Re: [lace] learning Binche
Lorelei, welcome to the world of Binche. I can't pretend to be an expert, but after some work and completed pieces, I have to say it is the most surprising and interesting kind of lace. I love how you have to be completely absorbed in it while making it. Once you get the hang of it, the itty bitty thread and their complicated gyrations make sense and you know where to find that last pair that has to come from all the way on the other side of the lace! I also have an eye for what I know as Antwerp lace which was a little earlier. It is not quite as complex and I love the patterns. These are the laces that are in the collections Karoluskantjes and Onder die Louep. Some of the peasant laces from the Flemish areas are very similar, too. (OIDFA had a woking committee that produced several folios of patterns under the titel Die Leinenkast. So much lace, so little time! Patty - To unsubscribe send email to majord...@arachne.com containing the line: unsubscribe lace y...@address.here. For help, write to arachne.modera...@gmail.com. Photo site: http://community.webshots.com/user/arachne2003
Re: [lace] Hand made crochet - not.
bev walker walker.b...@gmail.com wrote: People who know hand crochet will see it as it is, people who don't do handwork at all won't care. I disagree. Yes, there are people who won't care, but there will also be people who will buy the garment because they believe it has handmade crochet trim. Lying to convince people they're buying something of value is fraud. Robin P. Los Angeles, California, USA robinl...@socal.rr.com - To unsubscribe send email to majord...@arachne.com containing the line: unsubscribe lace y...@address.here. For help, write to arachne.modera...@gmail.com. Photo site: http://community.webshots.com/user/arachne2003
[lace] Hand versus machine knitting (was Hand made crochet - not.)
Clay said Still, back when the machines were something of a novelty, there was a basic machine (made by Bond as I recall), that simply knitted. Any color work, cables, increases or decreases, etc., all had to be made by hand. So, people who made a garment on the Bond knitting machine were allowed to enter it to be judged in the same category as hand-knits. Looking at this from both sides, as I have a computerised machine and Mum used to judge knitting classes, the argument is flawed. A computerised machine can only select needle combinations, so the fancy knitting is *limited* to things such as fairisle, tuck stitches, weaving, and some lace patterns which can be produced by by working on some needles and not on others. It can't automatically do cables, any lace pattern that requires increasing stitches on one row and decreasing them on another, anything that requires short row knitting such as socks or bobbles. It also can't do the increases and decreases. All these are hand manipulated. But on the other hand, what any knitting machine can do, from the basic Bond or single bed to the most modern, is produce absolutely even stocking stitch, and if a ribber is available as well, very even rib stitches. Even when hand manipulating the stitches for cables and lace, this even tension is maintained. As the eveness and tension of the knitting is one of the biggest considerations when judging, next to the sewing up and finishing, it seems to me that for a considerable percentage of the possible marks, the machine knitter has an unfair advantage. Add to that the fact that even with a lot of hand work added, machine knitting is always quicker than hand knitting, then I consider it most unfair that they were allowed to compete in the same class. Jacquie in Lincolnshire - To unsubscribe send email to majord...@arachne.com containing the line: unsubscribe lace y...@address.here. For help, write to arachne.modera...@gmail.com. Photo site: http://community.webshots.com/user/arachne2003
[lace] Hand made crochet - not
The first comment on this was about a garment from Sainsburys, and it was wondered whether complaining to them would have any effect. On a consumer TV programme a couple of weeks ago a man had bought a frying pan from Sainsburys which was described as British made. When he got it home and looked at the label more closely, in small print was Made in China. The programme questioned Sainsburys about the two different countries of origin and they looked into it and found that it wasn't made in China at all, but was totally British made. So would it do any good telling them that the crochet wasn't hand made? Do they even know themselves? Do they know what they're selling at all? Is ignorance an excuse? Apart from sitting down with their buyer and showing them what's wrong, you'd probably just baffle them with science. Jean in Poole, Dorset, UK - To unsubscribe send email to majord...@arachne.com containing the line: unsubscribe lace y...@address.here. For help, write to arachne.modera...@gmail.com. Photo site: http://community.webshots.com/user/arachne2003
Re: [lace] Jan Messent's Books on Creative Use of Yarn
With all the discussion about knitting the royal wedding figures, I thought some Arachnes might like to dig up a Search Press series of published books by Jan Messent (England). They could inspire our needlelace makers and teachers to re-interpret the figures. This would be close to Stumpwork techniques which were first made 4 centuries ago to attach to fancy mirror frames, caskets (jewelry boxes), and so forth. In the same style you also have Jean Greenhowe. I have several of her booklets but haven't knitted anything from them (yet). I quite dislike seaming. hah. Hence my tendency to knit lace shawls and stranded things in the round. Also, what I wanted to ask: Is it true that silk has no memory? I am making a lace shawl from the silk my dear mother gave me. Usually I block my shawls. But a friend told me it would be of little use as it will come back to its original size as the silk has no memory. Nathalie - To unsubscribe send email to majord...@arachne.com containing the line: unsubscribe lace y...@address.here. For help, write to arachne.modera...@gmail.com. Photo site: http://community.webshots.com/user/arachne2003
Re: [lace] learning Binche
Lorelei Patty, I agree with what Lorelei has said, and Patty--you listed all the pattern sources I've completely fallen in love with! I'm certainly no expert, not having had time to work very many of them yet, but I've found some of the older Binche/Old Flanders patterns to be as complicated as modern Binche in the thread paths through some of the more complicatedly shaped cloth-stitch areas. I guess the overall sense of complexity is partly based on whether snowballs come easily or hard. The one thing I would add is that I found snowballs coming much more easily to me after working a sampler of short lengths of a number of the grounds from Michael Guisiana's book Binche II. (I think it's II--I don't have my books with me.) It was also fun to be able eventually to whip through them in each little length, then tackle a new complexity. Enjoy! Nancy Connecticut, USA, where the sun is shining in spite of the weather forecasters :-) From: Patricia M. Dowden pa...@clowder.com To: lace@arachne.com Sent: Tue, May 3, 2011 2:26:48 AM Subject: Re: [lace] learning Binche So much lace, so little time! Patty Lorelei, welcome to the world of Binche. - To unsubscribe send email to majord...@arachne.com containing the line: unsubscribe lace y...@address.here. For help, write to arachne.modera...@gmail.com. Photo site: http://community.webshots.com/user/arachne2003
[lace] Hijacking again
Dear Friends, It appears facebook account have been hijacked yet again!!! If you receive an offer to see who's been checking your profile it did not really come from me. I received it from Dorte in Denmark, and now it's duly doing the rounds. Last time this happened I had to change my Facebook Password, which I shall do right now and then go to bed and see if it's fixed tomorrow. David in Ballarat - To unsubscribe send email to majord...@arachne.com containing the line: unsubscribe lace y...@address.here. For help, write to arachne.modera...@gmail.com. Photo site: http://community.webshots.com/user/arachne2003
Re: [lace] antique bobbins
I had bought some old bobbins (mixed lot of 9) from e-bay and had them sent to Jacquie to be collected during my recent trip to UK. When I opened the envelope I could immediately smell tobacco smoke on the bobbins and they were very dirty, old and dry looking. I was going to bring them home, but decided to leave them with Jacquie to clean with her supply of Granny Almans Old Fashioned Furniture Polish Reviver. I can recommend it because I had used it on a pile of Bucks Thumpers that I'd bought second hand on the Lace Guild Sales table a couple of years ago and which were also dry and dirty. I had some of those Thumpers with me in Spain and they were admired by people who had never seen that type of bobbin and they looked quite beautiful on my pillow. Malvary (back in Ottawa where it is raining and miserable - just like it was in Spain over Easter). - To unsubscribe send email to majord...@arachne.com containing the line: unsubscribe lace y...@address.here. For help, write to arachne.modera...@gmail.com. Photo site: http://community.webshots.com/user/arachne2003
Re: [lace] Hand made crochet - not.
From: Adele Shaak ash...@shaw.ca She immediately pointed out that although it *was* machine-knit, it was *also* hand-knit because a human hand had worked the knitting machine. I'm still wrapping my brain around that one. As one lady said to me 'it's hand made because I made it' to which I replied 'but you made it on a machine'. This was about knitting. I tried to explain that she wouldn't call something made with a sewing machine hand made but she said she would. Nowt so queer as folk. Kind Regards Liz Baker thelace...@btinternet.com My chronicle of my bobbins can be found at my website: http://thelacebee.weebly.com/ - To unsubscribe send email to majord...@arachne.com containing the line: unsubscribe lace y...@address.here. For help, write to arachne.modera...@gmail.com. Photo site: http://community.webshots.com/user/arachne2003
RE: [lace] Hand made crochet - not.
Is this the difference between hand made and home made, then? Margery. margerybu...@o2.co.uk in North Herts, UK -Original Message- From: owner-l...@arachne.com [mailto:owner-l...@arachne.com] On Behalf Of The Lace Bee Sent: Tuesday, May 03, 2011 7:37 PM To: Arachne list Subject: Re: [lace] Hand made crochet - not. From: Adele Shaak ash...@shaw.ca She immediately pointed out that although it *was* machine-knit, it was *also* hand-knit because a human hand had worked the knitting machine. I'm still wrapping my brain around that one. As one lady said to me 'it's hand made because I made it' to which I replied 'but you made it on a machine'. This was about knitting. I tried to explain that she wouldn't call something made with a sewing machine hand made but she said she would. Nowt so queer as folk. Kind Regards Liz Baker - To unsubscribe send email to majord...@arachne.com containing the line: unsubscribe lace y...@address.here. For help, write to arachne.modera...@gmail.com. Photo site: http://community.webshots.com/user/arachne2003
Re: [lace] Hand made crochet - not.
I'm not sure where one would draw the line--do the seams have to be handsewn? The cloth hand-woven? The thread hand-spun? The fibers hand-harvested or carded? The cotton hand-grown or the sheep hand-reared and shorn? The reason I take the question to such a silly extreme is that we can all agree that the extreme is silly, but where in-between does it stop being silly? There are lace equivalents, I think, such as Carrickmacross and Battenberg. I've had people tell me that they don't consider either real lace, the first because it is basically embroidery and the second because it uses machine-made tapes. But both require handwork to achieve the results, and skilled handwork if the results are going to be pleasing, and the results are certainly lace if one uses any of several definitions--e.g., holes with threads around them, textiles with a pattern of holes in them, etc. Perhaps Carrickmacross on machine-made net is not lace but guipure Carrickmacross is? What about drawn work? Well, these statements/questions should bring some opinions out of the closet!! Nancy Connecticut, USA From: Margery Allcock margerybu...@o2.co.uk To: Arachne list lace@arachne.com Sent: Tue, May 3, 2011 3:24:07 PM Subject: RE: [lace] Hand made crochet - not. that she wouldn't call something made with a sewing machine hand made but she said she would. Is this the difference between hand made and home made, then? Margery. margerybu...@o2.co.uk in North Herts, UK ... - To unsubscribe send email to majord...@arachne.com containing the line: unsubscribe lace y...@address.here. For help, write to arachne.modera...@gmail.com. Photo site: http://community.webshots.com/user/arachne2003
[lace] Brioude
This album has photos from an exposition at Brioude. A great variety of laces, including many fans, quite a few polychrome blonde, and some 3 D pieces and some modern work. https://picasaweb.google.com/bolillos.marixa/Brioude2011?feat=content_notific ation# Lorelei - To unsubscribe send email to majord...@arachne.com containing the line: unsubscribe lace y...@address.here. For help, write to arachne.modera...@gmail.com. Photo site: http://community.webshots.com/user/arachne2003
Re: [lace] Brioude
Bags I the hat in photo no 4 perfect Mother of the Bride Hat!! (or the burgundy one.) LOL Sue On 3 May 2011, at 20:44, Lorelei Halley wrote: This album has photos from an exposition at Brioude. A great variety of laces, including many fans, quite a few polychrome blonde, and some 3 D pieces and some modern work. https://picasaweb.google.com/bolillos.marixa/Brioude2011?feat=content_notific ation# - To unsubscribe send email to majord...@arachne.com containing the line: unsubscribe lace y...@address.here. For help, write to arachne.modera...@gmail.com. Photo site: http://community.webshots.com/user/arachne2003
[lace] handmade
Nancy and all These definitions are always a problem. I have trouble understanding why someone using a knitting machine would join a contest for hand knitting. The only reason that makes sense is when the machines first came out and were still very rare. A woman has one, uses it, and wants to show off what she can do. But the skill set for operating a knitting machine is quite different, I think, from the skills a hand knitter needs. Once the machines become common, comparing yourself to others who use the same machine makes more sense. As for lace definitions, myself, I have no problem with a very broad definition: any textile with holes is lace. ( I especially like the definition of holes surrounded by thread) . It doesn't matter to me if it incorporates some machine made elements, such as Battenberg or Carrickmacross (both of which are lace, I think). Embroidery on net is lace. Embroidery which makes holes in fabric is lace -- Hardanger, pulled thread, reticella, cutwork, drawnwork. A large part of the reason is that all these forms present similar problems for designing them. Lace is about juxtaposing dense areas and open transparent areas. It is about presenting a variety of weaves and textures in a way that keeps the eye moving and roaming all over it. It is about textures added to the density variations. Even though a lot of modern lace, of any description, uses color, the essential thing about lace is this variety of textures and densities. But I still would not put bobbin tape lace and Battenberg in the same competition, nor Carrickmacross and Limerick. Although it might be interesting to set up a competition for, say, collars. Specify a peter pan shaped collar, must be white or cream, must be 4 inches deep, use any lace technique whatsoever, including Hardanger and Battenberg, embroidered net, bobbin lace, needle lace. And judge on the basis of good lace design, good juxtaposition of dense and open. And specifiy that all the collars will be judged from a distance of 15 feet, the judges will not be allowed to get closer. (You would have to announce it far in advance, because the needlelacers need much more time to finish a piece than the others do.) Lorelei - To unsubscribe send email to majord...@arachne.com containing the line: unsubscribe lace y...@address.here. For help, write to arachne.modera...@gmail.com. Photo site: http://community.webshots.com/user/arachne2003
Re: [lace] Hand made crochet - not.
What about if it's only influenced by traditional Carrickmacross lace as per the Royal School of Needlework's press release about the lace used on a certain wedding dress for which the designer sourced a series of lace motifs? Brenda On 3 May 2011, at 20:43, Nancy Neff wrote: There are lace equivalents, I think, such as Carrickmacross and Battenberg. I've had people tell me that they don't consider either real lace, the first because it is basically embroidery and the second because it uses machine-made tapes. But both require handwork to achieve the results, and skilled handwork if the results are going to be pleasing, and the results are certainly lace if one uses any of several definitions--e.g., holes with threads around them, textiles with a pattern of holes in them, etc. Perhaps Carrickmacross on machine-made net is not lace but guipure Carrickmacross is? Brenda in Allhallows www.brendapaternoster.co.uk - To unsubscribe send email to majord...@arachne.com containing the line: unsubscribe lace y...@address.here. For help, write to arachne.modera...@gmail.com. Photo site: http://community.webshots.com/user/arachne2003
RE: [lace] handmade
Nancy and all These definitions are always a problem.. Lorelei === My personal definition of lace is string and a hole! No hole, no lace. No string, no lace. Patty - To unsubscribe send email to majord...@arachne.com containing the line: unsubscribe lace y...@address.here. For help, write to arachne.modera...@gmail.com. Photo site: http://community.webshots.com/user/arachne2003
Re: [lace] handmade
Hi all, According to the definitions given so far a string vest or a sock with a hole in it could be lace. I feel the phrase 'and should be aesthetically pleasing' should be added;-)) Joepie -Original Message- From: Patty Dowden Sent: Tuesday, May 03, 2011 9:28 PM To: lace@arachne.com Subject: RE: [lace] handmade Nancy and all These definitions are always a problem.. Lorelei === My personal definition of lace is string and a hole! No hole, no lace. No string, no lace. Patty - To unsubscribe send email to majord...@arachne.com containing the line: unsubscribe lace y...@address.here. For help, write to arachne.modera...@gmail.com. Photo site: http://community.webshots.com/user/arachne2003 - To unsubscribe send email to majord...@arachne.com containing the line: unsubscribe lace y...@address.here. For help, write to arachne.modera...@gmail.com. Photo site: http://community.webshots.com/user/arachne2003
Re: [lace] handmade
Hey! Wotcher sayin' ? You no lika my lacy string vest?? From: J-D Hammett jdhamm...@msn.com To: Patty Dowden pa...@clowder.com; Arachne lace@arachne.com Sent: Tue, May 3, 2011 5:18:18 PM Subject: Re: [lace] handmade Hi all, According to the definitions given so far a string vest or a sock with a hole in it could be lace. I feel the phrase 'and should be aesthetically pleasing' should be added;-)) Joepie - To unsubscribe send email to majord...@arachne.com containing the line: unsubscribe lace y...@address.here. For help, write to arachne.modera...@gmail.com. Photo site: http://community.webshots.com/user/arachne2003
Re: [lace] handmade
Joepie, I have to agree with you completely! However, (gloom and despair!), what pleases one does not please the other,and so... you have a very broad definition which includes the string vest and the sock with a hole in it. I, for one, have long since stopped putting my work in competitions. If it pleases me, that is enough. The eternal State Fair which occurs in the US in every state (I think?) in the union, has opportunities for exhibiting lace and competing for ribbons. I am not willing to put hundreds of hours of work on display on a table where the public can touch (and in the worst case, pilfer?). I am not convinced that the jurors in state fairs know anything about bobbin lace (although I know that for a number of years, our own Tamara Duvall donated her services for this). I'm always pleased when I hear that a lacemaker has taken a ribbon at a fair, but the risk isn't worth the prize for me. Sadly, I don't know of exhibits/competitions that rival the splendors of European exhibits which focus completely on lace and/or fine embroidery. I'd love to know about them if they exist!! Clay On 5/3/2011 5:18 PM, J-D Hammett wrote: Hi all, According to the definitions given so far a string vest or a sock with a hole in it could be lace. I feel the phrase 'and should be aesthetically pleasing' should be added;-)) Joepie - To unsubscribe send email to majord...@arachne.com containing the line: unsubscribe lace y...@address.here. For help, write to arachne.modera...@gmail.com. Photo site: http://community.webshots.com/user/arachne2003
Re: [lace] handmade
The annual lace contest at the International Old Lacers Convention has been garnering some pretty impressive entries lately. Also the judges are knowledgeable. Devon In a message dated 5/3/2011 6:23:24 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time, clayblackw...@comcast.net writes: Joepie, I have to agree with you completely! However, (gloom and despair!), what pleases one does not please the other,and so... you have a very broad definition which includes the string vest and the sock with a hole in it. I, for one, have long since stopped putting my work in competitions. If it pleases me, that is enough. The eternal State Fair which occurs in the US in every state (I think?) in the union, has opportunities for exhibiting lace and competing for ribbons. I am not willing to put hundreds of hours of work on display on a table where the public can touch (and in the worst case, pilfer?). I am not convinced that the jurors in state fairs know anything about bobbin lace (although I know that for a number of years, our own Tamara Duvall donated her services for this). I'm always pleased when I hear that a lacemaker has taken a ribbon at a fair, but the risk isn't worth the prize for me. Sadly, I don't know of exhibits/competitions that rival the splendors of European exhibits which focus completely on lace and/or fine embroidery. I'd love to know about them if they exist!! Clay On 5/3/2011 5:18 PM, J-D Hammett wrote: Hi all, According to the definitions given so far a string vest or a sock with a hole in it could be lace. I feel the phrase 'and should be aesthetically pleasing' should be added;-)) Joepie - To unsubscribe send email to majord...@arachne.com containing the line: unsubscribe lace y...@address.here. For help, write to arachne.modera...@gmail.com. Photo site: http://community.webshots.com/user/arachne2003 - To unsubscribe send email to majord...@arachne.com containing the line: unsubscribe lace y...@address.here. For help, write to arachne.modera...@gmail.com. Photo site: http://community.webshots.com/user/arachne2003
[lace] Definition of lace
Lace by definition has thread/yarn/rope/cord that is worked to make something with holes that . this is hard! There are so many types of lace now with similarities to other crafts - weaving and needlework for example that defining lace in a broad sense is very difficult. I find I look at some lace and although I know the technique used is bobbin lace I see weaving - expecially some of the more recent work. Then there is needlelace that uses embroidery techniques to give a lace look. Wasn't the first laces made using a needle and thread? then copied by using bobbins, shuttle, crochet hooks and knitting needles? I have no better definintion at this stage. regards Jenny Brandis Kununurra, Western Australia - To unsubscribe send email to majord...@arachne.com containing the line: unsubscribe lace y...@address.here. For help, write to arachne.modera...@gmail.com. Photo site: http://community.webshots.com/user/arachne2003
Re: [lace] handmade
Just as I hit the send button on that email, I realized that the IOLI competitions were always impressive *and* had knowledgeable judges. Sorry if I gave the wrong impression. Clay On 5/3/2011 6:37 PM, dmt11h...@aol.com wrote: The annual lace contest at the International Old Lacers Convention has been garnering some pretty impressive entries lately. Also the judges are knowledgeable. Devon Sadly, I don't know of exhibits/competitions that rival the splendors of European exhibits which focus completely on lace and/or fine embroidery. I'd love to know about them if they exist!! - To unsubscribe send email to majord...@arachne.com containing the line: unsubscribe lace y...@address.here. For help, write to arachne.modera...@gmail.com. Photo site: http://community.webshots.com/user/arachne2003
Re: [lace] learning Binche
From: Patricia M. Dowden pa...@clowder.com snip I also have an eye for what I know as Antwerp lace which was a little earlier. It is not quite as complex and I love the patterns. These are the laces that are in the collections Karoluskantjes and Onder de Loep. == I took Nora Andries' class in Ithaca a few years ago. I have done a little bit of Flanders and have always aspired to doing the cover piece on Binche Syllabus III(yes, I know.g). At that time I had not considered myself quite ready to attempt Binche despite my lofty aspirations. Nora's class was advertised as Renaissance plaited laces and as I was in the mood for something not too taxing, I chose it. It was, in fact, full of pieces from her Karoluskantjes and Onder de Loep and while it was quite a workout compared to the easy class I had anticipated, I came out of it realizing that maybe I was prepared to try Binche after all. (Thanks to Tina Allen, my classmate who gave me some of those sticky arrows when I kept losing my place...(-:) I would say to anyone wishing to do Binche that, while Flanders experience provides one sense of the issues you will encounter, some of the Antwerp laces are at least as good (if not better) a grounding in the *mindset* necessary to do Binche. The biggest problem might be that there are fewer pins in the Antwerp laces, so a voodoo board/ghost pillow would be less useful in keeping track of where you are. (Also, I agree with you PattyI really like the patterns.) I had a chance to visit The St. Carolus Borromeus Church in Antwerp in December and though unfortunately we were there on a day when the lace room was not open, Nora's reproductions of some of the laces are permanently displayed in a glass case in the back of the church which we were able to see. Vicki in Maryland on a balmy spring evening awaiting predicted thunderstorms - To unsubscribe send email to majord...@arachne.com containing the line: unsubscribe lace y...@address.here. For help, write to arachne.modera...@gmail.com. Photo site: http://community.webshots.com/user/arachne2003
