Dear Jane and all those interested, Thank you, Jane. This is valuable information to keep in our archives. The Subject: lace-digest V2015 #105 gives no clue as to subject. Therefore, nearly impossible to look up. But, IT CANNOT BE LOOKED UP! Mail addressed to [email protected]_ (mailto:[email protected]) does NOT go to our Arachne archives, Jane!!! Therefore, Avital (Webmistress), I have not trimmed Jane's message (below), and am resending so it can be found by Jane's name and also by subject in the future. I recommend that those who have the following publications print a copy of this memo and the original one from Jsyzygy, and insert in the books. It may come in handy in the future, even though you do not realize it today: 1. Brigitte Bellon's "Kloppelmuster fur Schals und Tischlaufer" or similar by her 2. Jane Atkinson's "Contemporary Lace for You" 3. Brenda Paternoster's "Threads for Lace Comparison..." any edition It is my wish to keep telling how to save and retrieve valuable free information on Arachne. Memos about the Panix address have been sent by me on a regular basis. Please! Remove Panix from your computers! Our archives, including recently-sent memos are at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/index.html
Jeri Ames in Maine USA Lace and Embroidery Resource Center --------------------------------------------------------- In a message dated 10/29/2015 9:22:19 A.M. Eastern Daylight Time, [email protected] writes: Dear Ladies, I've been watching the thread on scarf prickings with interest, since it's getting very confusing. If you have access to the Lace Guild magazine 'Lace', the next issue due out in a couple of days might help. Controlling ones own destiny when it comes to thread and pricking size was something I addressed in 'Contemporary Lace for You', and have expanded upon in a new article. You can see from the contributions to this debate that some think the only answer is to get Brenda to test everything for you - but you can (and really should) do it for yourself. One way of getting a ballpark figure for yarn calibration is to Tex it. Tex is the international system used to find the linear density (thickness) of all yarns, of all fibres and plies - it is the weight in grams of 1000 metres of yarn. You can find your own by measuring off 10m of your yarn, weighing that on sensitive diet scales (such as Smart Weigh pocket scales) and multiplying the result by 100. For my book, I examined and tested all the most useful yarns then available for larger-scale lace, calibrating them into several tables at the back, now available for study on my website, www.contemporarylace.com. But neither Texing nor wrapping tell you how a yarn will handle, feel, drape, work, untwist, snap etc, for which you need to test it (and my tables give you information on that, too). For sampling, I included in my book graduated prickings which allow you to try out a small piece of lace, to test whole-, half-stitch and ground with 14 pr of bobbins. In the book, this goes up to 10mm between the pinholes, but I gave the guild prickings up to 14mm (about as far as is sensible to work with the majority of suitable knitting and weaving yarns). The decision on how a yarn best works in lace is yours - Goldilocks might say it needs neither to be too loose nor too tight, but just right! If I want to know how to use a new yarn, I tex it, look in my tables to see what else is of similar thickness and which dot-pitch (dp)/pricking size suited that one, then make a sample in the same sort of area to see how the new one works. It takes 30 secs to tex, and a couple of hours to test; my samples have travelled the world with me so I always have examples to compare with yarns I encounter. As an example of how this works, there is a silk scarf of mine in the lace exhibition currently at Whitchurch Silk Mill in the UK. I found a pretty silk yarn online at KnitWitches Yarns, a Swiss spun laceweight pure silk 2/12, 600m per 100gms, which I discovered to have a tex of 160. I make a lot of linen lace in Bockens 16/2, which has a similar tex, on a 10mm grid, and I found this suited the silk, too. Testing it, I liked the way it behaved on bobbins and the result it gave, although I often find that when one makes a long piece with continental bobbins (where there is plenty of space to wind thick yarns), yarns tend to roll tight at one side and unravel at the other side. I can't now remember which side that happened with the silk - it's all according to whether it's Z or S spun, but one quickly learns to re-twist bobbins that are becoming unravelled, or untwist those which seem overspun. I have been making scarves for well over 20 years, and have tried various lengths - I first copied a bought one of 4ft 6ins, and decided that was too short (unless you yourself are short, in which case you might prefer it); I tried 6ft, but that needs winding round a couple of times; so I have chosen to make mine 5ft (and a weaver friend concurred), as that gives you a nice drape round your neck and two elegant ends hanging down. I use wide block pillows, and the box says that my favourite stainless steel pins are 40mm x 0.60mm; Folch pins made in Spain and sold by Presencia in the Uk come in all shapes and sizes, including similar ones but also larger ones which I'd use if I hadn't bought enough boxes of the old favourites to last me a lifetime! When I have finished, I block my scarf out to its original size on a big piece of softboard, using sturdy Folch 45mm hard steel lace pins as this puts it back under tension. Then I spray it with water, and leave it to dry; this sets the final result. It might be a bit of a bind, but works with all textures - I ruined interesting textures in early pieces by ironing them. Finally, I iron damp fringes smooth if it's silk, and trim them straight along a quilting grid. Have fun, but remember: you are your own arbiter. What's right, is what works for you, and that often comes with experience. I show my samples to friends, and listen to what they say - some like lace denser or lighter, according to taste. Each country has fantastic yarns to use, and availability changes constantly - if you can test them yourself, you are in control. Jane Atkinson - 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/
