Hello Clay
Today some thread sold on eBay, and it raised a couple of questions
that I thought you might be able to answer. The thread was described
as "12 slip 230 , so very, very fine".
The first question is, what does this term (12 slip 230)mean? Is it
related to the old "band" descriptor, as in "12 band"?
I've not heard the expression 12 band before - is that an American
term? Probably does mean the same as slip.
12 slip means that there are (were originally) 12 little skeins joined
together as a continuous length in one 'parcel'. Each 'slip' is
separated from the others by a coloured thread inserted between the
slips in a multiple figure of eight. The more slips in the parcel the
finer the thread - I think 14 or 15 was the finest and about 3 or 4 the
"thickest".
To quote from Miss Channer's little book (revised 1972) "For point
ground a fine cotton thread was used. The most usual size was known as
10 slip. The skein was divided up by red cotton into the number
denoting the size, eg 6 slip was divided into 6 groups, 10 slip into 10
and so on. A 200 linen thread would be the equivalent to a 10 slip
cotton but unfortunately neither is being manufactured at the present
time. DMC thread No 80, although highly mercerised, seems to be a good
substitute."
The 12 slip would be finer than that. I *think* 230 means cotton count
230 - so very much finer than anything currently available (and
horribly fine to try and do a wrapping!!).
The second question is that there were what appeared to be four hanks
of thread in the lot, and each hank was in a small sealed plastic bag,
where it had been placed by the Honiton Lace Show "many years ago",
since that is when the seller says she bought them. So the question
is, do you think that the plastic was harmful to the thread over time,
especially considering how fine it is said to be?
I was at a lace day on Saturday; Tim Parker was speaking about threads
and he recommended storing lace threads in polythene bags. Certainly
light, acid and atmospheric pollution will cause more damage than
polythene, but I'm not expert on that. Jeri, do you have any comments
about storage in plastic?
Brenda
http://paternoster.orpheusweb.co.uk/
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