Hi everyone First, for Susan - who asked percentage of use of silk...
If I had only one thread type to use, rather than cotton or linen or synthetics I would use the spun silk 120/2 and/or 60/2 from Treenway Silk. They import it from China in its natural 'honey' colour (Tussah) or bright white (cultivated); the put-up is in skeins of many, many yards (about 6,000 yd. for the 120-/2, I just checked). I would hang the skein on my umbrella swift and wind off thread as needed right to the bobbins. I would adjust pattern size up or down to accommodate this size of thread. The wraps are 38 and 29 respectively. I have used this thread for Beds, Bucks, Torchon and freeform lace (oh and tatting, once upon a time. I can't tat at all now). Treenway has their own custom dyer, and the colours of the skeins are wonderful, if pricey. For the comparatively small amounts needed in bobbin lace, if I wanted colours, I would wind off sufficient on my stick swift (some of you might know the term 'niddy-noddy' for this two-armed measuring tool) and dye the smaller skeins with silk dyes (e.g. Setasilk). Thus - I would use this silk thread 100% of the time. However, even though I have two skeins of many yards left of the 120/2, at present I am using other threads , chiefly cotton, from the sizeable stash. So in truth, I use the silk 0% at the moment. Statistically, averaging the two instances, I use silk 50% of the time (do you like my logic?). Second, this is an unabashed plug for the skeins of silk sold by Treenway. Their target market is the weaving world (in which we bobbin lacemakers can stake a claim) but of course they will sell to anyone LOL - for your interest, their site, with much useful information about silk is: http://www.treenwaysilks.com They have a nice silk/ramie blend, of 21 wraps, that is quite like linen. I have made laces with this thread; it also takes dye well. The skeins are an economical purchase of a very nice fibre if one already has the tools (and space!) to manage large skeins of fine thread. No, I don't own any shares; at the rate that bobbin lace uses thread vs. that needed for weaving I don't often make a purchase. But I love using this thread :) -- Bev in Shirley BC, near Sooke on beautiful Vancouver Island, west coast of Canada - To unsubscribe send email to [email protected] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [email protected]. For help, write to [email protected]
