Time for some crocheting, too!

I was mentioning my challenge and this blog to a sweet friend this week. She has a terrific little e-Bay boutique called The Ivory Mannequin (http://stores.ebay.com/The-Ivory-Mannequin) where she sells beee-uuu-teee-ful vintage dresses and lingerie, as well as more modern, quality women's clothing. She has seen an exciting trend in lace trimmings such as collars, cuffs, and chokers, and she encouraged me to set my hand to it.

I haven't crocheted any lace in a long time, apart from snowflakes each Christmas, so I was enthusiastic to take her suggestion. That directed me to another corner of my bedroom (actually under the bed) where I have a bin full of cotton crochet thread in various weights. It also propelled me to dig out some old patterns, books, and magazines with crocheted lace patterns.

I found the 1990 Premier issue of a magazine called White Crochet - actually, it might be the only issue they ever published! Ravelry had no record of it, in any case. I wasn't crazy about most of its patterns even when I purchased it, but there was a lovely Irish Lace Collar that I'd always wanted to try, so I decided to give it a go. It called for a size 30 thread and, fortunately, I had one ball of that size in white:

This is a nice, fine crochet thread, though admittedly not the finest. However, the size 11 steel crochet hook it called for was small enough for a first try without making me cross-eyed. Time for Project #3! Yay! Here's my progress after working just a little while the first night:

I'm having fun, and of course it just gives me another thing to prevent boredom with my two knitting projects, which are still in progress. So, thank you, dear Laura, and all you Steampunkers, Victorianas, and other lace-loving vintage afficianados who keep styles fresh and beautiful!