Handkerchief Edges

With a few days of enforced rest recently the crochet edge on the Grandma’s cloth is finally done. There are now just a couple of tiny details to stitch that she missed and the marks to be washed out of it before I post the finished item.

Crochet is a nice restful occupation, especially when there is no longer a need to consult the instructions. Unfortunately this also means I don’t find it particularly challenging so of course don’t have the patience to sit at it for hours.

With this piece finished it was important to have something under way , just waiting for that errant moment! Mind you, I have to admit that I am not sure about errant moments but I definitely have an errant brain! I have just found a linen handkerchief with an almost finished edging – when I started to crochet it I have no recollection – probably early last year.


I am one of a dying breed who refuses to use paper tissues except when I have a terrible cold. I just don't like the feel. Although I use cotton hankies for everyday it has always made sense to me to put my time and energy into linen. I may have to change this attitude as my supply has almost run out (this is the last, I think) and they are ridiculously expensive these days , even if I can find a supplier. Maybe I had better invest in a few as I think I have given away all but one of the many I have crocheted over the years.




Although I can’t remember this edge, I like it very much and it fulfils my criteria for crochet – the design must be fairly simple, no more than 4 rows deep and definitely not too lacy.

I have been collecting handkerchief edge designs for years and years. Some came from lovely old Myart, Paragon, Penelope, and Semco books , while others were pulled from magazines – this one was from a Family Circle, May 1982. I still occasionally find a book I don't own in an op shop or at a market. Is there anyone else out there who can remember the days when every department store and all those wonderful little haberdashery shops each had a rack of nice fine steel crochet hooks and a tremendous choice of cottons and the small pattern books? Now to find anything like that necessitates a hunt and a drive to goodness know where or else a shop over the web.

I have to apologise for the scan but it does give an indication of the edge and I promise to take a better one when it is finished.