Having replied to Wendy privately, I realised that what she is possibly
doing is making the pricking in the same way that beginners are taught
to make prickings for Torchon, etc - ie photocopy the pattern and either
use that stuck to pricking card with film over the top or prick through
it and then ink in the markings.
Having been taught to make Honiton prickings in the traditional manner
by Christine Hawken some time ago, I learnt that the difference where
the prickings are concerned is that they only consist of pricking card
and pin holes. *No* inked in or printed markings are made because these
are represented by a code of pinholes (eg the two next to each other to
show a section to be worked in half stitch, or pinholes marking the top
and bottom of a vein).
So I looked at the book that Wendy is using to learn from (Introduction
to Honiton Lace, Joyce Dorsett - published by The Lace Guild) - and the
one thing it does not tell you is how to make a pricking. The code of
dots to represent the pattern markings are shown - but nowhere does it
say not to photocopy the pattern and then make the "pricking sandwich"
of card, pattern and film. Neither does it say that the pattern markings
are pricked, not inked in.
As with trying to teach an alien to make a cup of tea, some vital bits
of information are missed from instruction books occasionally, which
would not be missed if the person using the book as a text has a
competent teacher alongside. Torchon prickings are inked in because the
pattern markings can be very complex - in comparison, Honiton is a lot
easier to read from pinholes alone, I'm sure I'm not the only one who
finds working it easier than Torchon despite the fine scale!
Most of the lace I have learnt has been with a teacher, however, tatting
was different, I couldn't pick it up from being shown. In the end, I had
two different books on my lap, and used both at the same time to
eventually find the explanation of what I should do in a way that I
could understand. I think the same applies here - having a copy of Elsie
Luxton's "The Technique of Honiton Lace" (Batsford, now Chrysalis) or
Susanne Thompson's "An Introduction to Honiton Lace" (Batsford) -
borrowed from a library if necessary, as at least the latter is out of
print - may help tremendously when instructions are not seeming as clear
to you as they could be.
We are all different in the way we interpret instructions! What works
for one person, will be a foreign language to someone else.
--
Jane Partridge
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