It's interesting to read the different ways different people tackle the problem, and I'm sitting here wondering how many who regularly use the ghost pillow/voodoo board method were self taught? It is something I haven't used, in the "something to stick pins into" version, though I have at times kept a diagram or pattern draft at hand to check, especially with my latest bracelet when I was manipulating the threads to work specific stitches in specific colours (I've submitted this pattern to the CLG for publication). My problem is often not so much where I am on a pattern (ie which pinhole to work next), as which stitch I was using for that section of ground - particularly when I've come back to the lace three or more weeks/months later!
In the fifteen years I was teaching, I recognised early on that not all lacemakers can follow diagrams, and sometimes for them it was a case of step by step written instructions. Many understand the words "cross" and "twist" easier than the numbering of bobbins (2 over 3 etc always leaves me tongue-tied, and I'm numerically minded!). To teach how the various combinations of cross and twist affect the thread paths, and thus how to understand construction, I found it easier to get students to work a sampler using a different colour on each pair. (Stranded embroidery cotton is a relatively easy way of amassing enough colours without spending a lot). Pattern marking also helps - expecially marking in the unpinned corner stitches in roseground with a cross, showing where the relevant pairs have come from/are going to. As you progress, you don't need to mark your pattern as much - but if you are not using a covering film make sure you are using waterproof ink! Good light and a magnifying glass help in identifying which is the top pinhole of the next diagonal to be worked, especially when working Bucks at an angle of 36 degrees (the most difficult aspect of that was getting my head round the extreme steepness of the downhill slope!). The basic rule of not working uphill (except for the gap rows in honeycomb, and as one of my teachers, Jennifer Ford, put it, "in floral Bucks when you are cheating") means that if you understand that geometric lace is worked (in nearly all cases) on a diagonal, from the unworked pinhole furthest away from you, along a diagonal line to the pinhole closest to you, and that you take the pairs from either side of that top pinhole to work the stitch, you can usually work out where you are and where you need to go next without too much difficulty. Sometimes there is more than one choice, and then it usually doesn't really matter which you work first. In Torchon, when you are working a cloth or half stitch e! lement (eg a diamond shape), or a winkie-pin edge, leaving the last pin uncovered when you stop makes it obvious where you need to go next. Spangled bobbins make it easy to tie a "tell-tail" onto the worker bobbin (half stitch) or bobbins. Then it is just a matter of practicing the stops and starts.... having two cats demanding to be let in or out at regular intervals, or family to interrupt, ensures you get plenty of practice! That said, using an enlarged diagram covered in plastic film or laminated, and having low-tack adhesive stickers or dry wipe pens to mark your place sounds a much better idea than sticking pins in or drawing over the lines. It means that if you decide to do the same pattern again, you can re-use your original enlarged copy, rather than having to reproduce it. Jane Partridge - To unsubscribe send email to majord...@arachne.com containing the line: unsubscribe lace y...@address.here. For help, write to arachne.modera...@gmail.com. Photo site: http://www.flickr.com/photos/lacemaker/sets/
