[lace] ] thread for Hollie Point
Hi, Julie, and Welcome to the very addictive world of needlelace!! I, too have worked from the Barley book. Hollie point, I find, is not an easy lace to make! I worked 2 samples - one in Fincrochet #20, and the other - same pattern - in Brock 100/3. I will email you privately, with a scan of the 2 samples . I have worked needlelace quite successfully using the Brok 100/3 I think the Madeira Tanne is too loose a twist for doing a closely worked needlelace like Hollie Point. You need a firmer thread. Finca bobbin lace threads are Ok, though - they seem to be a firmer thread, - more "body" to them. Regards from Liz in Melbourne, Oz. lizl...@bigpond.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/
Re: [lace] thread for Hollie Point
Hi Julie Tanner 50 is 39 wraps/cm. Brok 160 is 66 wraps/cm and Egyptian 120 is 58 wraps/cm so they are both considerably finer than the Tanne Actually Egyptian 60/2 is 39 wraps/cm the same as Tanne 50 and Brok 70 is 38 wraps/cm (very marginally thicker). Any Egyptian cotton with a number higher than 60/2 or Brok with a higher number than 70/2 will be thinner than Tanne 50. Egyptian cotton comes as fine as 185/2 which is an eye watering 85 wraps/cm The other important thing about Brok and Egyptian cotton is that they are manufactured as lace threads and are S twisted. Tanner is manufactured as a machine embroidery thread and is Z twisted. If you are having problems with the Tanne twisting up as you work you might well find that Brok or Egyptian will be easier to work with. Brenda > > Do some threads give nicer final results? And what about the feel of thread as you work with it? In bobbin lace I enjoy the way different thread material feels differently as I work with it. > My book mentions "Brok 160 or Egyptian Cotton 120". How do Brok and Egyptian Cotton compare with Tanne 50? > What size thread should I be using anyway? Brok 160 and EC 120 are, according to my thread chart, significantly smaller than Tanne 50. Brenda in Allhallows paternos...@appleshack.com www.brendapaternoster.co.uk - 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] 1795 Needle-lace sampler
Thanks Jeri That context is helpful. What a delightful sampler and a little different to others that I am familiar with. Annette Meldrum in a cool but sunny south coast of NSW Australia Where autumn has suddenly arrived and I miss summer already. On Behalf Of jeria...@aol.com Sent: Tuesday, 22 March 2016 4:03 AM Just found on http://winterthur.org/embroidery the second item on the right, If you are in another nation, you can place this work in historical context by knowing that the American Revolutionary War ended 1783. --- This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software. https://www.avast.com/antivirus - 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] thread for Hollie Point
What about letting the thread and needle hang free for a while? Won't that untwist it the correct way? Karen in Malta - 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] thread for Hollie Point
Hi Julie, It’s a long time since I worked any Hollie Point but I used Madeira Tanne 50 for the best sample I made (I’ll send you a scan privately). In that one I had about 8 rows and 15 stitches in a 0.25 in square. By comparison a piece of Hollie Point in the Glasgow Museums Collection had about 10 rows and 22 stitches in a 0.25 in square - more stitches closer together, although I was getting close. I can’t remember what size needle I used. I do remember that I could only work that tightly with good light and sometimes needed a magnifying glass too! You do need to use short lengths of thread for needle lace - the length of your forearm is a good guide. Any more than that and the threads will start looking sad before you get to the end. When Hollie Point was made I expect linen was used rather than cotton but I’ve never seen any made with silk. I’ve always found that linen available today isn’t good for needlelace as it tends to fall apart quickly. Perhaps the quality was better in the 18th/19th century. Jean in cool but dry Glasgow - 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] thread for Hollie Point
Hi Julie: Just a couple of quick pointers: About the kinking - you can control this by rolling the needle in your fingers between stitches, to take off the twist you just put on. Once you learn which way to twist the needle you do it between each stitch and the movement becomes easy and natural. When you already have a kink, to know whether to remove it by twisting the needle clockwise or counterclockwise: allow the thread to twist back on itself and look at the point where the twist starts. If the bit of thread coming from your needle is in front of the thread coming from the work, you twist counter-clockwise. If the thread from your needle is behind the thread from the work, twist clockwise. (this would be so much easier to show you if I could do it with a sketch) I see you’ve already realized this, but yes, you do need to use shorter lengths of thread to avoid the abrasion problem, especially with Hollie Point because the thread wraps around itself as you tighten the stitch. I have the same book, and I see there are good instructions for changing threads in the middle of a row. Better to master how to change threads than to fight with abrasion. Needles - a #26 tapestry needle might be too coarse. You can get a thinner needle and dull the point if you like. I haven’t seen the #15 Fresia needles she refers to in the book - has anybody else? What are they like? Hope this helps. Adele West Vancouver, BC (west coast of Canada) > On Mar 21, 2016, at 12:12 PM, jsyz...@comcast.net wrote: > > I've completed a Hollie Point needlelace exercise! Great, right? On to the > third exercise! Except, suddenly I feel disenchanted with my thread. It's > Tanne 50, a cotton thread. Should I try a different thread? I guess threads > are either cotton, linen, or silk. Or any of those types right out of the > question for Hollie Point, or needlelace in general? What do I look for in a > thread? > I'm dissatisfied with the Tanne 50 because it looks great coming off the > spool but it gets really beaten up after I've been sewing with it for a > while. - 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] thread for Hollie Point
I've completed a Hollie Point needlelace exercise! Great, right? On to the third exercise! Except, suddenly I feel disenchanted with my thread. It's Tanne 50, a cotton thread. Should I try a different thread? I guess threads are either cotton, linen, or silk. Or any of those types right out of the question for Hollie Point, or needlelace in general? What do I look for in a thread? I'm dissatisfied with the Tanne 50 because it looks great coming off the spool but it gets really beaten up after I've been sewing with it for a while. I think that's natural? Needelace is hard on thread because the thread is constantly being pulled through the narrow previous stitch. Also, something about the motion of needelace seems to add a twist to the thread so it gets more and more kinked up as I work. Also, being a beginner I occasionally make mistakes and have to unlace, which is extra rough on the thread (of course unlacing is bad for thread in bobbin lace, too, so that's not news). I think maybe there is a natural conflict in needlelace between wanting the thread to be really long, so you are not constantly tying off old thread and starting new threads, and needing the threads to be sort of short, so that by the time you get to the end of the thread you aren't sewing with dingy pathetic shreds. So, just naturally I've been reducing my thread lengths as time has gone by, in response to the thread being so mangled by the time I get to the end. Having a shorter thread also helps with the problem of kinking. I countertwist my thread when I notice it begin to kink, but I am hindered there because, and I 've really tried, I am unable to figure out what direction I should counterturn the thread. "Clearly clockwise" I finally decide. Then a little while later "why did I think clockwise? Clearly counterclockwise". Still more later "no, clockwise was right in the first place." And on and on forever. One time I decided that for my newest piece of thread I would once and for all end the twisting problem by diligently countertwisting at almost every stitch, and I totally overdid it and the thread actually ended up falling apart in my hands. Wow, I didn't even know thread did that. OK, so I have respect for the way needlelace chews up thread. Nonetheless, I am wondering if maybe some threads stand up to the abuse better than others and Tanne 50 is not the sturdiest choice. Also, what about the final result? Do some threads give nicer final results? And what about the feel of thread as you work with it? In bobbin lace I enjoy the way different thread material feels differently as I work with it. My book mentions "Brok 160 or Egyptian Cotton 120". How do Brok and Egyptian Cotton compare with Tanne 50? What size thread should I be using anyway? Brok 160 and EC 120 are, according to my thread chart, significantly smaller than Tanne 50. It is important to me that my needelace be portable, since if I am at home I can make bobbin lace. In Hollie Point the number of stitches in a piece is fixed and the size of the piece is just whatever you end up with when you make that number of stitches. The exercise I just did was about 160 stitches wide and it is a little over 3 inches long, call it 153 stitches for three inches, 51 stitches per inch. About 8 centimeters, so 20 stitches per cm. At this size, I can make needlelace in good light but not in mediocre light. Also my stitches are just a little bit smaller than my size 26 tapestry needle. I am afraid that if I go any smaller than I would only be able to do it in excellent light, so it would no longer be portable. Also I guess I would have to find smaller needles, I guess some sort of sharp, but I could learn to deal with! that. Should I stick with threads the same size as Tanne 50 or would I find that I can after all make needlelace in good light with a smaller thread? In general I am the sort of person who likes lace to be fine. I get bored with coarse lace. It's a surprise to me to be doing this third exercise at all. In Hollie Point, the idea is that you have a simple rectangle and you completely fill it with stitches to end up with a solid, boring rectangle of knitted-looking cloth, in my case a 160 stitch by 37 row rectangle. Except! Except the rectangle isn't boring after all because as you work it you strategically occasionally leave out stitches, which causes visible holes in the cloth. You place the holes in such a way as to form a delicate picture. So Hollie Point is like counted cross stitch, except that the picture is formed not by contrasting colors of thread but by the contrast of hole and stitch. My book is "Chapter 2: Hollie Point" of Catherine Barley's "Needelace Designs and Techniques Classic and Contemporary". The entire time I was doing the first exercise, a simple diamond inside a diamond, I was dissatisfied. "If I want to do counted cross stitch",
[lace] 1795 Needle-lace sampler
Just found on http://winterthur.org/embroidery There are two items of interest: 1. Definition of the word art and the word craft - this is one of the best (my humble opinion), and confined to one paragraph. 2. Click on the second item on the right, and view a larger image of a 1795 needle-lace sampler. These samplers were taught in private schools for girls in the Philadelphia area in the 18th century. Very few have survived. This one is unique (to me) for having some embroidered elements rendered in blue silk. You will note that there are other types of lacy work, including deflected-or-pulled thread and withdrawn threads that left a more open textile weave that was then embellished with stitching. If you are in another nation, you can place this work in historical context by knowing that the American Revolutionary War ended 1783. 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/
