hi Mary I have been making lace for 16 years, so can give you some help with your questions. I also teach weekly classes for children to make lace.
> > I'm practicing Bruges braids - tight curves. Yikes! The instructions say to > do a whole stitch and twist at the beginning and end. Okay, do I do that > before or after I place the pin? My edge doesn't look right. It doesn't have > that nice space running down the edges. I've been doing a CTC with the last > 2 prs, pin CTCT + T. I'm not quite clear on this one, from what you say here. I am not familiar wiht Bruges braids, but have worked other braid laces. Do yuo have the full written instructins for what yuo are trying to do? Where are yuo putting hte pin, between those two piars or betewwn the rest of the work and those two pairs? Are yuo trying to achieve a smooht edged lace or one witht he pin loops on the outside edge? let us know what book yuo are working from, and how it describes the edge. > > Also, everything looks uneven. I'm doing the sample with an S curve to it, > and when I try to place the pins at an angle, they are in the way later on. > But, if I place them straight up and down, my lace kind of climbs up the > pins. Maybe the unevenness is a practice thing? Angles are good when working tape lace. To get the pins out of hte way - push the pins right down into the pillow. ALWAYS leave the last few sticking up out of hte pillow (abuot an inch, if you can). You can get a special tool to push down the pins and pull them up afterwards (a pin pusher / lifter). Or yuo can push them down wiht the blunt end of a ballpoint pen. > > I finally got the hang of holding down the passives as I tightened the > worker and holding the worker while I pull straight down on the passives to > straighten them. I'm seeing some puckers in the straight part. Am I pulling > too much or is my thread too heavy? I'm using #8 perle cotton (waiting for > the correct threads to arrive in the mail.) > My guess is that the puckering will be the result of not pulling hard enough! It is very difficult to snap #8 cotton (but I've had a 10 year old do so!) so tension a bit harder. Although in some ways it is easier to make lace with thicker thread, it is actually more work to tension it. You will know if you pull too much - the pins will pop out or the thread snap!!! Hold the workers with one hand, and tension each passive pair separately. Hope you are having fun Sue Babbs (in Chicago) - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
