In spite of the time it takes to actually prick all the holes, I find that I learn a lot about the pattern if I prick them before making the lace.
I try to prick them in order of work (footside, ground, motif, next motif, headside, back to footside, etc). I often find myself figuring out the sequence of work, passage of threads, or identifying where I don't understand the pattern and even, if its an old pattern, where a pin hole is missing or off true. To start without pricking would be strange to me now. I will sometimes prick out part of a pattern, even if I don't particularly want to produce the lace, if the pattern is in a sequence of difficulty between a pattern I've already done and another I wish to do. I did this a lot with bucks point when I was just learning it. I collected as many patterns as I could from our guild library, sorted them out by difficulty, then started pricking at least two repeats of most of them to learn the logic of this lace technique. Its faster than making the lace, takes less room, and I found it a great intellectual challenge. I also learned to read bucks point patterns better than just looking at them in books, and faster than making the samples of lace. Than again, its the internal logic of the various techniques that fascinates me more than the actual making of the lace... go figure... Lucie DuFresne Ottawa Canada > Since things are quiet and you are encouraging newbies, I have method that > I > would like feedback on and it might help those of you who don't have much > time. I never prick patterns. I copy them on heavy blue cardstock (heavy > paper) and then put clear contact paper over the top. They seem to hold > the > pins really well and it saves a ton of time. Then I just pin as I work > the > lace with no prior pricking. Some of you are probably gasping in horror, > but > it works. I don't reuse them, just make more as needed. It is cheap and > quick. I don't every have to worry about pin pricks I might have missed. > The only down side is that I have dozens of these around that I have not > used yet. A case of more optimism than time, I guess. I don't know when > or > why I started doing this. (Remember I am self taught.) Is there any > reason, besides not being the traditional method, that I shouldn't be > doing > this? Damage to pins, thread, etc.? > > - > To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: > unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
