On Mar 18, 2005, at 16:16, Viv Dewar wrote:
b) take one of the weaver pairs and use it to make buttonhole stitches (or half hitches) round the rest of the threads for as long as makes a decent tassle or you get totally fed up! I use a fine crochet hook for this
I have no aversion to the crochet hook (if I had, I wouldn't be making so much Milanese <g>) but, like Janice (Blair), I'm always happy to bypass it where possible. And it's definitely possible here.
Split your weaver into two individual threads, and place one each side of the rest. Lengthen those two threads slightly. Make a bundle of all the passives - doesn't matter if they're messy, so you can just put a rubber band around them all; antything to be able to lift them as a single bunch. That bundle, *plus* the other weaver thread is your "core", around which you'll be doing your hitching.
With the weaver on the right-hand side, slide the bobbin - tail first - under all threads (including the other weaver), but hold onto the excess thread, creating a loop. Return the bobbin - tail first - and put it through that loop. Leave. Repeat on the left-hand side. Repeat on the right-hand side. Etc.
Obviously, it's easier to do with unspangled bobbins than with spangled ones, but half hitching with a spangled bobbin is still easier than making a hook-sewing - you just lengthen your hitching thread more, so the loop you're holding onto is larger. But there's no fuss, no extra tool to keep track of, no possibility of splitting the thread with the hook. Try it :)
PS. Cathy Belleville, in her Rosalibre lace, uses the other half of the full-hitch - you pass the bobbin *over* the bundle *first*. I've had "indiffferent luck" (to be charitable of my efforts <g>) with doing it that way, so stick with my own method, but you might want to try both, to see which suits your better.
-- Tamara P Duvall http://t-n-lace.net/ Lexington, Virginia, USA (Formerly of Warsaw, Poland)
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