On Wed, 28 Jul 2004 02:46:54 +1000, David wrote: >In working this very complex Chantilly cloth, I find a problem which also >often arises in Bucks Point. The number of passives between the work and >the picots on the edge (can never remember which is headside and which is >footside :) can vary from 2 pairs to 14 pairs. I find that when I'm using >the very fine 2/20 silk and I have to tension up the 14 or so pairs, that's >when I'm most likely to break threads.
I can't credit the source for this technique because I don't remember now where I learnt it. When the number of pairs in the valley on the headside gets above about 5, the cloth between the picots and the rest of the work varies a lot in width. So, when there are 5 pairs in the edge as passives, work through them with the 6th pair, make the picot, lay down the new passives and lay back an older pair of passives, so there are still only 5 pairs in the cloth stitch. Carry on like this until you have brought all the threads out of the main work into the picot edge, laying out a pair every time a pair is added, so there are always 5 pairs of passives. When you get to the place where you need to start taking pairs back out of the edge into the main work again, bring a pair that were laid back forward and back into the work. Lay them down gently without pulling, so that the pair of threads lies flat across the valley, like a horizontal bar across a letter V. Keep on bringing another pair back in each time, until all pairs are back in the work. When the piece is complete all the little bars across the valleys can be cut off. There is enough thread and tension in the cloth stitch to keep the ends secure. -- We are the Borgs who say NI! Prepare to assimilate...A SHRUBBERY! Steph Peters [EMAIL PROTECTED] Tatting, lace & stitching page <http://www.sandbenders.demon.co.uk/index.htm> Scanned by WinProxy http://www.Ositis.com/ - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
