Lace: Treasure and trivia

I mentioned lace in an earlier post.

Two posts in one, about a personal lace treasure and some general lace trivia.

LACE TREASURE

As it happens, I inherited a small table and a wooden box for sewing supplies from an aunt. They were both made by my father’s grandfather, who was a very skilled fine woodworker. He made them as a gift to my grandmother. They’re made of birch wood, with intarsia – top notch woodwork from the 1920’s. 

I’ve heard many stories about my great-grandfather Alfred from my father, and I was honoured to be the new owner of these two pieces. Imagine my excitement when I discovered that the box was not empty: it was full of vintage lace!

Perhaps some of these old laces will get a new life now, through jewellery.

LACE TRIVIA

What else is there in lace? I got curious and asked the internet what other roles lace can play in our lives and in our language.

Here is some lace lingo trivia:

Pour some brandy in tea or coffee, and it is said to be laced. Same with drugs, mix them with another substance, f ex cocaine, and they are laced. If you get intoxicated by such a drink or drug, then you are laced.

It became clear to me that almost anything can be described as being laced:

a regime laced with protectionism and hipocrisy
music laced with emotions
a story laced with humour
food laced with preservatives
a region laced with deadly and invisible pollutants
games laced with racist themes
cautious optimism laced with hope
negotiations laced with frequent comments
good news laced with bad news
a discussion laced with agony
a wine’s fruit aromas laced with a touch of pepper
green fields laced with the fragrance of jasmine
hip-hop laced with some reggae
a team environment laced with challenges and opportunities
Canal-laced towns like Amsterdam
waters laced with agricultural fertilizers
fish laced with antibiotics
agreements laced with non-competition clauses
a political discourse laced with honesty
hills dotted with olive groves and laced with vineyards
fields laced with mines
calculation and luck laced with the possibility of failure
a city laced with a network of refugee camps
a language laced with Belorussian influences
apps laced with malicious advertisements
a gadget blog laced with malware
songs laced with string guitars
folk songs laced with insanity
an area laced with cycling routes and paths
long lanes of stars and gas laced with dust

In short, this list is our life and existence – harsh and beautiful – in a nutshell, laced with an awe of poetic wordings.

And to wrap up in a more jewellery-ish style: To be laced can also mean that you’re dressed in high-end clothing and jewellery.

I have always liked the idea of mixing hard metals with soft techniques. This year, my theme for the A to Z challenge is “Metal meets textile”. From A to Z, I talk about work with metal wire, textile techniques like crochet and knitting, show some pieces I’ve been working on, share some thoughts on metal, textile and jewellery. I hope that you’ll find something of interest to you!

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