On Mar 4, 2006, at 12:37, Alice Howell wrote:
The braids are tensioned after each TC to make a
smooth, even braid. The braid is stopped just ahead
of the pin. If the braid covers the pinhole, one step
is taken back out so that it comes just TO the
pinhole.
If the extra length is taken up by pulling the threads
around the pin, the lower part of the braid would be
compressed while the upper part would remain as made.
Indeed, that is so; however you make your leaves (overlong and
retensioned after or, like myself, pack-'em-as-you-go), the
braids/plaits are (or should be, anyway <g>) tensioned after every TC.
The one exception being the first stitch, which is CTC and is tensioned
after those 3 movements.
If the braids are too long for the space, the finished
lace will have floppy connections instead of straight
and neat. Since lace tends to relax and shrink a bit
when unpinned, excess length in a braid will be
exaggerated. If the braid is just a tad short, it
will lie straight when the rest of the lace pulls in.
That, again, is true. But every rule has its exception and this one
does also :)
You know those tallies (they're common as dirt in Russian Tape; don't
know about other be-tallied laces) where you make a tally to a point,
then come back to the starting point with a plait (instead of another
tally) because it's quicker?
If your plait is "just so" in length, it'll hide behind the tally,
smack down the middle of it, leaving the tally flat. Which may very
well be the visual effect you want. But do consider a plait that's
slightly overlong -- at least one TC, or possibly two -- made on
purpose. If you support that slack with a pin, placed at the widest
point of the tally and right next to it, before making the sewing back
into the starting point, the plait, instead of hiding, will hug-outline
the tally, adding an extra dimension to it.
Which might just be the visual effect you prefer, in some circumstances.
Oh, and a plait that's significantly _shorter_ than the distance it
needs to travel back to the starting point... That one is useful also.
It'll come back to the starting point hidden, as the "just right" one
does. But, instead of leaving the tally flat, it'll bow it outwards,
again creating an impression of 3rd dimension. In extreme cases, when
your "plait" consists of only the starting CTC before being sewn back
into the starting point, you have a nice, fat, triangle.
"Bloopers" offer a fertile ground for study and an opportunity of
turning a lemon into lemonade...
--
Tamara P Duvall http://t-n-lace.net/
Lexington, Virginia, USA (Formerly of Warsaw, Poland)
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