I'm thinking of trying to work hands-up, either by making a pillow from a pool noodle, or buying a bolster pillow from the Honiton Lace shop.
I'd recommend a bolster, and not one filled with plastic junk (of whatever composition). The pillow needs to be nice and firm - firmer, even, than a flat one - because the pins have more tension on them, with the bobbins hanging down. It also needs to be fairly heavy, because you don't want it to shift at every tug on the bobbins. So that takes the soft "plastic" out of the running. The pool noodle stuff *is* harder (and heavier), but, IMO, is still only good enough to form the *core* of your pillow; whatever you pour/wrap around it ought to be thick enough so that your pins don't go into it (or only the tip does). I know there are people who don't mind sticking their pins into the stuff, but I *hate* it - it squeaks, it grabs the pins, it's not really firm enough... Yuck :)
do you do half stitch as TC, instead of CT?
As Gabriele explained, you don't *have to*, but it makes sense, because of the possibility of the bobbins tangling up either when they're hanging down off your work (you don't pin out *every* pair you've just passed... Except, maybe, at the very beginning <g>), or when they're pinned out in bunches. It's easier to check that there are *no* twists on a pair, than to check *how many* are on it.
So, you start every stitch - except for cloth, which has no twists either at the beginning or the end of it - with however many twists are required on it, and leave it without any. You put the twists *before* instead of after. Whole stitch (cloth and twist) would become: TCTC; PG net TTTC; half stitch TC.
"*And* one, two, three", instead of "*One*, two, three, breath"... :)
Do you hold all four bobbins you're working with in your hands as you do the stitch?
Yes, you do. Say, you're doing whole stitch (cloth and twist), left to right, through a passive pairs...
You have your worker pair in your left hand. Pick up the passive pair with your right hand. 1) Flip the r.h. side bobbins - in each hand - over the l.h.side ones to the left (ie, Twist; both pairs). 2) Flip the innermost bobbin in the left hand over the innermost bobbin in the right hand (ie Cross). Those two bobbins change hands. Repeat #1, repeat #2. Both bobbins from the right hand (passives) are now in the left hand, with the workers in the right hand. Set the passive pair down (or pin out); shift the bobbins in your right hand (workers) to the left hand.
Repeat as many times as necessary. A bit like twiddling thumbs <g>
It sounds like it's a difficult method of working to get used to,
Not *really*; though it may be more difficult for you than it was for me, if you're used to the skinny Midland bobbins. Which just *are not right* for working palms-up...
The uniformly straight - and thin - body requires much more "pinching" than a "Continental" body with varying widths. "Continental" bobbins, however much they vary from one another, have a thicker section towards the bottom, where it's comfortable to do the flipping. Or else, like the Spanish ones, they're uniform, but *uniformly thicker*. Also, the Midlands' spangle doesn't just "flip"; it *flops*, even if it's of the most rigid kind...
it might be better for me since I have RSI.
Just switching to a different kind of bobbins/learning to handle them differently (though on the same pillow and still "palms down") might make a difference. I think it's the "pinch, drop; pinch, drop" of working with Midlands that does the most damage.
After the "Prague experience", I've given a lot of thought to this palms up/palms down business... And concluded that it's as much a matter of "as the twig is bent", as anything else :)
To begin with, both terms are misnomers; you don't really have your palms "up" or "down" in either method :) Twisting your palms totally down, *or* totally up, is going to be painful in the long run.
I suggest all of you sit down, comfortably, then let your hands drop as they will into your lap in a *relaxed* position, then observe... My bet is, the hands will be at their most restful *sideways*; little fingers *in* your lap, forefingers touching or almost, thumbs - more-or-less - *up* (ie, facing you); wrists angled, slightly, outwards. Yes?
Men and women "at rest" have been portrayed that way for hundreds of years, and that's what my hands want to do when I'm not employing them to better purpose. So that's what I aim at, when I'm making lace. Or, as close as possible to that "restful ideal"... When I make lace, "palms-down" method does twist my thumbs - but *only slightly* - closer to the pillow. "Palms-up" spreads them farther apart and outwards but, again, *only slightly*. Mostly, the thumbs are (or should be) facing you, and ready to do the "twiddling" - either down on the pillow, or up in your hands.
And please note that the "rest position" of your hands is *in your lap*. Therefore, you want to aim at that also. It has nothing to do with RSI, but lots to do with other aches and pains, especially in your shoulders and arms. Always try to have your working area of lace as low as possible, as close to your lap-level as possible...
Same goes for the 'puter work, BTW. Shift your keyboard to your lap, and the mouse to a stool/table at about the same level, and see if it doesn't feel better.
--- Tamara P Duvall http://lorien.emufarm.org/~tpd Lexington, Virginia, USA (Formerly of Warsaw, Poland) Healthy US through The No-CARB Diet: no C-heney, no A-shcroft, no R-umsfeld, no B-ush.
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