbtSgZY5A18Oy2Y9Hh0Y/view – Save or bookmark this to easily access our vastly expanding Project -

Ciao,
Ninetta and Muskaan

roundup 2 - it’s time for garlands

Continuing from previous post, roundup for the August 2023 Tat-Along, #TALme2Endrucks, in the Fb Endrucks group, for the #Endrucks1920Project. Here is the link for the pattern -

E20 - Garland by Ninetta Caruso - https://drive.google.com/file/d/1i0z3vA3wlsiXY5LrWmnXjEYxW_PzoCe4/view

We organized the TALme2 game in this way: the pattern was shared in 3 parts for 3 weeks, and the 4th week there was an unplanned 4th part with variations, which came entirely from the Endrucksian Designers in our group! In fact, during the last part of the month, the TAL almost turned into a DAL! Muskaan and I tatted variations of the doily, too. Muskaan tatted the doily with the center flower with 7 petals (total 7 repetitions in each round, with an additional 6th round), and I tatted it with 6 repetitions in each round. You can find 8 different variations with pattern, designed by Muskaan and me, and by Silvana Buonvino, Paola Bevilacqua, Anna Bonelli, Paola Emilia Rotuletti, and one variation without pattern by Krystyna Mura. Here is the link to the pdf –

Tat-Along 2 Endrucks Aug2023 VARIATIONS - https://drive.google.com/file/d/1wGBwcDepBohKwBUi-7rVt3sv3g-rjSId/view

Including the two of us, we had a total of 34 participants (tatters who tatted at least Part1) and 47 doilies completed!!!

In the current and in previous posts there are pics of only the finished doilies (and the variations) sent in by members of the group, listed alphabetically. For WIP pics, you can visit our Facebook group -  https://www.facebook.com/groups/1235560633606162

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18. Mela Cabo – Great colours and beautiful tatting, she wanted us to know that she enjoyed the game and learned too!

19. Michelle Forclaz – Beautiful version. It seems as she blocked it very taut because the chain and the outer round are stretched, but this is kind of a personal taste. Those colours together are fantastic! The final look is striking!

20. Muskaan – Read about the "happy accident" by Muskaan here, where she miscounted and created a 7-repeat version: https://tipsaroundthehome.blogspot.com/2023/08/sneak-peek-variaiton.html

21. Neha Lodha –  The TAL helped her to overcome an issue: -“I managed to hurt my feet so now I will have enough time to finish the next rounds… I messed up the counting and instead of 8 I only did 6 repetitions. The pattern is really fun to try. I might make another doily with more colours next.” Thank you for playing with us, and for your bright yellow version!

22. Ninetta Caruso – You can see details of each model in the pdfs shared for the Game.

23. Paola Bevilacqua – For once, she used the size 80 DMC wisteria thread, and her version is pretty and delicate. But she didn’t get bored after the 5th round, in fact she gifted us her own additional rounds to enjoy!

24. Paola Emilia Rotuletti – She is definitely part of the “Serial Tatters” group, like Anna Tedesco and Daniela Galli – when they have the right time, they seem unstoppable! Paola not only tatted more than one version, all beautiful tatting, but also added her personal touch with 3 new rounds.

25. Pina Pellegrino – I love the swirling effect, but I think it's all the designer's fault if it turned out like this...

26. Reiko Akamatsu – She is one of the most active participants in the group and always very creative. I love how she added beads and colours to the simple daisy in the centre.

27. Riva Nudelman – Beautiful version, I like a lot the colour combo in her version.

28. Roberta Porati – A cheerful and festive version, that thread can make playful even the most serious pattern!

29. Sabrina Boniscontro – We love when the Game of the Month becomes an occasion to learn (or even get to know the existence of) a new technique. Sabrina’s progress was a joy to follow. Her final version is just beautiful, knowing from where she started.

30. Sharada Rajan – Absolutely agree with her words: “wonders of working with 9 fingers”! She injured one finger but was determined to tat the garland!

31. Sheetal Kakodkar – Lovely combination of red and pink thread, it resulted in a happy beautiful version!

32. Silvana Buonvino – This creative and talented tatter enjoyed the group with her version. After completing her own yellow outer round, she thought it would have been nice if repeating the 4th round, instead. No regrets dear Silvana, it is beautiful as it is! 

33. Stella Marina – You can say she is another of our “Serial Tatters”, lol! All her versions are beautiful, no doubts she liked the TAL!

34. Vani Kattoju – Very pleasant version. Love this colour combo, it looks a kind of magic swirling wheel!

 

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Spring is in the air and so I think it could be “garland time” again! You will never be late to join! Here is the link to the game details - https://www.facebook.com/groups/1235560633606162/posts/1649279985567556/  .
And here is the link to the FB album - https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=oa.257576480482332&type=3

From Muskaan and me, our renewed heartfelt thanks to all participants!

Ciao, Ninetta

Related Post –
https://ninettacaruso.blogspot.com/2025/04/roundup-1-its-time-for-garlands.html