However I must persevere, as I have booked for a Binche course in February, and everybody says you need to grasp Flanders first.
Since "everybody" says this I guess I'm sticking my neck out here, but here I go with my own personal opinion:
I think knowing about Flanders helps you with Binche in only a couple of ways: one is being familiar with the way the worker is dropped and becomes a passive, while another pair picks up and starts working. The other is the use of a ring pair.
Having learned Binche and Flanders, I don't think being familiar with the Flanders ground is going to help you much, because in Binche the ground area is often filled with snowflakes and you only get bits and pieces of what we think of as a ground stitch and that's often Paris or Valenciennes ground anyway, not Flanders ground.
This is all working up to some encouragement, Bridget - I don't think you need to work your way through the Niven book - even the early patterns (like #2 and #3) have the Binche elements I mentioned. And #4 has a couple of different ways of making cloth stitch areas and snowflakes.
So I'd suggest that if you understand the ring pair and the worker changes you can stop fidgeting with Flanders if you like.
Adele North Vancouver, BC (west coast of Canada) - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
