In a message dated 24/02/2005 18:53:44 GMT Standard Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes:
> > >The ideal bobbin to make honiton lace is a honiton bobbin. > > > with a smooth, smooth finish! If you have not yet > >purchased your bobbins, I would highly recommend that you buy them all > >from the same maker. (These were the instructions I was given when I > >started, and I still agree with them today) Pay close attention to the > >head...you want it to be very smooth there especially. > > I wholeheartedly agree with Debbie on this - I started making Honiton with > 50 matching CHEAP Honiton bobbins .They were a starter pack and in a way > they were fine, but I really noticed the difference when I was given a batch > > of beautifully smooth Malcolm Fielding bobbins. The threads no longer > snapped on sight! It helps to have them all the same weight as each other. > Interesting to read these comments. About 14 years ago I was really ill with flu but bored with day time tv so did the obvious thing - decided to teach myself honiton lace using a cookie pillow and midlands spangled bobbins. It was a very interesting experience. So, a few months later I at a lace fair and decided to buy a proper honiton pillow and some bobbins - now I've always worked on the typical principle that any bobbin was a wonderful present no matter what size or shape and you can always find a use for them. The first time I was given a bobbin was by my mum who went to a craft fair and saw a woman making lace whilst her husband turned wood - so she bought a pair from him and the woman gave her an excellent piece of advice: Never wonder if your bobbin is the right type or size or shape - no lacemaker will ever turn down a single bobbin because it is given with love. I've discovered that for me, this doesn't work with honiton or travel bobbins. When I started making honiton, money was very tight so I went for the best pillow I could buy and for bobbins the best I could afford in order to get the number I needed for the piece I was starting. The bobbins were all made by the same maker but slightly different sizes, even though I tried to match them. I found that within a few minutes of making the lace I was having difficulties handling the bobbins. In the end, I bought a matched set from one of my favourite suppliers and have found that for me, these work the best. It is not a hard and fast rule - just for me I have found that in honiton I need to use thin, small, lightweight bobbins - I have no idea how I would have coped in the 19th Century if I had needed to make honiton lace for a living. Now - as to traveling bobbins - I've discovered that these need to be a certain size for a reason - too small and you need larger spangles to weight them and then they don't fit on the pillow and too large and they hang off the pillow with not enough thread out to allow you to make lace at your right pace. I bought a beautiful pillow some 15 years ago which is a large 3 1/2" roller on a small pillow no bigger than 10" by 12" and the base is a wooded box to hold your equipment. However, the initial bobbins that I bought were just too small for this so I bought two sets of travel bobbins from SMP because they were basically full size bobbins which a few inches off the base - this meant I got a full sized shank and lots of thread on them, the bobbin itself would feel familiar as I had quite a few from the already, and I knew how they handled. I've just uploaded a photo of my travel pillow onto my bloggin site if you are interested. http://journals.aol.com/thelacebee/thelacebee Regards Liz in London I'm back blogging my latest lace piece - have a look by clicking on the link or going to http://journals.aol.com/thelacebee/thelacebee - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
