I'm a newbie and teaching myself Bobbin Lace. So far, I'm only using DMC #
5 and DMC #8. Now, a new pattern calls for Brok 36. Can someone tell me what
this thread would equate to? In addition to the above mentioned threads, I
also have Fresia 70/2 (which I have not used yet), Tanne 80, and some 12 wt
cotton (not sure if this would work at all?).
Brok 36 is not a precise term (are you using a pattern from the Karpenkos' Lace Express? <g>) -- Brok's 36/2 and the 36/3 are not the same thread. Although the difference in thickness is minimal, the difference in the finished product will be visible -- a 3-ply thread is crisper/rounder than a 2-ply one, and "meshes" less with its neighbours.
Fresia 70/2 is slightly thicker than either of the Broks; you'd either need to enlarge the pricking a bit, or resign yourself to some "congestion" (OTOH, if you think the lace, as pictured, is a bit "gauzy", then go ahead and use the pricking as is).
Tanne 80 is, definitely, a "thread for later"; it's 3/5th of the thicker of the Broks (36/3), and not for a beginner (though, once you get past the novice stage, you'll find it in the middle range of threads, rather than fine).
Don't know anything about "cotton 12 wt", without knowing the manufacturer. But don't throw it away :) Sooner or later, you *will* be able to use it -- if not for the "base" thread, then for gimp.
Also, is there a website that will list these different threads, purposes and
equivalents?
If you like making lace, you might as well bite the bullet and make the best investment of your life; buy Brenda Paternoster's booklet "Threads for Lace; edition 2" :)
The problem of thread substitution surfaces over and over again throughout every lacemaker's life :) Brenda (one of "us"; an Arachnean) has tested hundreds of them, measured their "coverage", and arranged them in such a way as to make the substitutions as easy as possible. She's in UK and doesn't take "plastic" but you can arrange with her to send U$-cash (to send cash, BTW, it's safest to put your bills in a greeting card. Big enough so you don't have to fold the money, and thick enough so that it's not easily detectable as an enclosure)
Go visit: http://users.argonet.co.uk/users/paternoster/threads/threads.html
Once you have the booklet, and once your stash of threads is bigger, you might want to approach the issue from the other end -- use the thread you *have*, but re-size the *pricking* to fit. To help you do that, visit:
http://www.q7design.demon.co.uk/lacenotes/sizes/index.html
Another Arachnean (Vibeke, in Denmark) has made a chart -- a bit like a train time-table <g> -- which tells you how to.
Welcome to the never-ending adventure of Bobbin Lace :) ----- Tamara P Duvall Lexington, Virginia, USA Formerly of Warsaw, Poland http://lorien.emufarm.org/~tpd/
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