Back in September 2003 I posted the following to Arachne. Since April I've been using the bolster for a length of Ipswich lace that has now reached 60". You can see photos on my yahoo http://photos.yahoo.com/drswilliams
I hope you enjoy! Dear Spiders, I had a very lacy weekend :) Friday: Talked with DH about him making me an x-stand for a bolster pillow, similar to the ones in Pompi Parry & ?'s book about Downton lace. He will do it this weekend when we visit our friends. (Friend's DH has a huge woodshop in his garage.) Saturday: Completed the cover for the bolster pillow I made last week. I had finally found the wool army blanket and layered it around a very sturdy cardboard tube. (If anyone wants more details, just email me.) I sewed the cover seam a couple of times to make sure it fit very snugly. Put drawstrings in the end and slid it on the bolster. Ooops, when I pull the drawstrings they don't quite cover the hole in the end. Since I'm going to be using it at a historic fort, I don't want people to see my cardboard core, so I cut circles of fabric and slid them inside the ends. This works, I think. I now spend about half an hour finishing the pricking that is going on this pillow. Then I go to my block pillow, finish the sewings on my hanky edging so I can cut off the bobbins and use them on this new pillow. Took a few minutes (too few) to admire the hanky edging. Wind six more pairs for the 30 I need to work "Wedding Bells" from 100 Traditional Patterns on my new bolster. Start hanging on the bobbins. Start cursing the bobbins. Tears appear in my eyes, this d*** bolster is hard to work on. I plug on through because 5-year old DS is in the room and thinks the new pillow is really pretty. Husband calls from work, "How's it going?" "Don't ask." It took all afternoon to work one repeat of the pattern. LOTS of tension in the neck and shoulders. Told DH he won't have to make me an x-stand because I'm NEVER going to work on this pillow again. Sunday: Pack up the new pillow and some tatting for the 3-hour drive to friend's house in Iowa. I'm going to give this thing another try. After some catching up, my friend gets out her tatting so I can show her how to chain. She gets busy and I get out the Pillow. I have it sitting in a basket; it works but it feels a little shaky. Friend thinks that it looks super hard (sympathy is good). I start working and am getting used to the feel of holding the bobbins in my hand as I work the stitch. Have to admit that it looks pretty with all those bunches of bobbins hanging off the edge. Having trouble with the cloth stitch trails and need to keep referring to the working diagram, so I don't get much done. Monday: The sun is shining and my friend has a great front porch so we take our pillows outside. She is just starting bobbin lace, so I do a lot of jumping up to help her, and she eventually works six repeats of her pattern without my help. My shoulders are looser and I find that I like the height of the bolster since I don't crouch over it like a cookie or roller pillow. I got two repeats of the pattern done and am fighting the bobbins less and less. The movements feel more natural in my hands and I'm getting concentrating more on the pattern than on holding and manipulating the bobbins. My DH is asleep in the recliner, so friend's DH goes out to his wood shop and makes me a cradle for the bolster from the pattern that is on Lori's lacefairy site. Now the bolster feels really secure and I feel less hesitant about touching it. Got home about 7:30 and made lace for 2 hours before bed so I could keep the good feeling going. Tuesday: Sat at the Pillow for half an hour before work and think that I almost like it. I want to get more lace done before I demonstrate this Saturday and Sunday, but the tears are gone and I don't think they'll be back. One nice thing, the tension is easy on my passives and the cloth stitch areas. I've found that I like a fairly long leash so that when I put the bobbins up and over the back sides of the pillow, they don't fall back to the front. I don't use the divider pins as much as I did in the beginning, and I'm starting to work faster. So, a lace weekend in which I learned a lot and made a lot of progress. Never give up, never surrender! Diane Williams [EMAIL PROTECTED] Galena Illinois USA __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
