---- Alex Stillwell <[email protected]> wrote: but am puzzled why so many continue to use it on bobbin lace prickings.
I usually cover my prickings with clear plastic, for several reasons: 1. As others have said, to protect from moisture. Those of us living in dry climates (humidity here can be so far below 1% that instruments register it as 0!) sometimes need to rehydrate the threads, and don't want to risk the paper pricking getting warped. 2. Many printers can't take heavy card stock, so my patterns are on paper (I prefer gray background). I reinforce the paper, sometimes by putting card stock under it and plastic over it, with the plastic and cardstock sticking together beyond the edges of the pattern. This method I use for yardage on a roller pillow, where I will be re-using the holes many times. For a motif that I may make once or just a few times, I put plastic over and under the paper, without the card stock. 3. The plastic makes holes "sturdier", so the plastic makes finding a pinhole easier when there's a forest of pins or poor lighting, and the pinhole location remains accurate when you re-use that hole. 4. I can mark on my pricking before I cover it. I can edit the holes (sometimes some are missing, or sometimes I want to alter an element) and I can make sure the pattern name and creator are on the piece of paper with the pinholes. I don't want to test every pen/pencil to make sure it won't smudge--I'll just grab whatever pen is handy and cover it with plastic. These reasons are just off the top of my head, late at night. There may be others that I don't remember at the moment, but those are probably minor reasons anyway. Robin P. Los Angeles, California, USA [email protected] Parvum leve mentes capiunt (Little things amuse little minds) - To unsubscribe send email to [email protected] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [email protected]. For help, write to [email protected]. Photo site: http://www.flickr.com/photos/lacemaker/sets/
