Netting Artist, Stephanie Crossman
 
On November 2, 2013, I discovered Stephanie Crossman, of Vinalhaven, Maine  www.mainenetbags.com at a Maine Crafts Guild museum show located in the large entrance lobby of the Maine State Museum.  When I exclaimed that some of her Netting was like lace art, and introduced myself, she asked if I knew Lauran Sundin.  It was then that we knew we could "talk lace".
 
This artist has a web site that features a limited selection of her creations.  I suggest you look at each tab:
 
Pocket bags, Shopping bags, Shawls and Scarves are what you would expect, though each is unique.  But the one you really must view is Sculpture.
 
These items are made with very fine threads, using old hand-made tools inherited from a great grandmother, not standard-size netting needles.  All these small thread sculptures were presented in protective shadow boxes, none much more that 8" in height.  The featured item is a Jelly Fish, and it was the first that caught my eye.  It is shaped to puff out from the surface, somewhat like a child's balloon.  Then, position your screen arrow over the Sand Dollar, Lady's Slipper, Bird. and Fish to enlarge other images.  All are 3-D.
 
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For research and instruction, there are chapters in books devoted to Netting, but fully-dedicated-to-the-subject books may be hard to find.  IOLI has some, listed with Needle Lace books:
 
http://www.internationalorganizationoflace.org/iolilibrarylist.pdf
 
N-065 Art of Netting from the Kliots - 112 p. reprint
N-084 Beautiful Netting, by Rita Bartholomew - 66 p. for 2001 IOLI Class
N-057 Harper's Bazar (sic) Netting Patterns - 26 p. of articles & patterns
N-034 Knotting & Netting, by Lisa Melen - 88 p. hardback
N-082 Make Nets, Here's How, by H.T. Ludgate - 72 p.
N-066 Priscilla Netting Book - 40 p.
 
My lace library inventory contains over 1,000 book titles and I had been looking for one on Netting for a long time.  At the Caen OIDFA Congress, a German book dealer offered "Knotting and Netting - The Art of Filet Work - Designs, Materials, Techniques", originally published in Sweden in 1971, and re-published in the U.S. by Van Nostrand Reinhold in 1972.  Library of Congress # 72-1857 and ISBN # 0-442-29958-3.  I looked at the Netting section, illustrated with pictures, before buying.  It would be worthwhile to try to borrow from InterLibrary Loan.
 
New England magazines (like Yankee and Downeast Maine) often contain articles about local crafts and historic homes, some of which have pictured Netted bed canopies.  The 2-volume set "The Treasury of Early American Homes" by Dorothy and Richard Platt (republished frequently since 1946) shows Netted bed canopies at Gore Place and Whipple House.  A woven fabric canopy is shown at the Nathan Hale house.  Attached at the edges is a Netted trim that looks to be about 8" wide.
 
These may all have been replaced with reproductions, since my books are over 50 years of age.  I am guessing this, because the nets were stretched tautly, which may have weakened them over time.  Sharing these resources, in the event photos are needed for anyone's research files.
 
Information is the way I can share with the NELG, since I no longer make lace.
 
Jeri Ames in Maine USA
Lace and Embroidery Resource Center