Hmmm. I have this book; that pattern is very straightforward, and it’s hard to guess what your problem was without seeing the piece and knowing how exactly you consolidated the process. It is interesting that the first rows - where you were following the written instructions - went well, and the trouble only started after your consolidation. I wonder if when you consolidated you started making a several stitches before tensioning, because yes, that could have made little loops, but the loops probably wouldn’t be in the passives at the edges. Usually the edge passives are the easiest to tension.
Usually the only thing I’ve found that makes loops is if I’m accidentally getting the thread wound around the pin, or somehow winding it around more than one pin. That is easy to do in these miniature lace patterns, because there are so many pins you cannot clearly see the pattern as you’re making it. One thought - were you pushing the Duchesse pins all the way down into the cushion? If so, could the thread have been catching on the pins that were already pushed down? About the Duchesse pins - yes, Duchesse has been made by adults. I have fairly large fingers for a woman and I’ve managed to use the Duchesse pins, but if I were going to use them in these patterns I might resort to using a pin pusher. I prefer using a slightly longer and larger pin. However, I see in the instructions (p.4) that you did not need to use the Duchesse pins on your sample - the longer & larger 30 x .55 mm Newey pins are what she recommends for this particular pattern. The Duchesse pins were only intended for use with the extremely fine 170/2 cotton, which is only used in four or five of the patterns in the book. I’d try another sample with the bigger pins, and if I still had trouble I’d think about going back to working the way I did at the start, where everything was fine. Hope this helps. Adele West Vancouver, BC (west coast of Canada) > "underwear insertion" (pg 111, Miniature Bobbin Lace by Snowden), may I ask > for a bit of help? When I took the strip off the pillow, I was mortified to > discover little loops. Clearly I have a tensioning problem! At the top of > the strip, where I was following the roseground "steps" line by line, the > work was quite smooth. Somewhere in the middle, I found a different > (&faster) rhythm by consolidating some of the steps. That's where the loops > began even though I believed that I was tensioning just as firmly as when the > steps were completed individually. What I'd like to understand: is this a > feature that is inherent in roseground whereby working too many steps on one > side actually prevents adequate tensioning? OR should I continue to > consolidate the steps as long as I become more vigilant about tensioning > between the two sides vs the steps in the middle? This particular pattern > featured passive pairs on each edge, cloth stit! > ch & twist in each roseground corner, with half stitch, pin, half stitch in > each center. Although many of the loops seem to be among the passives, > theoretically they could be smoothed out by pulling on one or more loops, but > that is not the case. I used YLI Heirloom 70/2 thread. As to the pins, was > Duchesse lace originally made by children? No joke--the pins are so tiny, I > felt ham-handed using them. With such a short shaft, they are very difficult > to grasp let alone maneuver into a pinhole! Is there a special pin > "technique" for using these little rascals? Suggestions are welcome so I can > improve on my next sample. - 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/
