One thing you could try to see if the pillow is a little damp is to seal it into a plastic bag and then put it in hot sunlight for an hour or two. If the pillow is damp, you shoul get condensation on the inside of the bag. It won't necessarily feel damp to the touch if the moisture is deep in the straw.
We use brass pins because they don't rust. Tarnish, yes but rust, no. I was given an old Honiton pillow where the lace maker had died and the family wanted to know if anyone could finish their mother's last piece of work - a large flower spray. 'Mum' hadn't been able to make lace for years as her eyesight had deteriorated, but from the look of the lace it had taken her a while to admit to herself that she was unable to see what she was doing! There were parts of it that were fine, but the bit where the bobbins were was just awful. Eventually we said that it was difficult to match someone else's work and made a 'collage' of the bits that were on the pillow. The point of the story is that as her sight had failed, she had used a mix of pins. Although all of the pins had some 'decay', for want of a better word, those that were brass came out from the lace without damaging it, apart from leaving some discolouration. Those that were steel however, had rusted into the lace thread and into the pillow. The brass, as Dona describes, became non-slippery, but by turning them first to break the grip on the thread, they then pulled out cleanly. With the rusty pins it didn't help to turn them - with these it was a case of wiggle and pull and ease. The most difficult we actually broke off just abve the lace and lifted the lace off the pins and then used pliers to pull the remains from the pillow. The lace itself was damaged in several places with broken threads and picots where the rust had migrated into the thread and just wouldn't let go. Look in the arachne archives and you will find the recipe for cleaning your brass pins, so you start your next piece with them all shiny clean and smooth. - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
