I have always been a bit wary about the picots that are made from twisted threads looped around the pin without separating the threads; someone told me many years ago that she had been shown them in Bruges but they didn't always seem to work as well as our more traditionally made Bucks picot, and as I had never had any great difficulty with those, I stuck to them.
It was reading Mary and Jane's very clear descriptions of making these picots and particularly the bit about Cathleen Belleville twisting her hair "until it naturally went into a "picot" that suddenly made a penny drop. I got a thick piece of tape and twisted it and yes, on the left hand side it makes a good picot with the thread from the lace crossing over the threads carrying on to the bobbins. BUT, if you try to do the same thing on the right hand side it doesn't work. You are forcing the twists to go against themselves and it just "unfolds" and you are left with a "loop" (like the round front bit of a letter p without the downstroke) instead of a sideways teardrop shape. For it to lie in a proper picot shape you either have to twizzle it round the pin in the opposite direction so the threads from the lace go under the threads to the bobbins, or do reverse twists. I was taught picots by Pat Read and we were told 5 twists is about right for Bucks type threads but you need as many twists as will fit tidily around the pin, so it varies with pin and thread size. The main difference she taught me was that after you have settled the two threads around the pin, put the second bobbin down on the outside. (On the left this is one twist, on the right it is a reverse twist.) The twists before the picot is started make the cord that fits from the edge of the lace and around the pin. Any twists made after the pin is in place are "blocked" by the cord and have nowhere to go. The thicker the thread, the more excess twists show. I had originally done picots from my Pamela Nottingham book where she teaches three twists before and after. It was when I was shown by Pat (with explanations why), that I realised that one reason my picots didn't sit neatly was due to the three twists at the end. Look at the photo of plaited lace #1 in the Technique of Bobbin Lace to see what I mean. Quite a few of the picots are leaning back, pushed by the last little stem of twists. I think it was finding out how much difference 5 plus 1 twist made, compared with 3 plus 3 (both 6 twists, after all) and analysing the reason why, that started me analysing and questioning all my lacemaking. Jacquie. - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
