In message <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, Clay Blackwell <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes > and the >direction that each piece is worked should be relative to the direction of >other similar sections of the work.
If I'm reading this correctly you suggest that hand made needlelace is worked in more or less one direction, allowing for change of angle in say, the panels of a skirt? This throws out the "chop and change" element of much contemporary work, where change of direction is governed by design points of light and texture (I'm just thinking of the key ring I finished making for a friend just before Christmas - a front and side view of his DAF truck - and the only way to get the image of the "corner" was to work the front horizontally and the side vertically - thus relying on the light effect to change the shade of the thread enough to give the 3D illusion. (It is definitely a one-off as I don't want to have to work couronnes that tiny again!) When you have one front, and one side, there are no "similar sections of the work"! 3D needlelace, particularly Point de Gaze, is worked in sections and then joined. My feeling about Brenda's piece is that it probably was worked as motifs, possibly by different workers, and then assembled (using the bars to join), much as 19th century Honiton lace would have been. That said, with a small monitor the detail isn't wonderfully defined, but if I was working needlelace motifs for a living, all day every day, I would expect my tension to become more or less uniform! Needlelace as a whole is much freer than bobbin - in that you can change colour, direction, thread, texture, etc throughout a piece as you are working to a "colouring book" outline rather than a set directional pattern. I would have thought that machines have more difficulty changing direction in mass produced work than people! -- Jane Partridge (I won't be doing any stitching tonight due to a dressing-patchworked right hand and wrist - serves me right for giving a friendly feline visitor some fuss!) - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
