Hi Jenny, That's a great question that your group has discussed, and obviously a thought provoking one, which is good for learning.
I think Alice made a great point about letting your threads talk to you. A 50 linen is going to behave vastly differently than a 50 cotton or 50 silk, or even a rayon/machine embroidery thread that's about a 50 equivalent - and even between different laces the same thread can behave differently. I'm currently working on a sample of an old torchon pattern than I've wanted to try for 30 odd years and am using 50 linen. It's an interesting exercise after working with 50 cotton and 100 cotton for so many years and making beds lace, as the linen is coarse and can handle a heavier hand (it almost needs a heavier hand at times). The slubs and varying thicknesses as I progress make for stops in places I might not normally stop to tension. One piece I recently completed had a few enormously long rows (of about 80+ pairs between pins at one point) and that required a slightly different approach to tensioning. As Clay and Robin pointed out, there's no real wrong or right way. In some ways the pattern will dictate a little too, in when/where you tension. Certain grounds will require tensioning in different or multiple places. Paying some attention to how your thread is behaving will give good guidance as to how you should treat it. Hope this helps a little. Cheers, Helen, Aussie in Duvall, WA - To unsubscribe send email to [email protected] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [email protected]. For help, write to [email protected]. Photo site: http://community.webshots.com/user/arachne2003
