Suzi, I would like to back up everything Tamara said. A definition of what makes "lace weight" wool depends entirely on what scale lace you are making. If you want a Torchon scarf made in wool, you'd probably use an ordinary medium-weight knitting yarn and have the pricking adjusted to suit the wool size. There are quite a lot of people doing this sort of lace making.
As you are talking about 41wpc, I quess you are wanting to do a fine lace. Do a google search for ring shawls to see some very fine lace knitting. I think it's possible that knitting may be a better way to use very fine wool, because the yarn is being stressed less. Bobbin lace with any wool requires very good and very even tensioning as there is more stretch in wool than in cotton/linen. So, if you pull some bobbins harder than others, although it may look the same while still pinned out, once the pins are removed the more stretched threads will contract back to their optimum length But even more important is DO NOT TRY TO PRE-SHRINK WOOL. Your whole aim with wool is to never let it shrink! Once a piece of knitted lace is finished it is usually blocked out on a frame to stretch it to the size it should be, ie each stitch is stretched back to the size it was on the needle. With bobbin lace, the fact that it has had pins in it holding it in shape/size while you were working it may make this a bit less important, but I think that I would be inclined to do lots of samples, experimenting with things like how long it needs to "set" on the pillow before you unpin, whether it needs a very light steam press while still pinned down (this would also affect what your pricking is done on and inked in with!), how it handles off the pillow, wash a piece very gently to see if it is still satisfactory. Although time consuming to do this research, compared to the time doing a complete project which may not end up as you planned it, it is time well spent. Jacquie - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
