eNewsletter
October 2007

Visiting Lacis Museum of Lace and Textile

Sometimes, you do not appreciate places that are close to you until someone brings it to your attention. Recently, while I was talking to JC Briar, our wonderful knitting teacher, she mentioned that she enjoyed her trip to Lacis museum in Berkeley, California. Suddenly a light bulb lit up in my head. I live so close to Lacis, but our local guild has never had a field trip over there. What a shame! So we planned a trip and went there on Saturday, September 15 and what a treat it was! I was delighted to go again on September 27 accompanying JC and Bobbie Matela, editor of Creative Knitting magazine. We all enjoyed our visit very much.

Lacis is a hidden jewel in the San Francisco bay area. It was established in 1965 by Kaethe and Jules Kliot. It was operated by Kaethe until her passing in 2002. The Kliots have been preserving and collecting lace pieces for the past forty years. You can find collections of the 17th century European courts to pieces from pre-Colombian Peru.

In 2004 Lacis Museum of Lace and Textile was established. The museum is part of the retail store which contains fine pieces of lace, fabric and the most spectacular hand-made pieces of embroidery, lace, etc. Some pieces are so fine that you need a magnifying glass to examine the detailed work.

If you happen to travel to the San Francisco Bay Area, I highly recommend a trip to Lacis Museum of Lace and Textile. If a trip is not on your schedule any time soon, you still can enjoy some of the pieces you find at the museum, online at: www.lacismuseum.org.

Interested in knitted lace? Take a look at their new acquisition. If you are interested in Irish crochet lace, don’t miss the Irish Crochet exhibit.

Nazanin S. Fard

Needlecraft University