Mystery Solved--Magic Lost?

Remember how excited I was to discover that I owned a tatted handkerchief that was identical to one in Mary Konior's collection? I made some fanciful assumptions in my belief that this tatting method predated published patterns.

Well, duh, the pattern was sitting on my bookshelf all along. Here it is on page 51 of "Tatting and Netting" by Butterick 1896, New York.



Was Mary Konior wrong in dating her piece as early 19th century? Maybe not. This book contains patterns that look like they were copied from previous works, and patterns that seem based on counting the stitches in old (to them) pieces of lace. So I still can't be sure when the design first came about, but I have to admit to the possibility that my handkerchief from Ohio could have been worked from the Butterick book. Sigh. It's still very precious to me.

By the way, this book, "Tatting and Netting" has some fascinating designs in it.

You can download it for free from Georgia here (scroll down about halfway)

or from the Antique Pattern Library here (toward the bottom of the page)


or you can purchase a soft cover bound book from most tatting dealers under the title "Old Fashioned Tatting Patterns Book 1"