Customer Reviews

Irish Crochet: Technique and Projects (Dover Needlework)

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Finding this book was a revelation to me! This unabridged reprint of the Priscilla Irish Crochet Book first published in 1909 by The Priscilla Publishing Company in Boston is filled with exquisite Irish crochet such as is rarely seen or made today. Leaf through this book and you will be astounded by the breathtaking delicacy and intricacy of which a hook and a thread is capable! Three-dimensional roses, shamrocks, thistles, passion flowers, daisies, blackberries, grapevines, chysantheums, and myriad other motifs and floral pendants, with instructions for making up -- using the various background and edge stitches -- into a variety of beautiful items, from edgings, insertions, medallions, and doilies to stunning masterpieces such as purses, collars, cuffs, portrait hats, blouses, gowns, and coats. With crochet hooks in sizes ranging from 13 through 16 and cotton threads in sizes 40 up to 100, I have made a many of the projects in this book, all absolutely spectacular!

This book opened a whole new dimension of crochet for me. --Beautiful, mind-boggling stuff. The directions are quite accurate although rather different from modern crochet books. Loved it!! This book was 1st published in 1907, and raised rather interesting questions, like :how big was an Irish match 93 years ago? You are supposed to wrap cord around 1 to 4 matches. My answer: best to add one to their count- I use 3 Chinese wooden skewers for their 2 matches!!

Thank goodness for reprints. Learn how to create an heirloom quality piece of crochet for your family. Directions and illustrations are easy to understand and follow.

I love this book. The crochet patterns are amazing. If you love crochet and are up for a challenge this is for you. All the instructions are written out (no graphs) so you do have to put in a bit of effort. I'm thinking I might photocopy each piece and then highlight each row as I go. Each piece is photographed and even if the instructions seem a bit unclear you can refer to the photo and figure it out.
Even if you don't want to make Irish lace the decorative possibilities of the patterns is exciting.

I have only had time to breifly look at the book but I am impressed. I plan to soon start working on the projects so I can gain a better understanding of this beautiful art. I want to be able to pass the knowledge on to others so it won't be forgotten.