RE: [lace] Christina Pillows
I believe I have a Christina. I got it in 1987. Where is the number located? I don't think I've ever noticed a number. In 1987 I was in a weaving supply store in Anchorage, Alaska, perusing a bobbin lace book. The owner of the store, Kay, asked me if I wanted to learn to make bobbin lace and I said yes! She said she would get me a pillow, bobbins, pins, thread and a book. She said she knew exactly what I needed. I don't remember the cost. I didn't think it outrageous, I do remember that much and no, Kay did not show me a photo of what I was getting. A couple months went by, and then I got a telephone call, my things had arrived. When I picked them up, that was my first glimpse of my gorgeous swedish roller pillow made entirely out of wood, stuffed hard with straw of some kind, and covered with dark green twill fabric. Sally Clay writes I would also like to know who on this list owns a Christina (or knows someone off-list who does...) I'd like to know the number on your Christina. My friend's pillow has a number in the upper 4,000s, and that suggests that there are still a lot of those pillows out there! - To unsubscribe send email to majord...@arachne.com containing the line: unsubscribe lace y...@address.here. For help, write to arachnemodera...@yahoo.com
RE: [lace] Christina Pillows
Yes, the one at the bottom is like mine. Mine is stuffed very hard with some kind of grass/straw and I couldn't tell what the stuffing is for the pillow that is available for sale now. I think I prefer mine, without the bobbin turntable. I think I like stacking and clearing a wide work space in the middle. Sally Date: Sun, 18 Apr 2010 13:54:13 -0400 From: clayblackw...@comcast.net To: sally13n...@q.com CC: lace@arachne.com Subject: Re: [lace] Christina Pillows The Swedish Lace Guild sells at least two kinds of roller pillows. One is as you describe, and has a stationery apron. The Christina has a rotating apron, in addition to the roller. Each Christina has a metal plate attached behind the roller which identifies it as a Christina, and gives the number. It sounds like your pillow looks like the one at the bottom of this page: http://www.svenskaspetsar.se/sv/category/134/knyppeldyna. These Swedish pillows are wonderful! The Christina looks like the one at the top of this page: http://www.svenskaspetsar.se/sv/category/133/christinadyna If you click on the words, Forstora bilden below the picture, you will see an enlarged picture, and the metal tag on the Christina is very visable. You can also see the stationery center of the pillow, around which the outer apron rotates smoothly. Clay On 4/18/2010 1:00 PM, Sally Schoenberg wrote: I believe I have a Christina. I got it in 1987. Where is the number located? I don't think I've ever noticed a number. In 1987 I was in a weaving supply store in Anchorage, Alaska, perusing a bobbin lace book. The owner of the store, Kay, asked me if I wanted to learn to make bobbin lace and I said yes! She said she would get me a pillow, bobbins, pins, thread and a book. She said she knew exactly what I needed. I don't remember the cost. I didn't think it outrageous, I do remember that much and no, Kay did not show me a photo of what I was getting. A couple months went by, and then I got a telephone call, my things had arrived. When I picked them up, that was my first glimpse of my gorgeous swedish roller pillow made entirely out of wood, stuffed hard with straw of some kind, and covered with dark green twill fabric. Sally Clay writes I would also like to know who on this list owns a Christina (or knows someone off-list who does...) I'd like to know the number on your Christina. My friend's pillow has a number in the upper 4,000s, and that suggests that there are still a lot of those pillows out there! - To unsubscribe send email to majord...@arachne.com containing the line: unsubscribe lace y...@address.here. For help, write to arachnemodera...@yahoo.com - To unsubscribe send email to majord...@arachne.com containing the line: unsubscribe lace y...@address.here. For help, write to arachnemodera...@yahoo.com
RE: [lace] The Tudors - costumes
Whenever I make lace in a public place, someone is curious about when bobbin lace was first made, and I trot out my story about King Henry VIII of England - that lace does not appear on portraits painted during most of his lifetime. His daughter, Elizabeth I, on the other hand, was painted many times prickly all around with lace. Then I always ask my audience if they know who Henry VIII was. I have asked little Inupiat boys from remote Alaska villages, I have asked city teenagers oozing pop culture, and now I have asked Navajo kids in dusty, worn-out cowboy boots this same question, and they have all answered Yes! with instant enthusiasm, He was the king of England with all the wives. By this time, the adults are interested too, and we all have a fun conversation about the dates of his reign and how they compare with the discovery and settlement of North America. Give it a try sometime. I would love to hear how the conversation develops in other parts of the world. A disclaimer: I'm not an art expert! I just love to have something to hang my dates on, and Henry VIII is very convenient, and entertaining too. And I love to look at art. I have looked carefully at the portraits that I have come across and I only remember once seeing one with a small amount of lace. Has anyone on this list seen contemporary portraits of Henry VIII with much lace? Sally Four Corners, New Mexico From: lswaters...@comcast.net To: lace@arachne.com CC: lswaters...@comcast.net Subject: [lace] The Tudors - costumes Date: Sun, 21 Mar 2010 05:54:31 -0600 I haven't seen this year's installments, left off last year just at the Kathryn Howard stage, in the year 1540. The first early pattern books don't mention 'cutwork' until 1542 - and they were basically embroidery patterns. The first real reticella patterns didn't - To unsubscribe send email to majord...@arachne.com containing the line: unsubscribe lace y...@address.here. For help, write to arachnemodera...@yahoo.com
RE: [lace] Passing of an Era - Russell Groff
What sad news! I have fond memories of my chats with Russ at IOLI conventions. He always had a good selection of interesting books. A couple of months ago I helped Sarah, a (famous!) Navajo rugweaver, start a card weaving project. I had discovered that I had two of Russ's card weaving books so I was able to give Sarah one of them. I remember buying one of them from Russ at an IOLI convention. I hope I hadn't pinched the other one somehow. My copy of Manual of Swedish Handweaving still has a sales receipt for Sept 1956 when the book was brand new, from Robin and Russ Hand Weavers in Santa Barbara. I got it on Ebay from a man who was selling his mother's things after she died. She was the one who had bought the book from Russ in 1956. Sally Four Corners, New Mexico Date: Thu, 14 Jan 2010 11:23:59 -0800 From: lacel...@verizon.net Subject: [lace] Passing of an Era - Russell Groff To: lace@arachne.com I just received news of the passing of Russell Groff ... owner of former Robin and Russ Handweavers who supported lacemaking along with his weaving. He printed or reprinted many books of lacemaking, and provided a place for our lacemaking group to meet for many years. Here is his story from a weaving source, so it doesn't mention lace, but he was important to our world also. The local lacemakers already missed him when he retired and closed the store, but still saw him occasionally around town. Now we have only the memories. Alice in Oregon --- Russell Ellsworth Groff, weaver, teacher, author, publisher, champion of handweaving, and for 57 years the proprietor of Robin and Russ Handweavers, passed away on January 3rd, 2010, at the age of 85. He suffered rheumatic fever during service in World War II and was taught weaving as occupational therapy. From that time on, Russ was a tireless promoter of weaving, weavers, equipment makers anyone and anything involved in fiber crafts. Fresh out of college, he scrounged up 15 looms and started a weaving program in Santa Barbara, California, that is active to this day. As of 2005, they were up to 45 looms and had a waiting list. After college, Russ started a production weaving studio, even selling his handwoven skirts to fashion retailer I. Magnin. He travelled the world buying for his shop, making high quality yarns and an amazing variety of tools and equipment available to weavers and other fiber artists. He designed and produced looms. He published two weaving newsletters and wrote or published more than 60 books. He founded or led weaving guilds in Santa Barbara, Southern California, and Portland, Oregon. He supported and encouraged anyone who wove, or taught, or wrote about weaving. Endings didnt interest Russ. He asked for no funeral, no fuss. As his health declined, his great concern was that his books and other publications would continue to be available to coming generations of weavers. - - To unsubscribe send email to majord...@arachne.com containing the line: unsubscribe lace y...@address.here. For help, write to arachnemodera...@yahoo.com - To unsubscribe send email to majord...@arachne.com containing the line: unsubscribe lace y...@address.here. For help, write to arachnemodera...@yahoo.com
RE: [lace] Lacemaking in Norway and Thank you LACE!
Hi everyone, I've emailed the scans of the LACE Jan '98 article to the three Arachneans who are interested. I would also be happy to make copies on paper and mail them off to anyone who's interested. Just drop me a line. Now, if any of you come across information about lace in Norway that I don't know about, please share it with all of us. I would love to know more. The rest of this message is for LACE magazine and The Lace Guild: Thank you very, very much for publishing this article! And for all the articles you've published throughout the years. Sally Schoenberg Four Corners, New Mexico - To unsubscribe send email to majord...@arachne.com containing the line: unsubscribe lace y...@address.here. For help, write to arachnemodera...@yahoo.com
RE: [lace] Accomodation in Tonder 2010
Oh dear, I enjoyed Francis's message. I went to Tonder, I think it was 2004. My accommodations, arranged by the local tourist office, were in a shoe manufacturer's conference center. It was located in a cow field a good 45 minute walk from the town center and the festival, and I was on foot. On my first trudge back into the town center after checking in, I found myself walking past a bicycle shop. I made a quick detour into the shop, and yes, the proprietor did have bicycles for rent. Mine, exactly like the ones ridden by all the ladies who live in Tonder came with a big straw basket on the handlebars and cost around $20 for my long weekend. I had a wonderful time on that bike. There are terrific bicycle lanes that go everywhere in Denmark, and the lanes I rode on were all perfectly flat. When I wasn't at the festival, I cycled to beautiful neighboring villages, even to Germany. Francis is absolutely right, Germany isn't very far away, and even cycling from a nearby village is not a bad idea. I'm pretty sure I have a cycle map of southern Denmark somewhere in with my travel books. It was wet when I was there. I needed my raincoat and an extra layer underneath but the rain didn't dampen my fun on the bike. Again, Francis is right - go to Tonder, and don't miss the tours. The lace is fabulous and the Danish people are so very nice. Sally Schoenberg Four Corners, New Mexico - To unsubscribe send email to majord...@arachne.com containing the line: unsubscribe lace y...@address.here. For help, write to arachnemodera...@yahoo.com
RE: [lace] lace in Grasse, France
Hi Carolyn, and all my lacemaking friends on Arachne, Carolyn asked if I took photos, and no, I didn't, but I googled and found these great photos of the museum: http://www.fragonard.com/parfums_grasse/gb/fragonard/events_fragonard.cfm has a good photo of a few of the costumes I saw. I looked mostly at the quilted skirts - I'd heard of them but had never seen them, and I've always thought they didn't sound very attractive. But they were nice. The skirt fabric was hand quilted, and not very thick, similar to the quilted placemats that you see everywhere for sale in Provence, though each little poofed diamond was, well, quite poofy. The skirts all stood out in a nice bell shape. The skirt fabric was all light colored with a flowered pattern, just like in this photo. The aprons were fine, dark colored silk, gathered at the waist and tied in back. The tops of the aprons were no more than 1/3 of the entire circumferance of the waist and spread out to cover the fronts of the skirts out to the sides. The bodices were all short jackets with sleeves that went just below the elbow, exactly like in this photo. Several were blue and the fabric looked like a coarse-ish handwoven plainweave linen. As a handweaver, I would guess 20/2 or 25/2 linen thread in contempory sizes. The fabric was not thick or heavy, and it looked comfortable. The bodice/jacket was fitted, not padded but surely lined, and the neck opening was close, but without a collar. Around the neck was a black ribbon with a cross hanging from it. If I remember correctly, the ribbon was threaded through a small ring in the top of the cross so the cross did not hang down very far from the ribbon. There were straw hats with two of the costumes, wide brimed with small, flat crowns. They must have perched precariously on the very tops of women's heads and would have needed a stout ribbon in any kind of wind. The lace caps in the photos are the ones I saw. Here are some more photos: http://www.fragonard.com/parfums_grasse/GB/fragonard/grasse/provencal_costume _and_jewelry_museum.cfm Margaret and Bev in BC suggested Lierse lace for the colored lace that was in the exhibit, so I googled Lierse also. Lierse is close, but the lace I saw definitely had a background net made on a 45 degree grid, and the Lierse I saw on the internet had a tulle background. So maybe the lace I saw in Grasse was 18th century. The lace I saw was chainstitched and otherwise looked much like the Lierse I saw on the internet. Sally From: caro...@carolynsmith-kizer.com To: sally13n...@q.com Subject: Re: [lace] lace in Grasse, France Date: Wed, 30 Sep 2009 12:02:18 -0400 Sally, thank you for sharing. Do you have any photos of the museum? I do 18thC French colonial reenacting and the journals state that the officers said Canadienne habitantes reminded them of Provençales. I would love to see any photos you have, as I will never get to France. Respectfully, Carolyn http://18thccuisine.blogspot.com/ http://carolynsmith-kizer.com - To unsubscribe send email to majord...@arachne.com containing the line: unsubscribe lace y...@address.here. For help, write to arachnemodera...@yahoo.com
[lace] lace in Grasse, France
Hi everyone, I'm just back from Nice, where I did a French immersion course. In my first French class, my teacher handed out free tourist maps of Nice with advertisements for museums in nearby Grasse known for its production of perfume. What caught my eye was a photo from the museum about life in Provence, of a women's costume with lace on it. Wow, I thought, if I can only get there! Well, Nice has a great transit system, every ride in the entire region, 1 euro. There's a central bus station (La Gare Routière) across the street from Vieux Nice (the old city) with maps and schedules posted on the walls. I had no trouble figuring out how to get to Grasse by bus. There is a train that also goes to Grasse, but I don't care for the train station pickpockets. Grasse is a medieval hilltop village in the countryside out of sight of Nice, very picturesque with panoramic views of the area. The church, which I stumbled upon early in my quest, was amazing, romanesque, very, very old. It took quite a bit of walking up and down steeply angled narrow streets to find the museum. I had pictured something big and modern like the Folk Museum in Oslo. Boy was I wrong! It's one floor upstairs in an old mansion, beautifully restored with many original touches, and it was free. There was an exhibit of bijoux (jewelry) in the first small room and then came three more similar rooms with space for a total of about 15 costumes. Each dress dummy was surrounded closely by a glass column, so it was possible to walk all the way around, and examine the details of each costume. The high tech lighting was carefully designed to light up the entire costume. Otherwise the rooms were dark and mysterious and old. The entire display was really a pleasure to see. There was an 18th century figured silk dress, no lace alas, and a early 19th century white embroidered gauze empire style dress with a beautiful drape. All of the other dresses were local Provence costumes - quilted skirts, silk aprons, jackets, and caps where I found the lace. The lace on the caps was not mentioned in the exhibit blurbs at all. It was some kind of fine point ground, nicely ruffled and in good repair. The width of most was about 1 1/2 inches. The lace on one cap had an especially nice floral design with a width of maybe 2 1/2 - 3 inches. One costume had a piece of lace that went around behind the neck, over the shoulders, and it crossed over the chest before ending at the waist. The background was a simple beige net made from twisted pairs that double stitched at pins placed on a 45 degree angle grid. Over that background, there was chainstitched a design in colors of flowers and leaves. I have no idea how it was made. This lace was mentioned briefly in the exhibit blurb - it said only that the lace was late 18th century. I've never seen anything like it, and it was very attractive. But I wouldn't have thought it was 18th century. But then again, I'm not an expert on French laces. The thread was coarser than the cap lace, maybe something similar to 80/2 or 90/2 coton. My French immersion class was a kick! I'm 59 years old, and my classmates were all in their late teens, early 20's. Everyone came from other countries, so the class had to be all French. The first class was daunting and exhausting, but I kept my chin up, and it got easier each day. Now I can hear French words! You should have seen me trying to explain tamales, tacos, and enchiladas to my German, Swiss, Spanish, and Japanese classmates, and my French teacher. I can't wait do it again. Sally Four Corners, New Mexico - To unsubscribe send email to majord...@arachne.com containing the line: unsubscribe lace y...@address.here. For help, write to arachnemodera...@yahoo.com
RE: [lace] d shaped pillows
Hello everyone, I only use D shaped pillows anymore. I make them myself, stuffed really hard with uncarded wool fleece. The fleece I wash in the washing machine and dry in the dryer so it's partly felted. The D shaped pillows weigh so much less, they are easier to handle, and I seem to find plenty of room for my bobbins. But I do tend to wrap my idle bobbins in handkerchiefs and stack them sideways. If my piece has corners, I turn the corner, barely, and then move the lace immediately. I find frequently moving lace on a smallish pillow much more efficient and more fun than struggling with a lace pattern awkwardly placed on a large pillow. And I really hate pillows now with corners. I really don't like jabbing my stomach with those sharp edges. I've written before about how I move my lace pattern, don't want to bore you to tears! If anyone would like to know how I do it, please let me know. Sally Schoenberg New Mexico From: rhiannonm...@hotmail.co.uk To: paternos...@appleshack.com; lace@arachne.com Subject: RE: [lace] d shaped pillows Date: Mon, 11 May 2009 14:47:47 +0100 Dear Brenda et al, I have seen a d-shaped pillow on ebay so there cannot be that big a gap in the market; however its location is listed as New York so maybe it is the UK market where there is a gap? Here is a link to the listing: http://tinyurl.com/q7q4cl Rhiannon (Sunning herself in County Meath, Ireland) -Original Message- From: owner-l...@arachne.com [mailto:owner-l...@arachne.com] On Behalf Of Brenda Paternoster Sent: 10 May 2009 09:28 To: Alice Howell Cc: lace@arachne.com Subject: Re: [lace] larger pillows Just yesterday I set up a piece on a 24 octagonal pillow. It's not a particularly big pattern; a piece of torchon I said I'd design for a future YLM pattern book, but that was the pillow available and as I was positioning the pricking I though that I wouldn't be using the back third of the pillow at all. Maybe I'll have a go some time at making a D shaped pillow, it would appear that there's a need and a gap in the market for D shaped flat/cookie lace pillows. Brenda On 9 May 2009, at 21:18, Alice Howell wrote: I like working on a 20 cookie pillow for smaller projects. I find that the far 4-5 inches of the pillow are not used much. The 20 pillow won't fit in a suitcase very well. One day I tried cutting a slice off the back of a pillow to make the front to back measurement less than 18 to fit a suitcase better. It worked well. And I found that I really liked using the pillow. That missing part on the far side was not missed. I'm going to try it on a 24 pillow since I have an extra one on hand. I'll cut off the far edge so I have 17.5 depth left, but will have more room on each side than on the 20pillow. It should hold more bobbins. Brenda in Allhallows, Kent http://paternoster.orpheusweb.co.uk/index.html - To unsubscribe send email to majord...@arachne.com containing the line: unsubscribe lace y...@address.here. For help, write to arachnemodera...@yahoo.com No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG - www.avg.com Version: 8.5.325 / Virus Database: 270.12.24/2108 - Release Date: 05/11/09 05:52:00 - To unsubscribe send email to majord...@arachne.com containing the line: unsubscribe lace y...@address.here. For help, write to arachnemodera...@yahoo.com - To unsubscribe send email to majord...@arachne.com containing the line: unsubscribe lace y...@address.here. For help, write to arachnemodera...@yahoo.com
[lace] moving lace and mooring threads
Many thanks to Bev for finding the address for the mooring threads message. That's a technique for stablizing a pricking on your pillow without bumpy pins that is well worth another discussion. Here's how I move lace...there are a lot of words here, but it all goes much faster than it might seem at first glance: I prefer to move when the lace is mostly ground (point, binche, torchon, whatever) and a bit beyond a completed cloth stitch area. When moving Beds or a tape lace, I look for a place where the trails are converging and wide cloth stitch areas are completed, and the number of bobbins is low. 1. Lengthen all the threads (leashes) to at least 12 inches long, more if you are new to moving lace. If you are slow at lengthening/shortening leashes, then this good practice for you. I used to be slow but now lenthening/shortening goes quickly for me and I don't avoid it. 2. Put all your bobbins on sticks or knit stitch holders. Stack all your sticks/holders on top of each other on top of a large handkerchief or light weight dish towel that has been placed on your pillow. 3. Fasten the large handkerchief/towel very tightly with pins of any kind, by knotting the handkerchief corners, or by tying a ribbon. Make absolutely sure that the sticks/holders and their bobbins are completely immobilized. The cloth that you use to bundle the bobbins needs to be lightweight so that you can really pin or tie the bundle tightly. Thick cloth won't let you get a good tight bundle. You should be able to safely toss your bundle around after you've taken your lace off the pillow. 4. This is the key ingredient: fasten the handkerchief opening so that all of the threads are coming out of a teensy weensy hole just big enough to let the threads through. Sometimes I tie a ribbon or thread around the threads and a bit of the handkerchief. Sometimes I have enough handkerchief to tie a square knot with two corners around the threads. Sometimes I use a couple of lace pins. It is vitally important that pulling on the bobbin threads outside the bundle will not result in any bobbin movement inside the bundle of bobbins. 5. Take all the pins out of your lace. 6. Move the pricking to a more comfortable spot on the pillow and TAKE A BREAK. 7. Rotate the pillow 180 degrees so you are looking at the pricking and lace upside down compared to how you are usually looking at it when you are making lace. 8. I begin by putting in one pin right in the middle and exactly on the most recently worked edge. Sometimes it helps to have worked to a point before starting the move. Then I put in more pins slowly working back towards me (remember, I'm at back of the pillow) and outwards towards the headside and the footside. Feeling stressed? TAKE A BREAK! Even a couple of minutes can really help to keep your hands dry, cool, and relaxed. 9. Carefully do just a few of the headside picots. I don't think it's necessary to do very many. When I distort anything, it's usually a picot so I don't like to force them. I have found that replacing 3 picot pins is sufficient in my experience. 10. Get some of the footside pins in. 11. Fill in 1/2 to 1 inches worth of pins. I have many times filled in only 1/2 inches worth of pins but then, in that case, I immediately work 1/2 inch's worth of lace. Be very careful when tensioning as you start to make lace again. Look for any movement of thread and buckling of lace. If that happens, turn the pillow around 180 degrees and put in more pins where the movement occurred. There are usually a few pins in the lace that I worked just before moving that I have to do over again, two or three at most, and maybe a picot needs to be redone. I have seen Anne Marie in Bruges wrap all of the threads around a large, heavy pin in a kind of half hitch (I think that is the name of the knot - I can do it, I can draw it, but I don't know if I can call it by the right name) and then leave the bobbins hanging loose off the edge of the pillow while the pricking is moved, the lace repinned, etc. The principle is the same, you just need to be sure that you have a very long length of thread on all the bobbins between the heavy pin and the worked lace, and that tugging on the leashes between the worked lace and the heavy pin does not move the bobbins beyond the heavy pin. One more story...I have large Flanders handkerchief edging that I had completed halfway when someone needed to borrow my pillow. I was not doing well at the time and, to tell you the truth, I couldn't be too concerned about finishing that lace at the time so I went through steps 1-5 and tossed the half square of lace into a dusty corner of my sewing room. There it sat for a year. I went back and forth about it in my mind, finally decided that it was worth finishing. So I rummaged around for that bundle, dusted it off, and went through steps 5-11. I finished the square some time later and I dare you to
RE: [lace] measure problems
Hi Francis, If you would like a good description of the various terms used by knitters for different kinds of thread, try the Halcyon website: www.halcyonyarn.com Look under Yarn by weight and you will see it described by yards/lb, yards/unit, wpi, and laceweight, etc. Sorry, there aren't too many metric terms there. Wish there were! This is where I go when I am struggling with yarn translations. Sally Four Corners, New Mexico Date: Sat, 28 Feb 2009 12:58:41 +0100 From: francis.busscha...@telenet.be To: lace@arachne.com Subject: [lace] measure problems Hallo to all i have an other question it is also knitting related on that knitting event in Holland were i found those lovely knitting needles i was also there as an seller of our threads and quite often we were confronted whit a question i did not directly had an aswer for they asked if it was laceweight, and other teminolegy concerning the thickness of the threads i have to say i m very good in conversions in Nm Nec linnen wool deniers etc but thatone is again an other kind of mesurements i did not know i have googled for it but did not find until now a good conversion towards Nm or other known numbers i can relate to so i hope, as most of you are not only bobbin or needle lacers, but generaly whit a very broad horison in textiles and can be considered as the real genuan textile-maniacs / filo-maniac like myself (they say its a mental desease that keeps you from the streets) and so that you can solf the problem so is there any out in the virtual world knowing exactly how its working from those laceweight towards real Nm or Nec or den measures? or and that is what i have found until now onn the net they give a kind of fork/interval of numbers were that kind of thread could be pinpointed in many thax in advance francis kortrijk belgium the sun is shining the crocus flowers are getting open the first signs of summer - To unsubscribe send email to majord...@arachne.com containing the line: unsubscribe lace y...@address.here. For help, write to arachnemodera...@yahoo.com - To unsubscribe send email to majord...@arachne.com containing the line: unsubscribe lace y...@address.here. For help, write to arachnemodera...@yahoo.com
RE: [lace] Bobbin case - how to sew the zipper
Hi everyone, Miriam has asked about sewing the zippers on my quick-and-easy bobbincases, and it's a very good question. I thought you all might be interested. Please note, I'm leaving out the details about turning the raw edge under and place the zipper teeth along wherever, etc. If my explanation doesn't have enough detail, let me know and I'll try again. I use zippers that are longer then the width of the bobbincase. I start at the top of one side of the open zipper and sew to within 3/8 inch of the end of the bobbincase rectangle. Then, leaving the zipper still open and the little zip with its handle dangling at the bottom of the zipper, I start at the top of the other side of the zipper and the other side of the tube and sew to within 3/8 inch of the end. If the rectangle making up the tube has been cut accurately and the sewing of the two zipper seams has been done at the same tension, then closing the zipper should give you a well behaved tube without any twist in it. If the tube looks great, then I give each end of the zipper seams a little back and forth sewing, I carefully pull the zip by its handle up to the top of the zipper, check again to be sure the tube is zipped closed, and then I cut off the excess zipper teeth at the other end. After that I sew each end of the inside-out bobbincase tube with the zipper mostly closed and finish those seams. That really puts the zipper ends to rest. The only tricky part is getting the zipper open again when the tube is inside out. Hope your daily walk, Miriam, to the post office is at least a pleasant one! I have a nice walk to my mailbox but area around the box now is horribly muddy. My shoes are always a couple of pounds heavier for the trip back. Sally - To unsubscribe send email to majord...@arachne.com containing the line: unsubscribe lace y...@address.here. For help, write to arachnemodera...@yahoo.com
[lace] bobbincase photos
Hi everyone, I have posted two photos of my easy-to-make bobbincase with the removable and thus washable inside pouch on http://community.webshots.com/user/arachne2003 My new camera thought it had things under control but I eventually triumphed. Sally - To unsubscribe send email to majord...@arachne.com containing the line: unsubscribe lace y...@address.here. For help, write to arachnemodera...@yahoo.com
RE: [lace] Bobbin case
Hi Miriam, I make bobbin cases for myself that lie flat like a wallet or purse, zip up the center, and hold 18 to 22 pairs in a removeable pouch. It's hard to explain! If my case sounds like what you want, send me your address and roughly the size of your bobbins, spangled or no, and I will pop one in the mail for you. Would you be able to figure out how to make one from an example? I don't have written directions, I just get out an old one and make a new one. They don't take long to make. I don't like the roll up cases either. Sally New Mexico Date: Thu, 8 Jan 2009 17:12:22 +0200 From: mgid...@netvision.net.il Subject: [lace] Bobbin case To: lace@arachne.com Hi spiders, does anyone have good instructions for making a bobbin case? I don't like the rolls, I prefer something to be zipped. I had some good instruction but have misplaced them and instead of wasting my time looking for them I decided to ask you people. Miriam In Arad Israel where it is very quiet - To unsubscribe send email to majord...@arachne.com containing the line: unsubscribe lace y...@address.here. For help, write to arachnemodera...@yahoo.com - To unsubscribe send email to majord...@arachne.com containing the line: unsubscribe lace y...@address.here. For help, write to arachnemodera...@yahoo.com
RE: [lace] Dona B.
Hi Alex, I suggest you mangle your tablecloth. If this were 100 years ago, all linen tablecloths, woven or lace, would be mangled as a matter of course. Linen threads are supposed to be mangled - that's what gives linen its gloss, supple hand, and smooth fine threads. Most weavers are aware of the need for finishing their handwoven linens by mangling, but lacemakers seem to have forgotten how to finish linen items. My handweaving books have complete directions for mangling, but lacebooks don't mention it! Please let me know if you would like to know how to mangle. Please note: I'm not talking about laundry wringers! Sally New Mexico From: alexstillw...@talktalk.net To: lace@arachne.com Subject: [lace] Dona B. Date: Thu, 8 Jan 2009 09:39:36 + I have found that my tablecloth made in 50 Bockens linen feels beautifully soft since it was washed, however the threads now look thicker. It mat be wise to make a sample and wash it before committing yourself to a large item. Alex - To unsubscribe send email to majord...@arachne.com containing the line: unsubscribe lace y...@address.here. For help, write to arachnemodera...@yahoo.com - To unsubscribe send email to majord...@arachne.com containing the line: unsubscribe lace y...@address.here. For help, write to arachnemodera...@yahoo.com
RE: [lace] Bobbin case
Hi Jude, I don't have a camera at the moment, but I am expecting one any second now. UPS says it's in the mail and has left California! Can you wait a day or two? Sally Date: Thu, 8 Jan 2009 08:44:17 -0700 To: sally13n...@q.com From: jmicha...@bresnan.net Subject: RE: [lace] Bobbin case Do you have a picture of the bobbin case, Sally? I am also interested in it as I don't like the roll ups. Jude in WY At 08:42 AM 1/8/2009, you wrote: Hi Miriam, I make bobbin cases for myself that lie flat like a wallet or purse, zip up the center, and hold 18 to 22 pairs in a removeable pouch. It's hard to explain! If my case sounds like what you want, send me your address and roughly the size of your bobbins, spangled or no, and I will pop one in the mail for you. Would you be able to figure out how to make one from an example? I don't have written directions, I just get out an old one and make a new one. They don't take long to make. I don't like the roll up cases either. Sally New Mexico Date: Thu, 8 Jan 2009 17:12:22 +0200 From: mgid...@netvision.net.il Subject: [lace] Bobbin case To: lace@arachne.com Hi spiders, does anyone have good instructions for making a bobbin case? I don't like the rolls, I prefer something to be zipped. I had some good instruction but have misplaced them and instead of wasting my time looking for them I decided to ask you people. Miriam In Arad Israel where it is very quiet - To unsubscribe send email to majord...@arachne.com containing the line: unsubscribe lace y...@address.here. For help, write to arachnemodera...@yahoo.com - To unsubscribe send email to majord...@arachne.com containing the line: unsubscribe lace y...@address.here. For help, write to arachnemodera...@yahoo.com - To unsubscribe send email to majord...@arachne.com containing the line: unsubscribe lace y...@address.here. For help, write to arachnemodera...@yahoo.com
[lace] mangling linen
First, wet the piece of linen (lace or handwoven fabric), damp out most of the water by rolling the item loosely in a cotton towel. Lay the lace flat on a hard surface, roll it hard with a rolling pin, let it dry where it is. The idea is to flatten while applying pressure. When it is dry, voila! The linen lace has a linen hand, the threads are shiny and supple, and the design just pops out. My lace has never needed any ironing after mangling. My handwovens sometimes do need a touch of ironing. Most of my dishtowels are linen from Germany, they can be quite long, and I can't mangle them flat in one go. So, I loosely roll up the top and start the mangle from the bottom. When I've finished a section, I pull it down and let it hang straight from the edge of the kitchen counter while I unroll from the top. Mangle another section, pull down, unroll the top, and mangle some more. I've never done a large tablecloth. My mangling place is a kitchen island, so I could hang parts over different edges of the counter. I would definitely mangle it but I think it would take some experimenting to figure it out. I've seen electric mangles and the width can be small. I've heard that large linen items are folded and mangled in that case but I haven't any direct experience with it. Peggy Osterkamp has a section in her weaving book III on finishing linen. She describes mangling in detail, and she also talks about pounding linen. I've never seen anyone do that so I don't know anything about pounding as a finishing process. I also have a Vav magazine (the Swedish handweaving magazine) with an article about pounding linen, with photos. I had made quite a bit of linen lace years ago but was very disappointed in its appearance and I quit using linen thread for lace. When I first heard about mangling in a weaving class, a big light bulb lit up inside my head, or should I say, exploded inside my head. As soon as I walked back in my door at home, I got that lace out, and mangled it. That finishing step was exactly what my lace was missing. I'm really very pleased now with my linen lace and I'm using linen thread again. One more story, if you can bear with me... I mangled some linen lace at the Montreal IOLI convention, if I remember correctly. The lace had just come off the pillow. I showed the unmangled lace to EVERYONE I could find. I wanted witnesses! I mangled it during the teacher showcase. When it dried, again I stopped everyone I encountered, showed them the finished lace, and invited them to feel it. So, if any of you need a testimonial, surely someone on the list remembers that lace! Sally New Mexico - To unsubscribe send email to majord...@arachne.com containing the line: unsubscribe lace y...@address.here. For help, write to arachnemodera...@yahoo.com
[lace] bobbin case
Hi Susie, I've drawn some pictures. You're going to laugh at them, but yes, I can post them and a photo when the camera arrives, if someone would please send me instructions for posting? Thanks! Sally From: cjohnson0...@comcast.net To: sally13n...@q.com; lace@arachne.com Subject: RE: [lace] Bobbin case Date: Thu, 8 Jan 2009 10:41:50 -0600 Sally, I would love a peek of that bobbin case also. Can you post the photo on our Arachne Webshots page? Thanks in advance Susie, Morris, IL - To unsubscribe send email to majord...@arachne.com containing the line: unsubscribe lace y...@address.here. For help, write to arachnemodera...@yahoo.com
RE: [lace] Bobbin case
I've uploaded two drawings showing how I make my cases, but the Webshot images are very small. They don't print out, and saving the image to my image software program doesn't work either. I don't know what to do now! When I lived in Alaska my internet provider provided me with a website address. I don't even know if my New Mexico provider does that but maybe it's time for me to get cracking and figure it out again. Also, Miriam, your bobbin case is in the mail. It is what I call my deluxe model because the outside pouch is made from my favorite tapestry fabric. There's no need to send me anything as a thank you. I'm happy knowing that lacemakers around the world in these scary times are still pursuing their kind and civilized ways, although at Lacemaker's Time, which is akin to Geologic Time, very slowly. Sally - To unsubscribe send email to majord...@arachne.com containing the line: unsubscribe lace y...@address.here. For help, write to arachnemodera...@yahoo.com
RE: [lace] mangling linen
I certainly would wash and mangle old lace, and have done it. Wash gently in warm water, mild soap. Lift out without wringing, and set the lace on a cotton towel. Fold the towel over the lace. Leave it for awhile, then turn the whole bundle over to get as much water out as possible. Then I would mangle carefully on a clean hard surface, nothing underneath the lace, and let it dry flat. Sally - To unsubscribe send email to majord...@arachne.com containing the line: unsubscribe lace y...@address.here. For help, write to arachnemodera...@yahoo.com
RE: [lace] Bobbin case
That's great to hear. Then I'll take a photo when the camera arrives and put that on webshots too. Two more notes about the bobbin cases: sometimes I have so many bobbin pairs to transport that I don't bother with the outside pouch. I have a small box that I can fill with the inside pouches that were made to fit inside the box. I just fill up the slots with pairs and set the pouches in the box. I think I remember getting 150 or so pairs in the one box, maybe more. And the inside pouches are made to be taken out to fill, empty, and to wash. - To unsubscribe send email to majord...@arachne.com containing the line: unsubscribe lace y...@address.here. For help, write to arachnemodera...@yahoo.com
RE: [lace] Bobbin case
Hi Susie, I wouldn't object at all if you put this in any newletter. Just be sure to credit me. Sally From: cjohnson0...@comcast.netto: sally13n...@q.comsubject: RE: [lace] Bobbin caseDate: Thu, 8 Jan 2009 14:25:37 -0600 Sally, would you object to a guild using this pattern in their newsletters so all the members would benefit. I do the L.A.C.E. guild newsletter and I am sure the members would be interested. We would be happy to share an issue that we print your pattern in Thanks for your consideration. Susie Johnson From: Sally Schoenberg [mailto:sally13n...@q.com] Sent: Thursday, January 08, 2009 1:10 PMTo: cjohnson0...@comcast.net; l...@arachne.comsubject: RE: [lace] Bobbin case - To unsubscribe send email to majord...@arachne.com containing the line: unsubscribe lace y...@address.here. For help, write to arachnemodera...@yahoo.com
RE: [lace] Bobbin case
I will post photos as soon as my camera arrives. I dropped the old one just one too many times. The camera should be delivered this afternoon or tomorrow afternoon. Sally - To unsubscribe send email to majord...@arachne.com containing the line: unsubscribe lace y...@address.here. For help, write to arachnemodera...@yahoo.com
[lace] Bibliothèque DMC on ebay France
Hi everyone, I was poking idly perusing ebay France and found something you might enjoy looking at, Le Numéro de l'objet : 310073134237 (that's the number of the object). Please let me know if you would prefer the entire address. Sally Schoenberg - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
RE: [lace] Threads for Thomas Lester lace
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RE: [lace] tallies and leaves
Hi Agnes, The tallies aren't different. The techniques are different but the end result is always the same - the threads follow the same path. I suppose some lacemakers find the continental technique easier because you shouldn't need to shorten any of the bobbins. I can make good tallies using the continental method, but I prefer the technique Christine Springett taught me. I think I enjoy a moment of mental rest while I take time to shorten the three passive bobbins. Sally Farmington - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
RE: [lace] Threads for Thomas Lester lace
Ordinarily I wouldn't dream of disagreeing with Barbara Underwood, but in the case of thread, I disagree with her. I've made Bedfordshire with Brok, Egyptian, and Finca. My lace made with Finca was nice and stiff unwashed, but after rinsing it in water, drying and pressing it, it turned into soft fuzzy lace. Rinse lace made with Brok thread in water, dry it and mangle or press it, and it is as limp as Egyptian. The main difference between Brok and Egyptian, I am convinced, is the sizing. Finca, I think, is an inferior thread made with short bits of cotton that has been coated with a strong sizing that is effective only until the first washing. I don't use Finca at all anymore. This is a subject I've been thinking about for awhile. I wish I knew what the thread manufacturers use for sizing. My handweaving books have some receipes for sizing and I've been thinking I need to do some experiments. Like Barbara, I want stiff Bedfordshire. Sally Schoenberg Farmington New Mexico - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
RE: [lace] Ivory? Bone?Baleen
In Alaska I saw baleen many, many times. The Alaskan Inupiat hunt bowhead whales every year and are entitled to sell the baleen. Long pieces of baleen displayed on living room walls is a common sight in Alaskan homes. It is black, 8 to 10 feet long, and looks like a giant fingernail with a fringe of hair along one of the long sides. It's flexible and strong at the same time. I've seen ivory carvings decorated with small inset pieces of baleen, and there is an Inupiat family who make tiny baskets of woven baleen. I've only seen black ones. Sally Schoenberg Farmington New Mexico - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
RE: [lace] Contact for Ernst Zeisler
There's an article about Ernst in the OIDFA Bulletin #1 (Jan, Feb, Mar) 2008. Have you seen it? He says in the article that his hometown is Arendal, but I don't see any mention of an email address or home address. Surely the editor of the OIDFA Bulletin can pass an email on to him. Sally Schoenberg - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
RE: [lace] Binche on eBay
It looked familiar to me too, so I got out my copy of Anne Marie Verbeke's Binche Syllabus III. The Ebay edging has the hart from 't Herte, pattern 7, and the center dogs and corners of De Beeste of pattern 6. I've never seen the Ebay edging before. The lacemaking was well done. Sally Schoenberg Farmington New Mexico - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
RE: [lace] lace publicity
Some years ago I contacted the local newspaper about a lace event, hoping for publicity. A reporter came round to interview and take photos. The paper published a very nice article with photos AFTER the event, when it was too late for newcomers to attend. Publicity is difficult to manage, with pitfalls hidden around every corner! Sally Schoenberg Farmington New Mexico - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
RE: [lace] Finland and Sweden
When I was in Stockholm some years ago, I made a daytrip visit to Vadstena, where I found two excellent lace supply shops. I believe the Swedish Lace Guild has a shop in Linkoping which is also within a daytrip of Stockholm. The shops in Vadstena were well worth the trouble of the trip. There's a Folk Museum in Stockholm that has, or had in 1999 I should say, a display of folk costumes with quite a bit of lace on them. My husband and I had an excellent dinner at Tre Fem Hus in the oldest part of town. Wish I was going! Sally Schoenberg - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[lace] Sally Schoenberg
Hi everyone, Helen didn't say this, but her message told me there are more people who would like to have my new email address, as well as my street address. Moving IS a lot of work, and I'm only into my fourth month. My new email address is [EMAIL PROTECTED] My new home is at 4919 Kingsway Drive, Farmington, New Mexico 87402. I'm in the middle of putting bookshelves on the walls of my sewing room, where my bobbins, lacebooks, and patterns will go. I am determined they will all be within easy reach, on shelves just deep enough for them and not so deep that things will get lost behind them. The distance between shelves will be small enough so I'm not tempted to stack things. Everything will have its own perfectly shaped spot, wasted space is minimized, and nothing will get lost. If I can manage to not pound my thumb or smash a finger, then I can make some lace today too. Sally - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: [lace] Lace in Baltic ports
The Folk Museum in Oslo has a fine collection of the gold and silver lace on Norwegian Folk costumes. I thought the lighting was good enough and the costumes close enough that I was able to copy the patterns in a notebook. Sally Schoenberg Anchorage Alaska - Original Message - From: Steph Peters [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: lace@arachne.com Sent: Wednesday, July 25, 2007 10:23 PM Subject: [lace] Lace in Baltic ports We are going on a cruise around the Baltic this year, so we get to visit a lot of places for a short time. I'm wondering if there is any lace to be seen at any of them. We get two days in St Petersburg, where we are using a personal tour guide so we can pick what we see. Do I remember Angela posting that there is some Russian lace to be seen in the Hermitage? Any information on lace things to see in any of these places would be great: Helsinki St Petersburg Gdansk (Gdynia) Sassnitz Copenhagen Oslo Please keep discussion on arachne to lace, I'm going to ask for general tourist tips on lace-chat. -- Money can't buy everything. That's what credit cards are for. Steph Peters [EMAIL PROTECTED] Tatting, lace stitching page http://www.sandbenders.demon.co.uk/index.htm - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED] - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[lace] [lace] De Linnenkast and Salzburger Klöppelspitzen R eihe
Hi everyone, These are two series of books, one is Dutch, the other is Austrian I believe. I have De Linnenkast 3 and Folge 6 of the Salzburger book. Those two both feature narrow laces that are made with the 5-hole ground made entirely in double stitches. This ground may be more familiar to you as the Flanders ground, though that is more usually made with mostly half stitches plus the two double stitches made with the center two pairs. I'm describing all this because these books are not commonly available in the US, that I know of anyway. The IOLI library doesn't have them. Since I have #3 of the Linnenkast book and #6 of the Salzburger book, I'm assuming there are also #1 and 2 at list of Linnenkast, and #1 - 5 of the Salzburger book. Does anyone on the list have any of these books? Can you tell me if they feature lace made with the 5-hole ground? If not, can you give me a brief description of what lace is in your particular book? I like the laces in my two books. They are quite nice, and I wish I could get copies of the other books. I'm bringing this all up because I'm making a bibliography of all available books with patterns that use Flanders techniques. Thanks very much! Sally Schoenberg Anchorage Alaska - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: [lace] Antique Toender Pattern
When I read Christine's email, I knew I had seen this filling somewhere in my Tonder books. A perhaps more accessable photo of it can be found in Karen Trend Nissen's Knipling 3 on the cover, as well as on pages70 through 79. Sally Anchorage Alaska - Original Message - From: Christine Johnson [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: lace@arachne.com Sent: Tuesday, January 09, 2007 12:18 AM Subject: [lace] Antique Toender Pattern Hello Spiders, I've been lured out of lurkdom by the discussion of the filling for David's antique Toender pattern. The filling is known as Lopper (which translates as fleas) in Toender lace, and is the same as the Beveren filling which is translated as lice. It is, as ?Alice (guilty of skimming the Lace-Digest in a very cursory manner and deleting before realising I've missed something) mentioned, a very close relative of the small snowflake of the Binche/Flanders/Paris family of laces. This filling is seen in the centre of a variety of large flowers in the Toender patterns of the 1800-1850's. (David, it is also used in the half flowers on the headside of this pattern.) The pattern itself is Ordensbaandet (Ribbon of an order). There is a good photo of a slightly wider version of the design in Kniplebrevet 53 in an article about Astrid Hansen, the lacemaker who made the handerkerchief for Princess Mary for her wedding. This pattern was her 1966 (?final) examination piece for qualification as a lace teacher at the Copenhagen School for Drawing and Applied Arts. The examination required that the candidate construct a working diagram, pricking and sample from an old piece of lace in a 4-week period working from 9-5 5 days a week. Both Astrid's final examination and ?Esther Winkel's were on display at the Toender Lace Festival in 2001, displayed in such a way that my photos are 90% blur and 10% useful. However, this variation of loppern was worked entirely in CTCT ( the blur for the centre of the flower is uniformly red!). I asked Astrid whether her working diagram was available for sale - the answer was for about $US75, with an explanation of the work involved. (Since I do battle with reconstruction of old patterns myself, I know exactly how much work is involved and thought it was a very reasonable price - but the pattern is not high on the list of ones I am considering for the this or the next 3 lifetimes, so didn't push for her to sell it to me.) David, please e-mail me privately if you would like me to scan the photo from Kniplebrevet No 53 - it is a good close-up of the straight piece of the slightly wider version. I also have a couple of photos I took in 1989 at the first Toender Lace Festival, the one more softly focussed of the corner and a more sharply focussed one of a straight section. I believe these two examples were from different museums - the Toender Museum, the Flensborg Museum and the Museum of Decorative Arts in Copenhagen produced a magnificent combined display for the debut Festival. There was at least a metre of the straight piece. Diagrams of the various possible methods of working loppern are to be found in the superb article by Glenn Jungersten Toender and Modern Tyl in Kniplebrevet 39 which compares modern Toender working methods with the methods seen in the older laces. If there is a wider interest, I am happy to send the scans to the various items to Joyce to post where others may access them. Christine J (Sydney, Australia - and yes, I am hoping to get back to Toender again this year, but my current project is finalising a place to stay in Brugge for Year 3 of the Binche course and deciding what to do with the 4 week gap in the middle. I am hoping to stay on in Toender for 1 week of it, as I did in 2001, making sketches of a couple of patterns I am trying to reconstruct). [EMAIL PROTECTED] - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED] - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[lace] mangling at the Montreal Convention
Bonjour! I'm still basking in the warmth of the Montreal Convention. It was wonderful. I would have written sooner except my students gave me an idea for a Beds lace design and I've been unable to do anything except draw it since I got home. Everything came together perfectly for the mangling demonstration at the Teacher's Showcase at the convention. I got my lace finished and carried it in my purse to Montreal. Malvary managed to find space in her car for a rolling pin. Tuesday night at the Teacher's Showcase, a corner of my table held a length of lace about a meter and a half, an ice bucket with a rolling pin propped up inside, and my bath towel. The lace, made from about 70/2 linen, felt like interfacing, the tough kind used in tailoring men's suits. Everyone who stopped by was invited to feel its coarseness. When it was time to mangle, my friend CJ ran out to the women's room and got me about 3 inches of lukewarm water in the ice bucket. I soaked the lace in the water till it was thoroughly wet and I wrapped it in my bath towel. Ordinarily I would have let the lace rest for 30 minutes, wrapped loosely in the towel to soak up as much water as possible, but my audience was waiting so I gently squeezed the towel a few times. Then I rolled the lace out with the rolling pin on the hotel table. The table was bumpy so the mangling wasn't as good as the mangling I get at home on the kitchen counter, but it wasn't bad either. The lace dried overnight on the foot of my bed. After mangling, the lace was wide, flattened, smooth, silky, shiny, and had a wonderful linen hand. I carried it around with me on Thursday and Friday, held it out for anyone who wanted to feel it, and now I have witnesses! So, if anyone still has doubts that mangling is a finishing process that linen needs to look and feel silky, smooth, and shiny, please let me know and I will ask my witnesses to tell you I'm not making this up! All of that handling, by the way, did no harm at all to the appearance of the lace. Sally Schoenberg Anchorage Alaska This morning a loon flew overhead and cried its peculiar laugh as I was saying goodbye to my husband who was setting off for work. Montreal was delightful but it's wonderful to be back home where the air is cool and fresh. - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: [lace] mangling at the Montreal Convention
Sue asked Silly question time, I am at present making a linen tablecloth edging with a very expensive piece of Irish linen centre piece, before mangling the lace do I still have to wash it in the normal way or is it mangled straight off the pillow I would hate to get any distortion on the lace after all the time it has taken to make it. I wash my lace in barely warm water with a little dishwashing liquid and rinse a couple of times. It is important to get the lace thoroughly wet. Put the lace in a towel and roll it up. Let the lace rest in the towel 30 minutes to blot out most of the water. Mangle on a smooth hard surface with a rolling pin, moving the lace around so it is rolled in all directions until it is the correct shape. I judge the shape entirely by eye. Trust your eyes, they know more then you realize. If there's room, let the lace lie flat to dry or hang it up. Do not ever put linen in the dryer. The lace is a lot stronger then you think. It is a weaver's maxim that, while individual threads may snap easily, groups of threads are very strong and do fine under pressure. I warp my loom with a warping trapeze. Don't worry about the details, you just need to know that the warp threads hang freely 8 feet down off the trapeze in bundles of 150 threads or more. I weight the bundles with 5 or sometimes 10 lb weights without anything snapping. Lace is not much different from handwovens. One thing I can guarantee is that your lace will be distorted and will have the hand of tailoring interfacing if you DON'T mangle it. When it's washed and dried without mangling, it'll look like a bedraggled rag. If you still are afraid to mangle your linen lace, get some linen and mangle it for practice. Or, use those linen dish towels, wash them, and mangle them. Or, you might contact some handweavers in your town and talk to them. They might be able to talk to you about mangling, and show you examples of before and after mangling. Or, you might make a small length of linen lace and practice mangling it. PS. I would wash the linen for the tablecloth and wash the linen lace separately, mangle them and let them dry, and then put the two together. I would make the lace the size I wanted, then cut the linen to fit the lace. That's what I do with handkerchiefs. You're very courageous to make lace for a tablecloth. I tip my hat to you! Sally - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[lace] mangling demo at Montreal
Bonjour mes amis! The mangling demonstration is on. Malvary has volunteered her rolling pin. She says her car will be full but she thinks she can squeeze a rolling pin in somewhere. My plan is to do the mangling at my table at the Teachers Showcase on Tuesday evening. I will pass this all by the organisers and other teachers at the teachers meeting on Sunday afternoon, and post the definite date, time, and place on the message board after the meeting. Many, many thanks to Malvary Cole! Sally - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[lace] Montreal .... mangling demo?
Hi everyone, I too am in a tizzy over Montreal with lace things all over the place and I've been thinking about a piece of lace I've just finished. It's about a meter long, made with linen thread and is ready to be mangled. Is anyone interested in seeing a mangling demonstration? You would be able to see the lace before and after. The difference is pretty amazing. The mangling is done with a rolling pin and I don't have room for one in my suitcase. Could someone who is driving bring me a rolling pin to use? If there's any interest in a mangling demonstration, that is. The rolling pin probably could be made out of anything. I normally use a wooden one but I've used marble with success, and I imagine a metal one would work too. It would have to be a straight cylindrical one that rolls around stationary handles on the end. Sally Schoenberg Anchorage Alaska - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: [lace] mangling described
Patsy writes... I just hope your not going to destroy a good piece of lace but are just going to change it's appearance, since I have no idea what mangling is. Oh dear Patsy, your message made me laugh! No indeed, I have no intention of destroying my lace and I'm certain I won't! I don't know what the origin of the word is. I do know that the word mangle in the Scandinavian languages is close to it and I'm thinking that's where we get our English word for it. Anyway, mangling is not wringing or twisting, it's just a finishing process for linen well known to weavers. That's how you get it to have the linen hand. First, you wet the piece of linen (lace or handwoven fabric), damp out most of the water with a towel, lay it flat on a hard surface, roll it hard with a rolling pin, let it dry where it is. When it is dry, voila! The linen lace has a linen hand and the design just pops out. My lace has never needed any ironing after mangling. My handwovens sometimes do need a touch of ironing. Peggy Osterkamp has a section in her weaving book III on finishing linen. She describes mangling, and she also talks about pounding linen. I've never seen anyone do that so I don't know anything about pounding as a finishing process. I had made quite a bit of linen lace years ago but was very disappointed in its appearance and I quit using linen thread for lace. When I first heard about mangling in a weaving class, a big light bulb lit up inside my head. As soon as I walked back in my dooor, I got that lace out, and mangled it. That finishing step was exactly what my lace was missing. I'm really very pleased now with my linen lace and I'm using linen thread again. Sally Schoenberg Anchorage Alaska - Original Message - From: Patsy A. Goodman [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: Sally Schoenberg [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Wednesday, July 19, 2006 12:46 PM Subject: Re: [lace] Montreal mangling demo? - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: [lace] the forever project is finished!!
Beth McCasland asks... One question, or two.. I know I need to wash it, but what's the best way to block it? Should I sew the linen in the center before or after? The lace is linen, and I'll use linen thread to sew it to the center. Should I just carefully pin the edges down while the lace is still damp? All linen textiles should be finished with cold mangling. Any weaver of linen will tell you the same thing. I have mangled all of my handwoven linen and my linen bobbin lace and it has all turned out beautifully. It's my lace that has surprised me the most. Before mangling, it looked thick and spongey and the pattern could not be discerned. After mangling, my lace became lustrous, it developed a beautiful wafer-like stiffness, and the pattern popped out visually. I'm not talking about wringing with those old wringers that used to come with washing machines, and mangling is not a heated process, though it is possible to buy an electric mangle. Becky Ashendon, a weaver from MA, imports Swedish mangles to the US. Please let me know if you are interested and I will email you her website. I use a wooden rolling pin and get good results. I've written before on Arachne about mangling, but I think this is worth repeating. This is how I cold mangle all of my linens: If the textile is not already wet from washing, rinse in lukewarm water. Wrap in a terrycloth towel until water no longer drips from the textile. Lay flat on a hard surface such as a clean kitchen counter, and pull the corners of the textile out so you can roll it with a wooden rolling pin without putting any creases in it. Roll from the center out. Press hard as you roll so that the textile flattens and spreads out a little. If possible, leave the textile to dry on the counter where you mangled it. My linen kitchen towels are laid over rails on a rack to dry. This process of mangling is necessary to give the textile the hand that we associate with fine linens. All of the towels we use in our kitchen are woven from linen. I wash them in the washer and immediately mangle them on the kitchen counter. I have mangled bobbin lace made from cotton and have gotten the same good results. No ironing is necessary. Sally Schoenberg Anchorage Alaska - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: [lace] Robert Rodriguez Flounce Jacket
Devon writes: ...it seems more like something you might wear while kicking around in blue jeans... I really enjoyed Devon's message, because I LIKE wearing luxurious jackets with my jeans, even when I'm only going to the supermarket, and I love making them. That jacket caught my eye because I liked the silhouette, I know I could make a much nicer one and I already have the supplies. It's a bolero and I have a bolero pattern. I have the lace, a long piece of linen lace that I made years ago. When cold mangled, it ruffles and drapes beautifully. My plan would be to baste the ruffles in place onto a ribbon or tape of snaps purchased from any fabric store and sew the other side of the snaps in a concealed place along the hem of the jacket under a fold in the lining. The tape could easily be eased to have a curved shape. When the lace gets bedraggled and/or the jacket needs cleaning, pull the snaps loose and unbaste the lace from the tape in comfort. Fabric stores here carry tape with very small plastic snaps so they must do that Outside. I don't have enough lace to do sleeve ruffles too, which is too bad because I do like them on the Flounce Jacket. And I have a box of antique buttons, pretty, but they are all orphans, so they end up on my jackets which I like to make with only one button at the top. What fabric to make it out of is going to be a matter of some thought. I have some silk that would work. Devon's right, it would be nice to use a color that would go well with, say, black pants, for when we go to a concert, but I would love to wear it with blue jeans. Jackets work well in Alaska because it's wonderfully cool here year around. Even in the summer, a jacket feels good at night. I'm really going to try to make this jacket. I'm inspired by Devon's interest. I hope to be at the Montreal convention and I can wear it then. Whether or not I make it is dependent on how well I'm doing with the medication I'm taking. So far I'm doing well, but my top priority is to exercise every day and improve my strength and endurance. Then I want to get the lilac wood into the hands of some woodworkers. Then I want to finish my new Bedfordshire lace designs. That will all have to wait until after our trip to the UK, which is coming up next week. Husband and I are walking the Hadrian's Wall Path from Newcastle to Bowness west of Carlisle. Only a year and a half ago that was an impossible fantasy, and then it has taken me that long to get over the sleep and dopamine deprivation. I am unbelievably excited and can now think of nothing else. Keep your fingers crossed on the jacket project and so will I. Sally Schoenberg Anchorage Alaska Outside means outside of Alaska. It's a term that was more commonly used back when the world was a bigger place. I've been here 23 years so I remember when the rest of the world seemed much farther away. - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: [lace] Sue Johnston wearing tape lace
Jean writes wearing a white jacket made of tape lace over a long black dress. Probably Chinese, but still looks attractive and nice to see wven if she probably doesn't know what it is. Is this a new fashion? Yes, it is a new fashion. I got a Nordstrom catalog a week or so ago that, in the cutting edge fashion section, had a wonderful short jacket with a lace ruffle hanging down below the hem in back. It was very attractive. Can't remember how much it cost. There should be a photo of it on the Nordstrom website. Sally Schoenberg Anchorage Alaska - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[lace] re: Sue Johnston wearing tape lace
Yes, the Flounce Jacket is the one I was talking about. Alas, the website doesn't have the catalog's back view. Here's another jacket with lace: Magaschoni Beige Pinstripe Wool Jacket with Lace Trim Jacket, camisole, and pants are all black so can't see much detail, but I can see the lace. Too bad it's horrible machine lace. Sally Schoenberg Anchorage Alaska I also went to the Nordstrom site and saw the black taffeta dress, but I thought that the item being described corresponded more to the Robert Rodriguez Flounce Jacket which comes in below $400. Devon - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[lace] lilac branch
Thank you to everyone who wrote to me about my branch. I've got your messages filed safely away and flagged. A woodworker who is the husband of a weaving friend is coming over this weekend to look at the trunk, so I'll know more then. I'm delighted to do this. I can't tell you how much pleasure my beautiful bobbins have given me over the past 17 years. I'm certain I have some bobbins made from lilac wood but I don't remember which ones they are or who made them. Our lilac tree is quite famous here in town. There are more lilac trees in town now, but most are new and very small. I've been told by an arborist there are nine large old lilac trees in Anchorage. I think 50 years ago one summer a nursery got in a small shipment of them, but the trees didn't sell well and so they didn't get anymore. All the different arborists in town know about ours. Oh yes, they always say, that lilac tree, when they come to my house. Sally Schoenberg Anchorage Alaska - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[lace] class idea for a convention
Hi everyone, Since we're on the subject of convention classes, here's my wish for any lace convention: a drop-in class with a teacher. I can think of several ways to do it. It could be an official morning or afternoon class, pay in advance sort of affair, any kind of bobbin lace or any kind of tatting, or something like that. Or, it could be pay-as-you-go, so much per morning or afternoon spent in the class. Or, it could be a freebie for anyone who signs up for and pays for a class at the convention. Of course no one teacher knows everything about all types of lace made using all kinds of techniques, but a teacher who's made lots of lace can be a big help in many stuck situations. Perhaps those taking one class would like to keep working on their class project outside class hours but with a teacher who's had more experience, especially with diagrams? Perhaps the drop-in teacher is someone new to you and it would be nice to get to know a new teacher without having to bring to the convention everything you need for a second class in a different kind of lace? These are just ideas. I'm never going to be on a convention planning committee so I'm throwing this out to the world at large. Maybe a seed is planted and grows into something worthwhile. We COULD have a convention in Alaska. There's a children's camp on Kenai Lake that would be my preference. There's great fishing and hiking nearby but the facilities would be outhouses (I can't imagine what non-North Americans call them and I'm trying to be careful with words so the spam filters don't delete my message) and there are brown bears roaming everywhere, especially at night. Even the Alaskan lacemakers balk at that but I would love it. All the children who have attended the camp have survived! We would be waking up in the morning to the calls of loons. And the lake is such a beautiful turquoise color. Any more ideas for new kinds of classes at conventions? Sally Schoenberg Anchorage Alaska - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[lace] re Another travel solution
By the end of a lace class away from home, I always have some lace, bobbins and pins on my pillow. I bundle up the bobbins as if I were moving my lace up the pillow, take all the pins out, take it all off the pillow, cover the lace, and put bobbins and lace into my carryon. Pillow, pins and tools go into the suitcase. There is nothing metal to even attract anyone's attention as I tie knots in the covering handkerchiefs when I bundle the bobbins. At most it's a 10 minute task, and needs to be done by the end of a class since the lace needs to be moved by then anyway. I do this no matter where I travel, because I hate worrying about my bobbins getting smashed to smithereens, or getting lost forever in outer space as it once did. Being off the pillow doesn't harm the lace at all. I have a large flanders handkerchief edging that was off its pillow for a year when it was half-way done. It is not possible to even see where the lace paused for so long, tossed carelessly into a corner of my sewing room. Sally Schoenberg Anchorage Alaska where it's spring and the daffodils are blooming! From: Barbara Joyce baggage. The block with the bobbins also has many *SHARP* pins. I've heard people say that they were not allowed to have them on the plane. And then what will you do when you're going through security on the way home, and the agent says you can't take the block with the pins on the plane in your carry-on? You'll have no other option but to let them have the pins. - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[lace] re more details on Another travel solution
Hi again, Joyce has asked me for more detail about my bundle of bobbins and lace. Actually, she asked about the lace dangling off the bundle of bobbins so this is an elaboration on the previous email. First, the bobbins are all secured on bobbin holders. At one time or another I've used sticks with elastic, knit stitch holders, and double pointed knitting needles with stoppers sandwiching bobbins. They all work great in my experience. Then I stack the bobbins on top of a large handkerchief. I tie the ends of the handkerchief tightly so the bobbins can't move around but leaving the threads loose with no tension. I use as many handkerchiefs as I need to make things secure. I make the last tie a very tight one around the bundle of threads so they all come out of a teensy weensy hole in the top of the bundle. At this point, all the bobbins are inside and the lace is hanging loosely off the last tie. I lay the lace flat on the bundle without tensioning the threads, but remember, the last tie is supposed to hold the threads in place so the tension won't travel down into the bundle of bobbins. I cover the lace and bundle with another large handkerchief and toss the lot into a plastic bag. They're called baggies, I don't know the size, they are just a standard item in my kitchen, but any zip lock will do. Mine needs a twistie on the top and then the bag is tossed into my carryon. If you have securely tied that last knot, the one with the teensy weensy hole for all the threads, and all the bobbins are secure inside the bundle so they don't move around, then you can safely toss the bundle around with the lace hanging off the end like a flag. I like to do that for new lacemakers. Lace is much more durable then you think. I've done this with fine Buck's Pt, Binche made with 165/2 egyptian, Beds, Tonder, Flanders. I've done it with 216 pairs but then the bundle was as large as a basketball and it used up all available handkerchiefs. I prefer working with a flat cookie pillow, I'm faster and more comfortable with cookie pillows, and so I've gotten lots of experience moving lace. My handkerchiefs are big. Some are white and some colored. I got them in Bruges years ago and have used them ever since to move my lace and bundle it all up for travel. It's so nice not worrying about my suitcase. It's just full of clothes for the laundry by the time I'm headed home and the thieves are welcome to it. And if they empty it on the way to a class? No problem, I need new clothes anyway. Sally Schoenberg and pins on my pillow. I bundle up the bobbins as if I were moving my lace up the pillow, take all the pins out, take it all off the pillow, cover the lace, and put bobbins and lace into my carryon. Pillow, pins and tools go into the suitcase. - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: [lace] twisting ninepin
Weronika wrote: My ninepin edge on a little Beds medallion is getting twisted... I.e. all of the ends sticking out are rotating in the same direction. Hi Weronika, I know exactly what you're talking about. Mine did the same thing when I was first learning Bedfordshire lace, but it didn't last long. Though I'm not sure exactly what I did to stop the picots from twisting around. I just had all my Bedfordshire lace out for a class and the picots stopped twisting around after only two pieces. I have a huge pile of Beds, I just really enjoy making it and it goes fast if you can learn to deal with winding lots of bobbins. I've made wide collars in a month working lace only an hour or two a day at most. Anyway, I think that eventually I learned to do the plaits and picots of the ninepin edges keeping the bobbins always laying straight down from whichever picot I last worked. That means turning the pillow dramatically and having room in all directions. Also, I'm very careful to plait down until the picot pinhole is just showing. Not beyond it, and not too far above it. I know that now I make a whole section of ninepin edge as soon as I have the bobbins available, work back to the trail again, put in a pin, temporary plait, and then set the bobbins aside to work elsewhere. I do the same with pointed and square tallies. I work them early on, as soon as I have the bobbins available, put in a pin and temporary plait around it until the tallies are secure. I have found that the temporary plaits don't use up a lot of time doing and undoing, and being able to make tallies while there's room improves the quality of the tallies so much. And the time spent on a few temporary plaits means I'm able to put the tally bobbins on a bobbin holder and can literally toss them well back onto the pile of other bobbins waiting to be used. That gives me a lot more room to see what I'm currently working on, and that saves really a lot of time. Sally Schoenberg Anchorage Alaska - Original Message - From: Weronika Patena [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: lace@arachne.com Sent: Tuesday, January 25, 2005 7:08 PM Subject: [lace] twisting ninepin My ninepin edge on a little Beds medallion is getting twisted... I.e. all of the ends sticking out are rotating in the same direction. Is that a common problem? Will it go away if I iron it or something? Weronika -- Weronika Patena Caltech, Pasadena, CA, USA http://vole.stanford.edu/weronika - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED] - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[lace] Christmas presents
I gave something to Salvation Army, our local charity that collects and sells things at low prices. Some years ago I got 12 pair of bobbins in the mail from someone in France, he never charged me for them even though I tried repeatedly to pay for them, and I can't add any to them. They are unique. So I gave them with some incomplete spools of thread, an OIDFA and a Bulletin that both have lots of websites in them, to Salvation Army. It's just enough for an enterprising beginnner. I wonder if I'll ever see them again! Sally Schoenberg Anchorage Alaska There are lots of people in Alaska who remember well the 1964 tsumamis that washed up on our shores. Everyone is talking about it and remembering. We are all so sorry to see Asia's suffering. The photos of the waves are fascinating. The risk for us is always there, and we talk about what we would do if there were a tsumami. But sometimes we are on a shore that is away from the warning system and we've always wondered what a tsumami looks like. - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[lace] re: fine linen thread -- history
I don't know about Nottingham lace, but weaving with unbleached thread and bleaching after weaving is commonly done by handweavers to minimize broken warp threads. I like to weave with linen thread, and that's what I do. I never have broken linen warp threads (knock on wood!). The teacher of my linen weaving workshop recommends laying linen cloth on grass in the sun to bleach it but I don't know about cotton. My current lace project, a small Binche circle in 140 or 160 Egyptian cotton thread, is going to be an experiment with bleaching. The thread is unbleached and, it's really a dark ecru. My plan is to bleach after I've made the lace. I want to figure out how much bleach and how long for fine thread. I probably will try the bleach out with a small skein first though. My circle is halfway done and I've had one broken thread. It has a lot of square tallies and I tend to have more breaks the more tallies I do. Sally Schoenberg Anchorage Alaska - Original Message - From: Karen [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: arachne [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Thursday, November 18, 2004 12:45 AM Subject: [lace] Re: fine linen thread -- history The history of linen thread was fascinating. Another fact I found out when researching family history, was that Nottingham lace was bleached after it was made. Presumably if the thread was bleached, it would be more likely to break on the lacemaking machines. If anyone can confirm this I would appreciate it. In my family line I have a family of dyers and bleachers living in Mansfield and Nottingham in the 19th century. Karen In Coventry where it is raining. - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED] - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: [lace] ribbon as gimp
Brenda writes: Here in UK we can get double sided satin ribbon that's only 1.5mm wide (made by Offray). I have used that as a gimp in torchon. Me too. It makes a wonderful gimp. Narrow metallic ribbon makes a nice flashy gimp too. I've also threaded ribbon through torchon after it's been made and taken off the pillow. That's for beginners who think they can't learn to make lace around a gimp. Sally Schoenberg Anchorage Alaska - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: [lace] A simple question
David writes: The number of passives between the work and the picots on the edge (can never remember which is headside and which is footside :) can vary from 2 pairs to 14 pairs. I find that when I'm using the very fine 2/20 silk and I have to tension up the 14 or so pairs, that's when I'm most likely to break threads. If the passive threads are crowded in the headside area, try working each pair of passive threads as if they are one thread. When you have an uneven number of pairs, then you'll have one pair left over, which you can cloth stitch normally, but that's ok. What I mean is, when working a cloth stitch, hold two passive threads in one hand, work a cloth stitch with the workers and use the two passive threads as if they were one thread. Sally Schoenberg Anchorage Alaska - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: [lace] Pattern lifting
Another way to secure your pattern For each corner of your pattern, run thread through a small hole in the corner, then out to a pin somewhere at the edge of your pillow so that the corner is held flat. Repeat several times from the pattern corner to the pin and back again for each corner. Tie the beginning end and the bitter end together so the corner mooring is secure. Bobbins don't catch on the thread mooring like they do on pins, and the tension of the mooring threads holds the corners tight and the pattern down next to the pillow. Mooring the first corner is tricky, but it gets easier as each corner is tied down to the edge of the pillow (keep trying!). If this makes absolutely no sense, I can draw a picture and post it on my website. Let me know! I really do want to get this idea across because I think it's just the neatest way to keep a pricking in its place. Sally Schoenberg Anchorage Alaska - Original Message - From: Panza, Robin [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: Arachne (E-mail) [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Thursday, July 22, 2004 7:56 AM Subject: RE: [lace] Pattern lifting Have you pinned down the pricking? When I pin down the corners (and longer sides, if necessary), the pattern can't ride up because the pins are holding it down. They're pushed all the way down flush with the pillow, so the threads won't catch on them. Robin P. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA http://www.pittsburghlace.8m.com/ -Original Message- I have worked many yards of buckspoint lace on roller pillows and not had the problem of the pricking card coming up from the pillow. But when I work a pattern on a cookie type pillow I have this problem. - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED] - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[lace] re mooring the corners of lace patterns
My drawing of anchoring the corners of a lace pattern with threads is on my web site: http://home.gci.net/~sally/ Click on Sally's lace at the bottom of the list. I think this is going to be the day of The Laugh That Travelled Round the Lace World in 80 Seconds. So I'm not Leonardo Da Vinci! Sally Schoenberg Anchorage Alaska - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[lace] another family story
Hi everyone, My grandma, who was born in 1886, loved to make tatted and crocheted lace. Mostly it was tatted lace she liked to make and when I was little, I never saw her without her tatting shuttle. I remember all our pillow cases and sheets had tatted or crocheted edgings. I learned to make tatted lace when I was in my 20's but tatting books were scarce in the days before internet shoppping, and I was often to be found gazing hopefully up at the shelf of tatting books at the public library. Well, the bobbin lace books were on the same library shelf. All I had to do was rotate my head a little, and the rest is history. My mother used to complain about the tatted pillowcases when she opened her Christmas presents from Grandma. Oh no, she would say, not another one. Now she gets them from me! Life is tough all over. Sally Schoenberg Anchorage Alaska It's very dry, hot for us at 80F/27C. Lots of forest fires but we've escaped the smoke so far, thank heavens! - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[lace] new Tonder lace books plus the fun I had there...long!
At the Tønder Lace Festival I got three books new to me about Tønder lace. First book: Femten Bredere Tønderkniplinger by Astrid Hansen, has a fine selection of 15 patterns, roughly half take under 30 pairs, the rest over. Good photos, patterns, and colored diagrams. I bought the book for the wonderful wide lace patterns that I've never seen available before. I got it at the Tønder Museum and was told it was just published. Next, Tønder/Tyl 17 mønstre med arbejdstegninger by Knipling i Denmark, patterns redrawn by many Danish lacemakers, I think! I don't know any Danish so I'm guessing. Profuse apologies if I've made any mistakes as I'm certain I have. Again, well drawn patterns, great colored diagrams, nice selection running from simple to wide. My third new book is Tønderkniplinger og deres navne by Jette Petersen. It is in Danish like the first two, published by the Tønder Museum, and has very little writing. It's mostly photos of 138 different patterns of tonder lace, each of which is named. The photos are good enough to use as a starting point for drawing a pattern. I enjoyed the festival a whole lot. At first I was dismayed to find out how far my Tourist Bureau assigned accomodations were from everything, but I found a bicycle shop renting bicycles. As soon as I had some wheels, I was able to get everywhere fast on the beautiful Danish bicycle trails, and I didn't miss a single lace event. The crowds of lacemakers were impressive. On the last day I went on the bus excursion to Rømø. We stopped first at a mill in Højer. The miller had been a lace merchant as well as a miller, and his ledgers, lace sample book, a pillow if I remember correctly, thread, many lengths of fine Tonder lace, and photos of the miller and his family were on display. Some of us also climbed several levels in the mill and admired the huge wooden gears inside. Next we stopped at Lorenzen's Gård in Bådsbøl-Ballum. It is an old family farmhouse preserved as a museum by the Lorenzen family. It has a very fine collection of long lengths of Tønder lace collected by Hansigne Lorenzen who lived at the farm with her husband from 1890 until she died in 1952. Hansigne's daughter Cathrine continued her mothers interest in preseving Tønder lace, she made lace and taught lacemaking at the farm which she inherited. It says in the brochure that the school and farm are open to the public every July 2pm to 6pm and weekend courses in Tønder lacemaking are held at the farm every spring and autumn. There's a website: www.lorenzensgaard.dk The third place we visited was The National Museum Commodore's Farm on Rømø. It's a farmhouse built in the 1700's and hardly changed since. Only a tiny bit of lace was displayed, on a woman's costume, if I remember correctly, but the house and barn were very interesting. My only regret about the excursion was that I didn't take Tønderkniplinger og deres navne with me. That's the book with all the photos of Tønder lace. It would have been nice to note in my book where I had seen displayed the lace pictured in the book. Another regret, I didn't take with me my list of participants so I could note down who I met. What with all the crowds, and the different languages, my memories now resemble a whirlwind. One thing is certain, lacemakers are such nice people all over the world. Sally Schoenberg Anchorage Alaska - Original Message - From: Clay Blackwell [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: Mary L. Tod [EMAIL PROTECTED]; Arachne (E-mail) [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Tuesday, June 22, 2004 8:31 AM Subject: RE: [lace] Sally Barry's books and lace In an article about Drøhse's House (about half-way down...) it says that there is a retrospective exhibit featuring the work of Astrid Hansen (who made the wedding handkerchief). It goes on to say that the Tønder Museum is publishing a book in conjunction with the exhibit which will have 14 lace patterns with prickings and diagrams, will - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[lace] re tallies
Hi everyone, I've always been intrigued by the crescent and circular shaped tallies on page 105 of Bridget Cook's Practical Skills. Have any of you tried these? Sally Schoenberg Anchorage Alaska After 14 years of careful, strictly according to the book maintenance, our furnace suddenly and unexpectedly died yesterday. We are now officially designated A House with no Heat! I overheard the estimator yesterday talking on the phone and he didn't say Randy and Sally's house, he called us The House With No Heat. A furnace gang is scheduled to arrive this morning to take out our old one and put in a new one, all today. It's 12 degrees F and the wind has been blowing 20 to 30 knots for 24 hours now so I'm ready for the new one. The cats are in a cave I built of blankets on the bed, cuddled up to a hot water bottle. Why don't these things happen when it's 45 degrees out? - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: [lace] books
I also learned from books, and the one that clicked with me was Bridget Cook's Torchon Lace Workbook. There are several on ebay right now, buy-it-now for $9.99 plus shipping. Search on torchon lace. Sally Schoenberg Anchorage Alaska - Original Message - From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Wednesday, December 31, 2003 8:46 AM Subject: [lace] books Hi ya'll Does anyone have any recomendations for an inexspensive book to help me with learning how to do this wonderful craft. I think I will have some spare cash (baby sitting for the New Year Partyers) and I really need some help. I searched at Dover for Brigette Cooks (cookbook?) practical skills in bobbin lace. Not there so if anyone has any ideas it will be greatly appreciated. Lynn [EMAIL PROTECTED] Clarksburg, WV - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED] - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[lace] Another Elvis, oops! I mean lace sighting on ebay
Hi everyone, Here's a box on ebay: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItemcategory=18906item=3163519749 The price is a bit steep but the picture on top is really very nice and the box would be most useful for storing small tools or pins. Since bobbin lace or lacemaking isn't mentioned in the description, I was thinking that the box might be missed by lacemakers. I have no connection with the seller, etc, etc Sally Schoenberg Anchorage Alaska More snow! As soon as I finish this, I'm off to Hilltop for some skiing. - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[lace] square bobbins
Hi everyone, I like to work and often do work with spangled bobbins on some projects and all kinds of continental bobbins with other projects but, to be perfectly honest, square bobbins I absolutely loathe. They are slow, cumbersome, hard to grasp because so much of the bobbin lies flat on the pillow, they roll and when crowded together they love to hop over each other without being asked to do so. Mostly though, I hate them because they are so difficult to fasten together and stack. I love to make lace with lots and lots of bobbins and I love to clear the bobbins out of the way so I can see what I'm doing, and that's only possible if the bobbins not in immediate use are carefully fastened together and stacked. In the old days lacemakers tied them into groups with ribbons as can be seen in many an antique photograph, but then they must have spent a fair amount of time resorting bobbins whenever they untied a group. My friend Beverly has just finished a large binche edging using several hundred square bobbins, she has spent a couple of years on that piece, and every time she ran amok she would bring it over to my house to sort out. So I know what I'm talking about when I say square bobbins are not easy to fasten and store out of the way. At first Beverly used tongue depressors and elastic for holders but those blankety blank bobbins just slipped out at the drop of a pin. Mostly she's been sliding them inbetween two double pointed knitting needles fastened together with double holed point protectors. They at least held those stupid square bobbins securely but then the stacks weren't level and the groups of bobbins were forever sliding sideways, forwards or backwards. Putting them inbetween the two fastened knitting needles was exasperating. All the bobbins of a group had to be precisely lined up before they would slide in. Crocheted ribbons didn't work, there were hundreds of bobbins constantly being moved in and out of their holders and neither of us had the patience to carefully put each bobbin one at a time into a slot in the crochet. Fastening continental or spangled bobbins together have none of those problems. Scooping continentals up with flat sticks and snapping the elastic in place is the work of a few moments and they stay in place quite well. Ditto for sliding spangles onto knitting stitch holders. On my pillow, almost all the bobbins are securely fastened together most of the time and stacked clear so I can see what I'm doing. Even when I have only 30 or so pairs on my pillow I fasten together and stack the idle bobbins. Beverly likes to say they are too afraid of me to slip, slide, roll,or hop anywhere without my say-so, but no, I just keep them on holders if I'm not immediately using them. I can say with certainty that when I was working on my binche fan with 200+ pairs of binche bobbins, a 14 month project, not once did I have a thread break from a bobbin rolling until the thread unplied. And I never gave a single thought to my bobbins rolling around. One thing I very rarely do is undo lace. Everyone here in Alaska has heard me say this so often: recover from a mistake, don't undo. I truly believe that it's the repeated doing and undoing lace that wears out thread. Rolling bobbins around is not the culprit. Put a layer or two of padding between your cover cloth and pillow to soften the surface of your pillow just a bit. That dampens the rolling quite a lot. Then put more effort into fastening your idle bobbins, and don't worry about a little rolling! Sally Schoenberg It's winter now, and everyone in the neighborhood has been building cages for young trees and favorite shrubs to protect them from browsing moose. My rhododendrum has a rube goldberg contraption around it, built from whatever was at hand, partly wood boards, partly plastic fencing and chicken wire, all tied together with hand spun linen twine. The knots of course, are lacemakers' knots. - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[lace] handspun linen thread
I've only just read Jane Viking Swanson's message about Inishmacsaint Lace which, as Jane said, declined when the fine handspun linen thread was no longer available. That reminded me, I bought some line flax from Halcyon Fibers awhile ago and have started spinning it by hand. The blurb from Halcyon says that the flax is ready to spin but I quickly discovered that there's still a lot of tow mixed in with the long flax fibers and so I have been combing the flax with a metal comb. What I found very interesting, was that the thread I spun with the tow still mixed in, looks a lot like the commercial linen thread, with slubs. The unspun flax fibers don't have anything resembling slubs. Once I combed out the tow, my handspun thread became very smooth and shiny with no slubs. It's not hard to comb out ALL the tow, but it does reduce the quantity of spinnable flax by quite a bit. It's not expensive, one strick ( a big hank) for $5. The spinners here think I'm crazy but, as I tell them, lace doesn't use large quantities of thread like weaving does. Spinning the long flax is very difficult but I think mostly because I haven't correctly adjusted my spinning wheel for fine linen thread. Maybe I really need to use a drop spindle. Sally Schoenberg Anchorage Alaska - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[lace] Re: Question about divider pins
Hi Candace, To make divider pins I use doll needles that I get from Joann Fabrics, a chain fabric store that is common in the Pacific Northwest. The doll needles are found in my store in the sewing needles section of the store next to the sharps and ballpoint handsewing needles. The doll needles come in two sizes here, 3 and 6 if I remember correctly. They are much sturdier than the ordinary hand sewing needles, thus the needle diameter is larger and they poke quite a hole in your pillow. My pillows are stuffed with wool and I have lots of homemade coverings so I don't mind the needles' big hole at all. The stability and length of the doll needle divider pins make the holes insignificant to me. And I love divider pins with flashy beads that are easy to see. My first step in making the divider pins is to plug up one end of the bead hole with epoxy, letting it throughly dry. Then I place my needles sharp side down into some styrofoam, mix more epoxy, spread it around on the top of each needle, and place the bead on it. Let dry 24 hours. If you can drill a small straight hole into a broken bobbin, you can give it a new life as a divider pin by gluing it onto a doll needle. I didn't figure out this on my own, Mikki, a lacemaker in Fairbanks, showed me how to make them. Mikki likes to wrap a thread around the needle which she then soaks with epoxy before putting the bead on. I have found that I don't need to do that. I just put the epoxy straight onto the needle and then I slip the bead on. It works for me. Sally Schoenberg Anchorage Alaska It's the end of summer. Bolete and Shaggy Mane mushrooms are growing everywhere, berries are begging to be picked, and the bears are plump and glossy. I know the bears are plump because one crossed the Gull Rock trail at Porcupine Creek just ahead of us the weekend before last. What excitement! - Original Message - From: candace [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Friday, September 12, 2003 6:34 AM Subject: [lace] Question about divider pins Hi all, My question is where can I buy 2 (50mm) stainless steel straight pins (without glass heads) for making divider pins. I have several pretty beads that are too big for spangling but would make great divider pins. The problem is that I can't find **sturdy** pins on which I can glue my beads. I'm looking for pins without glass heads and that are about 2 long -- when I tried shorter (and easier to find) pins, there wasn't enough pin shank left to make a useful divider pin. I **did** try to do a Google search, but I was unsuccessful or I got way too many hits (as in 22,000!). What pins do you use to make your own divider pins? Candace in central PA - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED] - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[lace] re bones and thorns and pins
Hi everyone, Alaska, as you know, is famous for its fish. It's fish, fish fish all summer long and lots of fish have to be cleaned and cut up, and eaten too. There is also endless talk about catching, cleaning and eating fish. Well, there's a row of little tiny pin shaped bones embedded in the side muscle of many species of fish and Alaskans call them pin bones. I've seen many references to those unpopular pin bones in the newspaper and I've heard fishermen use the term pin bones in their everyday speech. They are always looking for an easy foolproof filleting method that leaves those bones behind with the skeleton. I can say with complete certainty those fisherman are not lacemakers and have never been exposed to any kind of lacemaking. It's my opinion that it's all just a coincidence. People who clean fish have long used the term pin bones for that row of tiny pin shaped bones and someone in the past has leapt to the conclusion that they were used as pins. Sally Schoenberg Anchorage Alaska - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED]
