On the first day of Rita de Maintenon's workshop we learned two related techniques — broomstick lace and hairpin lace. In all the pictures below, the swatches are oriented in the direction they were worked, from bottom to top.
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| a sample of broomstick lace |
Broomstick lace is a technique where large loops are created over a broomstick or other oversized dowel, such as a size 35 or 50 knitting needle. As in knitting but unlike ordinary crochet, there are many loops. These loops are crocheted together in groups, as in the example above. You can see how a group of loops forms and "eye," with a "crown" of single-crochet stitches at the top. In the photograph below, loops have been crocheted individually to make a mesh reminiscent of condo knitting.
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| broomstick mesh alternating rows over two different-sized dowels |
In either case, this is a technique that would lends itself to showing off a pretty yarn. I can definitely see this done with a ribbon yarn; and I am wondering how it would work for an art yarn? I am also wondering if you could work the big loops with a ribbon yarn but crochet them off with something plain? And then there is the question of adding long bugle beads? Or what if you made the loops and then wove them together? What if you woven a strip of fabric through the loops? What about different stitch patterns between the rows? What about working the eyes in a half-drop formation instead of lined up? What about using stitches other than single crochet for the crown? What about beads across the crown? As you can tell, there is a lot of opportunity for experimentation.
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| close-up of a strip of hairpin lace |
Hairpin lace can resemble broomstick lace in that both make big loops grouped together. In hairpin lace the loops are created on a hairpin fork. There are two rows of opposing loops secured in their shared center by a crocheted spine. Something about hairpin lace reminds me of a centipede. Typical hairpin lace projects involve making strips and then joining the strips together, either by crocheting or lacing (what knitters would call Russian grafting). In the swatch below, two strips of hairpin lace have been joined by lacing clusters of four loops up the center of the swatch. Crowns of single crochet were worked on the sides to form eyes from the remaining loops. The effect mimics broomstick lace.
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| two stripes of hairpin lace joined at center and crocheted around edges |
There can be variations. You can offset the spine so both sets of loops are not the same size. You can change how loops are laced together or join them alternative ways. You can use different-sized hairpin forks to make the strips narrower or wider. If you want the strip to be wavy, you can join single loops and then join a cluster together to cause the strip to twist to the side. You can even make a strip and gather all the loops on one side together for form a circle. Because of the long loops, this is another technique with the potential to show off ribbon or art yarns.
Because both broomstick lace and hairpin lace involve making rows of live loops, they lend themselves to collaboration with knitting. Rita's book
Crochet for Knitters: A Marriage of Hook and Needles explores this. I can see the potential to use either technique to create insertions of unusual yarn in the middle of garments made from otherwise fairly ordinary yarn.
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