I'm sure most of the experienced lacemakers on Arachne know this trick, but we have lots of newer lacemakers now and I don't remember seeing this here before.
If you have a major spill with your pillow, to the extent that bobbins are caught up on the pins as distinct from *just* severely muddled leashes, take a deep breath and hold the pillow upside down over your head. Gently rock it and most of the threads that are caught around the pins will be pulled free by the weight of the bobbins. Any left can be easily encouraged to drop. Once you have done that, slowly turn the pillow back up the right way so the top of the pattern is at the top and the bobbins lay onto the correct bit of the pillow. You still have to sort out the bobbins but it is much easier to do this without some being caught on the pins, and they mostly drop back into the right area so the left hand bobbins tend to be on the left and so on. It really does work, but is terrifying to do the first time. However, sometimes the catastrophe seems so major that anything has got to be worth a try and it was in that situation that I first tried this, with great results. Since then I have used it several times when teaching, when a student has dropped their pillow, and the situation has always been improved. I think the only time I wouldn't risk it would be if the lace was barely started so the amount of pins was not enough to support the weight of the bobbins - but then with few pins in, there would be less to tangle round anyway. Jacquie in Lincolnshire - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
