Nuts

Jean Leader

Lacemaker and Textile Enthusiast

Nuts

Not all the lace I make is serious, and every now and then I like to do something a little different using lace techniques, just for fun.

Nuts — actual size 6 x 26 cm

In 1999 the theme for the competition at the Lace Guild Convention was ‘Nuts’. Instead of the edible kind, I thought of the nuts that go with bolts, and searching for these led me to the collection of electrical wires and bits of electronic equipment that my son had amassed before he ‘left the nest’. I gathered together nuts, wires and some other bits and pieces, drew out a simple Torchon grid on squared paper, found some suitable bobbins and a pillow, and you can see the result here. It was started in the air somewhere between Newark and Denver (we were going skiing in Colorado in the days when there were no restrictions on hand luggage). The finished piece was mounted on hand-made paper on a piece of hardboard.

It didn’t win a prize at the Lace Guild Convention, but my son certainly liked it — it currently decorates his apartment!

Detail showing some of the nuts and other bits.