Re: [lace] more Honiton
Lorelei Halley wrote: One thing to remember is that when weaving a cloth stitch area, whichever bobbins serve as the weavers will dominate the color appearance. So if you have one or 2 passive pairs that are green, in a flower, they may not matter much. So long as your weaver and 2 edge pairs are petal colors (because these 3 take turns as weavers) it won't matter so much what color the others are. (There is a piece at the Art Institute of Chicago which has plaid flowers because of this fact.)- It's not necessarily true that the weaver dominates the passives. It depends on tensioning. Whichever threads get pulled more tightly will be straighter, causing the threads going the other direction to be wavy (go up and down to get around the straight-line ones. The wavy threads are more visible while the straight-line threads are pushed down below the wavy ones. If you pull tightly on your passives and just ease the worker around the pin, the passive colors will be less noticeable. On the other hand, if you tug firmly on the worker/weaver at the pin while very gently straightening the passives, the passives will go up and down while the worker goes arrow-straight. The passive color will then be dominant over the worker color. Now, with Honiton-size threads you're not really tugging anything all that hard, but you can still exert some control over which threads (worker/weavers or passives) dominate. Another way to control whether passive color or worker color dominates is to vary the thickness--a slightly thicker worker will dominate a slightly thinner passive, and vice versa. Robin P. Los Angeles, California, USA robinl...@socal.rr.com - 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/
[lace] lace at museums
Hello, all - A few days ago, I finally took advantage of my relative proximity to New York City to go see the Gems of European Lace exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. This opened back in the summer and I know was mentioned here on this list at that time. In addition, Jeri posted a thoughtful review after her own visit in November. For those interested, here is the link to the exhibit's website: http://www.metmuseum.org/exhibitions/listings/2012/european-lace It closes on January 13th, so there are precious few days to go see it in person if you are able. I'm posting now for two reasons: one, to publicly thank Devon and anyone else on this list who may have been involved with making this exhibit happen, as well as Jeri for her further information, which I did print out and bring with me (as she had suggested). The second reason for this message is about my wandering thoughts since this visit. Before I went, I searched "lace" on the Met's collection website and made note of what was listed "on view." In addition to the pieces in this exhibit and the inevitable paintings and such with the word lace in their descriptions, I found four lace pieces on display in other permanent galleries in the museum. Once there, I did go and find those pieces. Perhaps regular Met goers could clarify this, but they seemed to be in places where they were on display "permanently" - i.e. European decorative arts galleries, in a case with other objects. None were particularly close to the glass or easy to study in person. As mentioned by others, the Met's collections on line have great zooming qualities and I was able to see these pieces better, so to speak, on my computer. But, still, I greatly appreciated that a typical visitor through the museum could have some encounter with lace, no matter how small the scale (four pieces, not counting the special one gallery exhibit closing next week, spread throughout that great giant of a museum.) It got me wondering whether there is any lace on display on a regular basis in any other museum in the US. I'm not talking about any special exhibit, nor am I referring to collections that could only be seen by researchers and by appointment. I just mean being able to encounter it in some casual way, that a visitor might stop and take a second look. I did a lot of people watching in the museum and it is interesting to see what people spend lots of time staring at and being with and what gets brushed aside with a quick walk through. And, of course, everyone is different in their interests and their likes. I couldn't tell you off the top of my head what else was in the case with the two lace pieces in gallery 503, because I simply do not remember. Not where my eye was focused. But, there were other moments in the museum when I DID focus my eye on new things or new directions that I hadn't realized would appeal - not until I encountered that particular piece or object or painting. Anyway, I got myself off on quite a tangent over the last few days - googling museums in the US, getting the sense of how much of their collection is or is not online, whether their search feature has an "item on view" button to narrow your search. All I can say is that I couldn't find any museum that apparently had a piece of lace on view somewhere. That's not to say that it doesn't exist - I just may not be able to get that info via the websites. In particular, I was interested in the some of the museums of tours of recent Conventions, knowing that they had lace collections (Minneapolis Museum of Art, Baltimore Museum of Art, National Museum of American History, etc.) So, here is the guts of my question: do you know of any lace on display in a "permanent" sort of way in any major museum in the US? Even if it is just one or two pieces? I imagine that there are likely many answers to this question in European countries, but how about in the states? An off shoot of this, perhaps provoking some responses to this posting, is some of the old postings I found when I originally searched the Arachne archives to find Jeri's review of the exhibit. Whatever search terms I put in gave me some wonderful emails to read through from some years back, I think when the Ratti Textile Center at the Met first opened, and comments made by many about what types of exhibits draw the crowds into the museums and how museums make the decisions of what to put on display to get those crowds. Sadly, lace seems pretty low on the list. For those who have made it through this long post, thanks for reading! arlene in NJ - 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/
Re: [lace] Re: Breaking and Twist to Thread
Adele, and Sue! This is the most rational response to this question that I have seen!! It makes sense to me that we use our knowledge of the intrinsic qualities of our fibers to determine when and if we add one (or two? or three?) twists to a pattern to keep things balanced. I can even imagine having to add crosses... with an odd batch of fiber. Sue, please keep us posted on your results!! Clay On 1/5/2013 6:12 PM, Adele Shaak wrote: Hi Sue: This happens all the time. If any thread is S-plied then when a bobbin rolls to the left the plies will untwist, and a bobbin rolling to the right will add twists. As you work, you roll the bobbins out of the way, then when you want them you pick them up to bring them back into the work, so the twists that untwisted or overtwisted are not restored as they would be if you rolled each bobbin the same amount in each direction. With an S-plied thread or yarn, the plies are untwisted on the left side of your pillow and overtwisted on the right side. Working with finer lace threads, which have more twists per inch than your yarn, this effect only becomes obvious once in a while. The untwisted threads start to look puffy, the overtwisted ones look thinner and of course when you pick up a bobbin the thread will twist back on itself as it tries to restore its balance. Now that you're using yarn, you're seeing the effect almost immediately because there are far fewer twists on the plied yarn than there are on normal lace thread, so just one or two rolls of the bobbin makes a big difference. So, what can you do about it? I'm afraid I don't have any clever tricks, and anything I suggest you're probably already doing. You can try to stop the bobbins from rolling but that's never worked for me. I would just try to restore the twists as I go along, by keeping an eye on how the thread on each bobbin looks and if necessary, rolling each bobbin in my hand when I pick it up. Hope this helps. Adele North Vancouver, BC (west coast of Canada) On 2013-01-05, at 1:22 PM, Sue Babbs wrote: Over the years we have been discussing, on and off, the fact that some bobbins seem to twist / untwist more than others. At present I am working a wide torchon edging in cashmere/silk mix, with the same thread and Swedish bobbins throughout. ON the left I have a half stitch fan for the headside, and on the right of the pattern is a variety of cloth stitch pairs and some ct pin ct areas. The bobbins in the half stitch area are losing their twist, and those on the right side with mostly ct pin ct are steadily gaining twist. Those in the middle (which probably travel in and out of the other areas) are more stable. I have never seen such pronounced differences as working in this lace-weight yarn. Sue - 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/ - 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/
[lace] Lace at Sweet Briar
Dear Arachnids, I have finalized my mailing list for LASB, and it has occurred to me that some of you may have hoped to attend this year, provided the option! So if any of you are interested in being part of "Lace at Sweet Briar" in 2013, please respond to me privately to be added to the list! If you have received a brochure in the past, you will probably not need to respond, as you're already on the list. Butif you were on the list for four or five years and did not respond, you may have been taken off. So, to be safe, let me know if you're seriously interested. I'll be sure you're on the list. Clay Clay Blackwell Lace at Sweet Briar - 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/
[lace] more Honiton
Susan When starting a leaf at a point, usually one of the pins below the top point pin will be a little closer to the top. That is the direction to weave in for your first row. Some you weave to the left, some to the right. Go for the highest pin first. Honiton technique was not intended for work in color, so the typical movements don't account for color changes, just how to get from A to B. That said, there is no reason why you can't experiment and see what happens. One thing to remember is that when weaving a cloth stitch area, whichever bobbins serve as the weavers will dominate the color appearance. So if you have one or 2 passive pairs that are green, in a flower, they may not matter much. So long as your weaver and 2 edge pairs are petal colors (because these 3 take turns as weavers) it won't matter so much what color the others are. (There is a piece at the Art Institute of Chicago which has plaid flowers because of this fact.) The other alternative is to abandon the idea of following the Honiton method of trying to make threads move from the leaf into the flower. Instead, work each part as a separate unit and attach them by sewings. Leaves and stems could be one unit. Flowers would each be their own unit. Lorelei - 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/
Re: [lace] Re: Breaking and Twist to Thread
I am not particularly bothered by this, and know to twist or untwist the yarn on the bobbins as needed to stop the yarn splitting or becoming too fine. Yes, I know that it is working in thicker thread that makes it easier to observe. I was simply observing the phenomenon when a half stich area is introduced into the pattern and the way the thread then behaves. At some point, I might sample the effect of having the half stitch area on the right side to see if it still untwists. What I failed to tell you all, was that in the earlier strip I worked for this piece, using exactly the same thread and bobbins, but where there was not a half stitch fan, and the pattern was uniform across its width all the bobbins gradually tightened. It is only since introducing the half stitch area that the threads in that area are untwisting. Theo was incorrect in assuming that I wind the bobbins by wrapping the thread around them. This is not something I have done in years. Also I don't roll bobbins on the pillow. It was given a flannel cover by its previous owner, and they pretty much stay where I place them. I do not place my hand on them and roll them across the pillow. Sue sueba...@comcast.net - 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/
Re: [lace] Re: Breaking and Twist to Thread
Hi Sue: This happens all the time. If any thread is S-plied then when a bobbin rolls to the left the plies will untwist, and a bobbin rolling to the right will add twists. As you work, you roll the bobbins out of the way, then when you want them you pick them up to bring them back into the work, so the twists that untwisted or overtwisted are not restored as they would be if you rolled each bobbin the same amount in each direction. With an S-plied thread or yarn, the plies are untwisted on the left side of your pillow and overtwisted on the right side. Working with finer lace threads, which have more twists per inch than your yarn, this effect only becomes obvious once in a while. The untwisted threads start to look puffy, the overtwisted ones look thinner and of course when you pick up a bobbin the thread will twist back on itself as it tries to restore its balance. Now that you're using yarn, you're seeing the effect almost immediately because there are far fewer twists on the plied yarn than there are on normal lace thread, so just one or two rolls of the bobbin makes a big difference. So, what can you do about it? I'm afraid I don't have any clever tricks, and anything I suggest you're probably already doing. You can try to stop the bobbins from rolling but that's never worked for me. I would just try to restore the twists as I go along, by keeping an eye on how the thread on each bobbin looks and if necessary, rolling each bobbin in my hand when I pick it up. Hope this helps. Adele North Vancouver, BC (west coast of Canada) On 2013-01-05, at 1:22 PM, Sue Babbs wrote: > Over the years we have been discussing, on and off, the fact that some > bobbins seem to twist / untwist more than others. > > At present I am working a wide torchon edging in cashmere/silk mix, with the > same thread and Swedish bobbins throughout. ON the left I have a half stitch > fan for the headside, and on the right of the pattern is a variety of cloth > stitch pairs and some ct pin ct areas. > > The bobbins in the half stitch area are losing their twist, and those on the > right side with mostly ct pin ct are steadily gaining twist. Those in the > middle (which probably travel in and out of the other areas) are more stable. > I have never seen such pronounced differences as working in this lace-weight > yarn. > > Sue - 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/
[lace] more Honiton & the horns of a dilemma
Hello All! Egad, you would think with all these questions that I had never taken a class or consulted more than one text! I do believe I've found every sticking point. Is there a rationale for starting on the right side or left side when beginning at a point? To help decide, should I count the pins before starting, thereby starting on the side with more pins? I'm working on #2 Ribbed Flower in the Lace Guild UK booklet & had to add a pin hole in two different spots to make it all work out on the first set of leaves. Not what the designer had in mind, I'm sure! Now that I'm on leaf #3 at the stem I've got the same issue. So--if there's an uneven number of pins between two sides of a shape (in this case the leaf), should I make the 1st pin (after the point) on the longer side? The ribbed flower is a cute little shape that I've enlarged so I can see what I'm doing (!!) plus work in color. Which brings up the question, how do I change colors from my green ribbed (ten s! tick) stem to a flower color for the ribbed floral section? Can I simply add & throw out in the same row in ten stick? Oh dear, I'm well above my pay grade yet again, but I'd love to have a red flower! If anyone can help, I'd appreciate suggestions. Sincerely, Susan Hottle, Palm Beach Gardens, FL USA - 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/
Re: [lace] Re: Breaking and Twist to Thread
Over the years we have been discussing, on and off, the fact that some bobbins seem to twist / untwist more than others. At present I am working a wide torchon edging in cashmere/silk mix, with the same thread and Swedish bobbins throughout. ON the left I have a half stitch fan for the headside, and on the right of the pattern is a variety of cloth stitch pairs and some ct pin ct areas. The bobbins in the half stitch area are losing their twist, and those on the right side with mostly ct pin ct are steadily gaining twist. Those in the middle (which probably travel in and out of the other areas) are more stable. I have never seen such pronounced differences as working in this lace-weight yarn. Sue sueba...@comcast.net -Original Message- - 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/
[lace] Royal School of Needlework Exhibit to March 2013
Not long ago, a member of Arachne asked about places to visit in London. The Royal School of Needlework is located within Hampton Court Palace, technically within greater London, but quite far from the center of the city. There are several options for traveling there from inner London. This could be an all-day adventure for you. You should be able to walk some distance. The Palace is huge and well worth touring. I say "well worth touring" with the experience of having been there 3 times! The Royal School of Needlework is celebrating their 140th anniversary by holding a special exhibition at their headquarters. The exhibition will feature 140 objects including archive materials, photographs and embroideries from each decade. Needlework taught at the RSN includes needlelace and stumpwork - which qualify as lacemaking techniques. You cannot just "drop in" to the RSN. You must pre-arrange. If you wish to only visit the RSN, enter the gates and walk along the left side of the Palace to the very end. The RSN is located on the back left corner at ground level. Go to _www.royal-needlework.org.uk_ (http://www.royal-needlework.org.uk) Select the tab: Visiting the RSN(Reserve well in advance, not just a few days!) The exhibit is called "RSN 140 - A Continuous Thread" For general information, do a general search of the exhibit, and separately of the palace. Arachne archives have old correspondence which you can read by searching "Royal School of Needlework" at: _http://www.mail-archive.com/lace@arachne.com/index.html_ (http://www.mail-archive.com/lace@arachne.com/index.html) Jeri Ames in Maine USA Lace and Embroidery Resource Center - 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/
