Hi Julie: Just a couple of quick pointers:
About the kinking - you can control this by rolling the needle in your fingers between stitches, to take off the twist you just put on. Once you learn which way to twist the needle you do it between each stitch and the movement becomes easy and natural. When you already have a kink, to know whether to remove it by twisting the needle clockwise or counterclockwise: allow the thread to twist back on itself and look at the point where the twist starts. If the bit of thread coming from your needle is in front of the thread coming from the work, you twist counter-clockwise. If the thread from your needle is behind the thread from the work, twist clockwise. (this would be so much easier to show you if I could do it with a sketch) I see you’ve already realized this, but yes, you do need to use shorter lengths of thread to avoid the abrasion problem, especially with Hollie Point because the thread wraps around itself as you tighten the stitch. I have the same book, and I see there are good instructions for changing threads in the middle of a row. Better to master how to change threads than to fight with abrasion. Needles - a #26 tapestry needle might be too coarse. You can get a thinner needle and dull the point if you like. I haven’t seen the #15 Fresia needles she refers to in the book - has anybody else? What are they like? Hope this helps. Adele West Vancouver, BC (west coast of Canada) > On Mar 21, 2016, at 12:12 PM, [email protected] wrote: > > I've completed a Hollie Point needlelace exercise! Great, right? On to the > third exercise! Except, suddenly I feel disenchanted with my thread. It's > Tanne 50, a cotton thread. Should I try a different thread? I guess threads > are either cotton, linen, or silk. Or any of those types right out of the > question for Hollie Point, or needlelace in general? What do I look for in a > thread? > I'm dissatisfied with the Tanne 50 because it looks great coming off the > spool but it gets really beaten up after I've been sewing with it for a > while. - 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/
