The Queen’s Lace: A Story of a Knitted Lace Doily

A knitting student first introduced Ava T. Coleman to the knitting of Anna Marie Jensen. Ava recalls that the student wanted to make a doily like the one made by Anna Marie, which she had purchased as a child. Here’s Ava to tell us about another lace doily made by Anna Marie, but this one was knitted for a queen!

Imagine being a resident of a small town in eastern Colorado and receiving a letter from a queen asking for your help. That’s exactly what happened to Danish-born Anna Marie Jensen of Brush (2000 population, 5,117) in 1971.

Ava T. Coleman’s knitted doily, which was featured in the May/June 2011 issue of PieceWork. She used Anna Marie Jensen’s pattern for The Queen’s Lace.

Queen Ingrid of Denmark (1910–2000) was an avid knitter. She wanted to make a doily like one that she had in her lace collection but needed the instructions.

And she knew exactly whom to contact for help. Then Crown Princess Ingrid and her husband, Crown Prince Frederick, had met Anna Marie and seen some of her lace knitting during their visit to the Eben Ezer Lutheran Care Center in Brush in April 1939. Anna Marie, her trip sponsored by the queen and financed by the Danish Guild for the Promotion of Handiwork, returned to Denmark to re-create the directions for making “The Queen’s Lace.” In a 1982 interview, Anna Marie told Eben Ezer staff member Libby Scalise, “The doily was like a spider web . . . in fine-silk threads,” Anna Marie noted. “Her Majesty was quite satisfied with my work.”

Interested in reading more about Anna Marie? This article and a companion project can be found in the May/June 2011 issue of PieceWork.

Also, remember that if you are an active subscriber to PieceWork magazine, you have unlimited access to previous issues, including May/June 2011. See our help center for the step-by-step process on how to access them.

Ava T. Coleman began knitting at the age of three; at sixteen, she was marketing her knits in Snowmass and Aspen, Colorado, and teaching knitting, both to her fellow Girl Scouts and at a local yarn shop. Named a Colorado State Heritage Artist in 1997, she used the accompanying $5,000 grant to educate fiber artists and the public about the history of lace knitting.

Originally published December 4, 2018; updated June 16, 2025.