Dear Weronika, Ordinarily, pins are not pushed down in Beds. If you find yourself working in the middle of a forest of pins, then usually it means you have worked too far. All of which is good advice, but if pushing down pins works for you, go ahead. There are no lace police. (my favorite saying!) And I really like what Sister Judith (inventor of Withof Duchesse lace) has to say: "Whatever makes the lace more beautiful".
One of the things about 9 pin edge that I have noticed is that it really wants to be the first element worked in a row. So I work up to but not past the start of the next 9 pin. It is really easy to overlook this, though. I think this is most of the source of my love/hate relationship with 9 pin. In this context, from Torchon, the ground is worked diagonally, but the edge is worked horizontally. Also, it is good practice to work down the diagonal ground row, work the weaver horizontally out to the edge, and then work the weaver horizontally back through the edge to leave the weaver ready to work the last ground stitch in the next row. I call working the weaver out to the edge and back "the hook". So, in shorthand, diagonal row and the hook. This digression was brought to you for a reason. In Beds, the 9 pin edge is functionally the same as "the hook". It is better to work the 9 pin up to the last pin and leave the plait waiting for the rest of the work to catch up with it, than to have rest of the work waiting for the plait to join it. This is because the 9 pin is worked in so many different directions and you need room to work it. Experience is a hard master. Patty Dowden -----Original Message----- From: Weronika Patena [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Wednesday, April 28, 2004 5:56 PM To: Patricia Dowden Subject: Re: joinings and braids Thanks! The picots are going a little better now, but still very time-consuming. Everything keeps getting more time consuming... I started with Torchon lace, which I thought took a lot of time, but when I started tape lace with all the sewings, I decided Torchon was really fast - now that I'm trying plaited lace I'm beginning to think tape wasn't bad at all! <g> Maybe I'll try picots with a single thread and see how those look. Is it OK to push the pins all the way down immediately? I had to push them down in tape, since it kept turning, but I still left at least half an inch with pins sticking up - this plait is turning so fast that I find myself wanting to push each pin all the way in immediately so that the thread doesn't keep catching on them as I pull it sideways to tighten the plait... Weronika On Wed, Apr 28, 2004 at 12:23:04PM -0700, Patricia Dowden wrote: > Weronika, > > Ah, picots. > > Well, I assume you are making twisted picots. The whole purpose of the procedure is > to set the twisted section of the pair between its own threads. Conceptually, > after the twists, the pair eats its own tail by dividing the threads to capture the > beginning of the twisted section. What makes it possible is the move scooping up > the bottom thread with the pin and making sure the end of the thread leading to the > bobbin is on the bottom. > > Scooping - > > With the pin in the opposite hand of the side the picot is on, go under the bottom > thread of the twisted pair. Twist the pin toward the lace back over the same > thread. This will create a loop with the end of the thread leading to the bobbin on > the bottom of the loop. > > The process: > > Twist the pairs (5-7 times depending on the size of the thread) and then pull both > threads apart to set the twists close to the work. > > ** For picots on the LEFT side of the work: > Take a pin and and with the right hand scoop up the bottom thread of the twisted > pair between the twists and the bobbin, twist the pin clockwise (towards the lace). > The end of the thread leading to the bobbin should be underneath the end of the > thread leading to the lace. Set the pin. At this point I always put a little > tension on the thread to keep it from popping off the pin. > > The twists in the pair will make the second thread already inclined to wrap around > the pin. Wrap the second thread around the pin. The direction of the wrap is from > below the pin to above the pin, clockwise. This thread will be on top. > > Tension the picot and twist twice before continuing the plait. > > ** For picots on the RIGHT side of the work: > Take a pin and and wit the left hand scoop up the bottom thread of the twisted pair > between the twists and the bobbin, twist the pin counter-clockwise (towards the > lace). The end of the thread leading to the bobbin should be underneath the end of > the thread leading to the lace. Tension this thread enough to hold it on the pin. > > Wrap the second thread around the pin, counter-clockwise from below the pin to above > the pin. The second thread will be on top. > > Tension the picot and twist twice before continuing the plait. > > Patty > > > > > > -----Original Message----- > From: Weronika Patena [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > Sent: Wednesday, April 28, 2004 11:04 AM > To: Patricia Dowden > Subject: Re: joinings and braids > > > Hi, > > The bobbins stopped getting unhitched after being left overnight, so the > plaits are working pretty well now, with bobbins in my hands all the > time. I started making the plaits with picots, and discovered that I > really hate picots - the instructions say to make the loops over the pin > and keep them loose until they can both be tightened at once, but they > just keep coming off the pin! Maybe I'll try switching to a plain braid > on the next repeat. > > I know it's necessary to rotate the pillow all the time - it's much more > annoying with plait than it was with tape, because now I have other > bobbins that I'm not working with, and they keep getting in the way. I > can't imagine doing that on a roller... > > I like charging ahead <g>. Since I have to practice plaits and picots, > I might as well do it while making something reasonably pretty... > Also, this is my first term at Caltech without overloading with classes > for two years - I suddenly feel like I have lots of free time! <g> > Bobbin lace is fun. > > Weronika > > On Wed, Apr 28, 2004 at 10:43:31AM -0700, Patricia Dowden wrote: > > Hi Weronika, > > > > I find that when I am working a plait (and I work palms down on a cookie pillow), > > that I hardly put the bobbins down at all. TC quickly (just flip the bobbins) > > then they are up between my fingers and under tension. So when making a plait, > > while my hands are palm down, the work is mostly in my hands. > > > > I have a love/hate relationship with 9 pin edge. The biggest item to remember is > > that the direction of work is changing all the time and you want to work straight > > down toward yourself at all times, so you have to turn the pillow all the time. > > If you don't turn the pillow, then you are fighting the tensionsing of the plait, > > because you will inevitably have unequal tension. Do your plaits have picots? Or > > are they just plain plaits? > > > > (I made the unbelievably bad decision to work an edging with 9 pin edge on a > > roller pillow. Big mistake. Eventually, I moved it to a cookie. What a mess!) > > > > You are just charging ahead! This is amazing progress. > > > > Patty > - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
