A Jubilee Rose

An idea for a pattern to celebrate the Golden Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II has been mulling in my mind for quite a while – perhaps, to co-incide with Pat’s needlepoint pattern, I might design a circular pattern based on a crown or one of Her Majesty’s tiaras?

However, it was the invitation to present a talk on lace as part of the Jubilee Celebration put on by Christchurch and District Arts Council (CADArts) in June that gave me the clue I needed.  My research into Lace in the Second Elizabethan Age included leafing through a pile of recently acquired old needlework magazines which turned out to include two Coronation issues with a number of lace patterns inspired by that event.  These were not bobbin lace but fillet crochet and knitted lace, far more commonly tackled by skilled needlewomen at that time.

Among the roses and thistles, crowns and blessings was a striking advertisement in Pins and Needles June 1953 for a knitted lace ‘Rose of England’ tablecloth by Marianne (Kinzel?) which made me think that a Tudor Rose might be a suitable project for me to tackle too.

 It was simple to draw up a pattern inspired by it, but I was unhappy at my first attempt that I had not really caught the right character of this distinctive emblem.

So I looked back through some history books and dug out photos of Tudor carving at Hampton Court Palace and a portrait of Henry VII, to find a more authentic source, and then tweaked my pattern so that its shapes better represented my goal.

A busy summer has meant that it has only now come off my pillow, after the end of the official Jubilee celebrations, but still within the coronation anniversary. I have made it not in the traditional red and white but in two shades of gold to fit the Jubilee, the choice partly influenced by the fear that I did not have enough of the deeper shade to make the whole pattern. In the event, I am glad that was the case, since this pattern turned out to be an ideal vehicle for interpretation in that manner, the threads running through naturally with no artifice needed to keep the paler colours inside their petals other than one whole stitch ground stitch instead of half-stitch at each corner.

The thread used was Moravia 40/2;alternatives could be Goldschild 66/3 or 80/3 in two shades of yellow, Bockens 60/2 or Colcoton 34/2. Since I had some thicker Moravia 50/4 in stock, I used this for the outer petal trails and the two outer passives at the edge (joined at the end by the Russian tape method), with a third pair in a slightly darker colour at the outside. I had to fill my bobbins several times for the petal edges, but one can be fairly economical with the others, especially the central threads.  If using Goldschild, one could use a thicker thread count in the outer petals than in the inner ones – certainly 50/3 and possibly 30/3 although one would need to experiment here.  One could also make use of their range of thicknesses by making the central portion in 80/3 and the outer portion in 66/3 to accommodate the different dot pitches in the pattern.

On the enlarged sement there are two dots highlighted in red. Change ground stitch to whole-stitch, pin, whole-stitch at these pinholes, otherwise use half-stitch, pin, half-stitch.

Click on the pattern to see segment full size

Since this is an A3 pattern, with the lace measuring nearly 11 inches diameter, I have scanned one fifth of the design – overlap the outer dots to create the full pattern. Alternatively, email your address and we will give you instructions on how to send for the complete pattern (we just need suitable P&P).  I will issue it as a pattern pack eventually but offer it free at the moment in the spirit of celebration and fellowship engendered by what has been a joyful summer here.

The pattern will fit in the circular silver trays sold by Gilde van den Bergh and one could go the whole hog by using one that has been gold-plated.