Lydia, It sounds like you're making a picot - but I may be wrong (I have been known to be :-) ) I don't have the book handy to take a squizzy at, but that's what it sounds like you're making.
There are a variety of picots - double picots (where 2 threads are wrapped around the pin), single picots where 1 thread is wrapped), and variations on those. There are different ways of wrapping the thread. I'm very right handed, so I work mine thusly: For my double picots, I make my 5 twists, and with my pin in my R hand, I lay my pin (not totally horizontal, but more of an angle), pointy end down, and holding the bobbin to the thread that I'm wrapping in my L hand, I wrap the thread, with a sort of twisting motion, twisting away from me (this is really hard to explain, as I have to think how I do this, when I normally just do it on autopilot so to speak). When you have a loop around the pin, slide the point of the pin up to the pin hole, and pop the pin in. Then the other thread from the pair you twisted is wrapped counter clockwise around the pin, leaving the original thread loose. Gently place your bobbin down on the pillow and "milk fairy cows" (very gently :-) ) to tension the threads. Then give 2 twists to finish. At first, when you do those, you may get, what we call split picots - they looking like butterfly wings or the wings on flies, and this is a tension flaw for the most part, but persistence and practice will see that go away. Single picots trip me up, as you're making a sort of slip knot of sorts (IMHO) with the threads. I don't make them very often, but do the double picots, as my preferred picot. Single picots are appropriate for coarser threads (30 linens, etc), where as the doubles are preferred for the finer threads. Well, at least this is the thinking for the English laces, for the most part. A good book to refer to would be Practical Skills in BL (Cook, BM), as she covers how to make them. Hope this helps, and good luck :-) Cheers, Helen, Aussie in Denver - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
