Dear Louise I strongly agree that it's better to work out what to do next before doing it, but prefer to work out as well as work on the pillow rather than on a diagram. What I find I end up doing in floral Bucks and Beds is I think a compromise between working and undoing, or drawing on the pricking (difficult to get the eraser where you want it, and remove the crumbs left). I simply put the pins in, and take the workers round them in the order I am considering. That makes plain if the workers will clear a tight point, or leave too large a gap, for example where trails join. It also means you can try out on the actual bit you are going to work - a pin hole may have moved slightly in the pricking process, and it can make a difference... In the piece I am working at present is making it clear that with the thread I am using, not all pin holes need working - for example, at the leaflets, it's sufficient to hang in two pairs round the gimp where the leaf suddenly widens, and work the weavers to the next pin hole down, and indeed this gives a smoother effect than working into the top pin, which produces a bump. Can only be discovered working in the thread - a pencil line on paper doesn't take the thread's properties into account. I am always amazed by what you can sometimes get away with, when the thread hides a multitude of sins, and what you can't, where that annoying hole remains in an area of irregular cloth, where a pair simply won't stay on a horizontal or vertical line! Still, I suppose it's what creates the challenge and keeps us interested. [email protected]
<One of the things my mentor recommended was to make an enlarged copy of the pricking and "Work the lace with a pencil" drawing lines from dot to dot in the order one would work from pinhole to pinhole. I still do this sometimes, especially with floral Bucks where there is no "right way" to work it. It is much easier to rub out a pencil line then to retro-lace. I recommend this to beginner lacemakers, especially those who are more pictorial than word oriented. Louise in Central Virginia [email protected]> - To unsubscribe send email to [email protected] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [email protected]. For help, write to [email protected]
