Julie, I took Ulrike Voelker's (nee Loehr) (NOTE: The new name has NO UMLAUT, YAY!) class in Ithaca and love Mechlin. I haven't done tons of it, but I think I got the ground pretty well under my belt.
As usual, Tamara's Patented Thinking Woman's Lace Methods are right on track. On the practice piece, Ulrike had drawn the path of the ground, that little hexagon shape that the stitch makes (Or maybe it was small circles...but some type of guide), and it was nice to have it there for a while so you could get the idea of how much to tension, etc. Of course she stopped drawing it in later pieces. Darn. I'm told that Mechlin developed when pins were EXTREMELY expensive, therefore they depended on the scrunch-ability of the thread and the automatic space made when a regular number of stitches or twist are made instead of those spendy pins. I think you will find that tensioning the threads without the help of the pin AND after each stitch (a plait is a series of stitches, I tension after every other T) will make your lace better for the rest of your life. Just imagine what you can do without pins! As for the direction of working, I found it easier at first to go horizontally row by row, then I knew all the stitches were there. Once you know what each stitch is supposed to look like, how big, how tight, how loose, etc. then you won't need to stick to going horizontally. An interesting note about Mechlin, Pam Nottingham who is on the Point Ground Committee in OIDFA, told a class I was in once that although Mechlin was supposed to have "died out" early in the 1800's, she found lace pieces in England that were worked in Mechlin ground up til almost 1900. It was a small lace making family that were taught by family members. Very interesting to me, and mind stretching to people who think there are absolute dates for everything. If we get enough people making Mechlin, then maybe we can get Ulrike to publish her "flowers in ice ground" book.... Lace in Peace, Laurie In Massachusetts, where Spring won the battle today. It was snowing when I woke up and now it's raining. Improvement is relative. - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
