Deborah Redman wrote: I have a question regarding using beads in your design.<<
If you are working in half-stitch, and assuming they are round beads, it would be easiest to thread them on to the worker and push the beads into place as and where you want them. You will need to choose beads that are the right size for the "hole/space" in the half stitch otherwise they will move from side to side on the worker (too small) or distort the weave (too big). Long beads probably wouldn't work added in this way unless the lace was fairly coarse (as there wouldn't be room for them) and would give definite horizontal lines.
Added in this way you could add a bead at every stitch if you want to, but be aware that beads can make the lace very heavy and so you need to plan the final mounting/usage before you start, and make sure the thread you use has enough 'body' not to be pulled out of shape. It's well worth taking the time to work a sample so you aren't disappointed with the end result.
The beads will not sit "on top", but will hang out the same distance on either side of the lace; if you are planning on framing the piece when it is finished, that will help to push them back to how they look on the pillow.
It would also be possible to sew them on to the passives but the beads will sit between the rows (untwist a pair, use the two threads to sew the bead which will then sit where the twist was) and will still not be "on top". Also, because the two threads sewing the bead are now returning to the side they came from instead of continuing on the same diagonal, you will need to tension carefully as the bead will move from side to side.
If you want the beads truly "on top" you could thread them onto a single or pair of passive threads (easiest to do by taking the bobbins off when you decide where you want them), laying that pair back out of the way for the row (or rows if it is a big or bugle type bead), working for the length of the bead. then laying it back into place. The bead will then truly sit on one side of the lace. If you are using a bead that is bigger than one row's length, you can of course lay the pair back in a different place for a diagonal bead. This 'should' work in half stitch (it definitely does in cloth) but you will need to check/adjust the twists so the half stitch 'pulls' correctly.
If what you are doing means you need to be working on the back of the lace, you 'could' do this with the bead underneath by just not working the pair where the bead is, but if the beads are large the work will then be slack when you take it off the pillow.
Malvary and Jacquie (from Stamford, but on holiday) in Ottawa (the nation's capital) Canada
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