Just because other people have already answered a question, doesn't
mean that I won't add my own wordy bit :)
I'm thinking of trying to work hands-up, either by making a pillow
from a pool noodle, or buying a bolster pillow from the Honiton Lace
shop.
I'd recommend a bolster, and not one filled with plastic junk (of
whatever composition). The pillow needs to be nice and firm - firmer,
even, than a flat one - because the pins have more tension on them,
with the bobbins hanging down. It also needs to be fairly heavy,
because you don't want it to shift at every tug on the bobbins. So
that takes the soft plastic out of the running. The pool noodle stuff
*is* harder (and heavier), but, IMO, is still only good enough to form
the *core* of your pillow; whatever you pour/wrap around it ought to be
thick enough so that your pins don't go into it (or only the tip does).
I know there are people who don't mind sticking their pins into the
stuff, but I *hate* it - it squeaks, it grabs the pins, it's not really
firm enough... Yuck :)
do you do half stitch as TC, instead of CT?
As Gabriele explained, you don't *have to*, but it makes sense, because
of the possibility of the bobbins tangling up either when they're
hanging down off your work (you don't pin out *every* pair you've just
passed... Except, maybe, at the very beginning g), or when they're
pinned out in bunches. It's easier to check that there are *no* twists
on a pair, than to check *how many* are on it.
So, you start every stitch - except for cloth, which has no twists
either at the beginning or the end of it - with however many twists are
required on it, and leave it without any. You put the twists *before*
instead of after. Whole stitch (cloth and twist) would become: TCTC;
PG net TTTC; half stitch TC.
*And* one, two, three, instead of *One*, two, three, breath... :)
Do you hold all four bobbins you're working with in your hands as you
do the stitch?
Yes, you do. Say, you're doing whole stitch (cloth and twist), left to
right, through a passive pairs...
You have your worker pair in your left hand. Pick up the passive pair
with your right hand. 1) Flip the r.h. side bobbins - in each hand -
over the l.h.side ones to the left (ie, Twist; both pairs). 2) Flip the
innermost bobbin in the left hand over the innermost bobbin in the
right hand (ie Cross). Those two bobbins change hands. Repeat #1,
repeat #2. Both bobbins from the right hand (passives) are now in the
left hand, with the workers in the right hand. Set the passive pair
down (or pin out); shift the bobbins in your right hand (workers) to
the left hand.
Repeat as many times as necessary. A bit like twiddling thumbs g
It sounds like it's a difficult method of working to get used to,
Not *really*; though it may be more difficult for you than it was for
me, if you're used to the skinny Midland bobbins. Which just *are not
right* for working palms-up...
The uniformly straight - and thin - body requires much more pinching
than a Continental body with varying widths. Continental bobbins,
however much they vary from one another, have a thicker section towards
the bottom, where it's comfortable to do the flipping. Or else, like
the Spanish ones, they're uniform, but *uniformly thicker*. Also, the
Midlands' spangle doesn't just flip; it *flops*, even if it's of the
most rigid kind...
it might be better for me since I have RSI.
Just switching to a different kind of bobbins/learning to handle them
differently (though on the same pillow and still palms down) might
make a difference. I think it's the pinch, drop; pinch, drop of
working with Midlands that does the most damage.
After the Prague experience, I've given a lot of thought to this
palms up/palms down business... And concluded that it's as much a
matter of as the twig is bent, as anything else :)
To begin with, both terms are misnomers; you don't really have your
palms up or down in either method :) Twisting your palms totally
down, *or* totally up, is going to be painful in the long run.
I suggest all of you sit down, comfortably, then let your hands drop as
they will into your lap in a *relaxed* position, then observe... My
bet is, the hands will be at their most restful *sideways*; little
fingers *in* your lap, forefingers touching or almost, thumbs -
more-or-less - *up* (ie, facing you); wrists angled, slightly,
outwards. Yes?
Men and women at rest have been portrayed that way for hundreds of
years, and that's what my hands want to do when I'm not employing them
to better purpose. So that's what I aim at, when I'm making lace. Or,
as close as possible to that restful ideal... When I make lace,
palms-down method does twist my thumbs - but *only slightly* - closer
to the pillow. Palms-up spreads them farther apart and outwards but,
again, *only slightly*. Mostly, the thumbs are (or should be) facing
you, and ready to do the twiddling - either down on the pillow, or up
in
