Re: [lace] Re: Working with silk thread
Thanks - I'll bear that in mind. I wasn't really aware of the different twists on thread until I read Brenda Paternoster's book. A very useful book - but I never realised thread was so complicated! Regards, Annette, London Hi Annette - I have found that the silk I work with (Tire) likes to lose it's twist when I work with it. It also had a lot of trouble with the hitch jumping off the neck of the bobbin. So for this latest project (a Milanese piece started during a workshop with Louise Colgan!) I took a closer look and my suspicions were confirmed... Tire silk has a Z-twist instead of the S-twist I'm accustomed to. While many knowledgeable people say that that makes no difference, I can tell you that reversing the direction I wound my bobbins made a huge difference in how the thread behaved. So be sure you know which way your silk is twisted, and wind accordingly. Clay - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: [lace] Re: Working with silk thread
In a message dated 27/09/2003 23:38:52 GMT Daylight Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: Holly Van Sciver explained it to me when I questioned the wisdom of spending an inordinate (to me g) amount of money for the Mechlin pins (about the same size as insect pins 00, I think). Since I trust her, I decided to invest, and was never sorry -- I love working with them. - Tamara P Duvall Lexington, Virginia, USA Formerly of Warsaw, Poland When I started to make lace, the two most common pins being sold in the UK were sold under the titles of Torchon or Honiton pins - with Honiton being finer. Hornsby's very kindly spent a bit of time explaining the difference of length and thickness to me (much like Holly Van Sciver) and I have always used the thinner, slightly longer so called 'Honiton' pins. Yes they bend, but as my lacemaking got better I realised it was me that bent them by being basically stupid. I don't now use my pillow as a rest for books, I don't try and put all my equipment onto the top of my pillow, when travelling, and I don't heave the pins into the pillow any more - so my bent pin ratio is now virtually nil. Just a question to the spiders though, does anyone know of a supplier in the UK who sells insect pins (and I don't just mean lace suppliers). Regards Liz Beecher I'm A HREF=http://journals.aol.com/thelacebee/thelacebee;blogging/A now - see what it's all about - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: [lace] Re: Working with silk thread
Hi Annette - I have found that the silk I work with (Tire)likes to lose it's twist when I work with it. It also had a lot of trouble with the hitch jumping off the neck of the bobbin.snipped Clay I usually do a double half hitch (ie twist the thread twice) round the neck to hold the thread - this seems to sort out the problem with it coming off due to the silk being slippery Regards Liz Beecher I use a hairclip over the thread and neck , It's a very small clip with 4 or 5 legs on both side, and its clamped on the neck. You don't need to do a half hitch. I use this for very slippery or thick thread. The thread won't slip of your bobbin. Regards, Hanke Hofstra Want to chat instantly with your online friends? Get the FREE Yahoo! Messenger http://mail.messenger.yahoo.co.uk - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: [lace] Re: Working with silk thread
I must be doing something wrong! I have never ( knock on wood) had any trouble working with silk. I find it much easier to work with than linen or cotton. I am fairly new to silk and love it so much that I may use it whenever I can get away with it now. We don't have any lace police in south Texas. Sylvia Andrews - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: [lace] Re: Working with silk thread
I have found the same 'phenomena' with Z-twist threads. Is the 'proper' wind direction then counter clock-wise (when looking at the head end of the bobbin? I have always wound clock-wise. Lorri F I have found that the silk I work with (Tire) likes to lose it's twist when I work with it. It also had a lot of trouble with the hitch jumping off the neck of the bobbin. So for this latest project (a Milanese piece started during a workshop with Louise Colgan!) I took a closer look and my suspicions were confirmed... Tire silk has a Z-twist instead of the S-twist I'm accustomed to. While many knowledgeable people say that that makes no difference, I can tell you that reversing the direction I wound my bobbins made a huge difference in how the thread behaved. So be sure you know which way your silk is twisted, and wind accordingly. Clay - Original Message - From: Annette Gill [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Saturday, September 27, 2003 3:42 AM Subject: [lace] Re: Working with silk thread Robin, Thanks very much for your suggestions about silk threads. I think I've seen YLI threads in local quilt shops, but I don't know whether that included their silks. (Or maybe it was in Hobbycraft - sorry for mentioning the H word, Jean and Liz!) Thanks also for the tip about the thread untwisting - I have problems with that when I use continental bobbins, so I'd better stick to Midlands bobbins when I use silk. Regards, Annette, London In my opinion, silk is no harder to use than linen and cotton. Gutermann silk is the most like cotton in look and feel, so I don't think you want that if you're trying silk for its difference. Tire and YLI (and a third brand I can't think of right now) silk come on spools that look like sewing machine thread, and that's the stuff I'd recommend. It comes in size 50 and 100, and I've used both sizes for Bucks and torchon patterns... You do have to watch the rolling bobbins. The thread is very strong while it's properly twisted, but when bobbins roll around it can come untwisted and then it breaks easily... - 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] - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: [lace] Re: Working with silk thread
Hi Sylvia, I think I am with you! From the very first time I worked with silk I have loved the feel, sheen and look of the finished article when made in silk! I still use DMC 30 or 50 for some things, and the lovely Spanish Finca thread too, but for something special I use silk - and like you, so far I have never had any trouble using it. (That's probably a cue for the Bad Fairy to come out of the woodwork...) Carol - in Suffolk, UK, where it was a fine and warm morning, which deteriorated. - Original Message - From: palmhaven [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Sunday, September 28, 2003 7:03 PM Subject: Re: [lace] Re: Working with silk thread I must be doing something wrong! I have never ( knock on wood) had any trouble working with silk. I find it much easier to work with than linen or cotton. I am fairly new to silk and love it so much that I may use it whenever I can get away with it now. We don't have any lace police in south Texas. Sylvia Andrews - 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: Working with silk thread/twists
On Sunday, Sep 28, 2003, at 14:06 US/Eastern, Lorri Ferguson wrote: I have found the same 'phenomena' with Z-twist threads. Is the 'proper' wind direction then counter clock-wise (when looking at the head end of the bobbin? I have always wound clock-wise. I'm with Sylvia and Carol; I never had a problem working with silk, irrespective of the twist. I always wind my bobbins the same way for all fibers -- wouldn't know clock- or counterclock-wise from cockadoodledoo -- mostly because I'm not sure I'd know how to hitch the dratted thing, once I wound it un-naturally -- presumably, the hitch would have to match the direction and directions aren't my strong point :) But for those who do have problems with S and Z twists and feel that winding the other way might be helpful, there's an excellent article, well illustrated, addressing the subject. It's on Lacenotes, and has been wrtitten by our own (Arachnean) Jean Leader. http://www.q7design.demon.co.uk/lacenotes/ And click on Winding Bobbins - Tamara P Duvall Lexington, Virginia, USA Formerly of Warsaw, Poland - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: [lace] Re: Working with silk thread/insect pins
On Sunday, Sep 28, 2003, at 07:38 US/Eastern, [EMAIL PROTECTED] (Liz) wrote: Just a question to the spiders though, does anyone know of a supplier in the UK who sells insect pins (and I don't just mean lace suppliers). If you know someone who has a connection to a university or college, you might check the campus bookstore. Most of the campuses on which I teach stock them in the bookstore. Katrina - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[lace] Re: Working with silk thread
Patty, Thank very much for your notes about the silk threads, and the tips about wetting the knots. I know I can get Pipers Silks in the UK from their web site, but I will look out for the other threads you mention. What are insect pins? I've never heard of them! Regards, Annette, London Dear Annette, I have used just about every kind of silk and I finally worked a miniature parasol from Ann Collier's book of miniature lace for dollhouses (can't remember the exact title.) From my experience with the miniature parasol which I first tried to work in 140 or 160 cotton and it just disintegrated. So I got serious and pulled out some unboiled 3 ply silk in pale blue with boiled silk, doubled, in white for the gimp. I was very happy with the results - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: [lace] Re: Working with silk thread
Annette said .. Thanks also for the tip about the thread untwisting - I have problems with that when I use continental bobbins, so I'd better stick to Midlands bobbins when I use silk. I seem to remember a tip about using suedde or chamais leather under continentals to stop them rolling - anyone know if this is a figment of my imagination or if it actually works? jenny barron sunny Scotland - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: [lace] Re: Working with silk thread
On Sat, 27 Sep 2003 12:43:46 -0700, Jenny wrote: I seem to remember a tip about using suedde or chamais leather under continentals to stop them rolling - anyone know if this is a figment of my imagination or if it actually works? I have two cover cloths made from stretchy velvet fabric. They were well washed before use to make them shed all their threads in the washing machine, not on my lace. I find them good to use with any bobbins. They do inhibit rolling of unspangled bobbins a little. Having said that, I'm currently making Withof with Binche bobbins on a cotton cover and not finding that a problem either. For me the trick to using continentals is to have the pillow horizontal, whereas for spangled bobbins I like to work at an angle. -- On the whole, human beings want to be good, but not too good and not quite all the time. - George Orwell 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]
Re: [lace] Re: Working with silk thread
In a message dated 27/09/2003 13:24:13 GMT Daylight Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: Hi Annette - I have found that the silk I work with (Tire) likes to lose it's twist when I work with it. It also had a lot of trouble with the hitch jumping off the neck of the bobbin.snipped Clay I usually do a double half hitch (ie twist the thread twice) round the neck to hold the thread - this seems to sort out the problem with it coming off due to the silk being slippery Regards Liz Beecher I'm A HREF=http://journals.aol.com/thelacebee/thelacebee;blogging/A now - see what it's all about - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[lace] Re: Working with silk thread/rolling bobbins
On Saturday, Sep 27, 2003, at 08:32 US/Eastern, Clay Blackwell wrote: I seem to remember a tip about using suedde or chamais leather under continentals to stop them rolling - anyone know if this is a figment of my imagination or if it actually works? jenny barron sunny Scotland It actually works. And it's important to keep the pillow as flat as possible so that gravity doesn't work against you. I use Ultra-Suede, which is a man-made alternative to suede. VBG I think the reason Clay and I are such good friends is that polar opposites attract; we differ on almost every issue... :) I'm the person who's so devoted to a crochet hook for sewings, that I never could get the hang of the sewing-in hook that Clay is so happy with... And, like Liz (thelacebee), I make a hitch through two loops and don't worry my little head about the Z- and S-spin of the thread and the direction of winding; never had a speck of bother with Tire (or any other thread) untwisting or slipping... I too use the Ultra Suede for my work cloths (and from the same shop, which Clay so kindly discovered for me g). But that's because it's so thick and supple that when folded, it lifts the threads off the pillow nicely, which I find useful when working Milanese (pins pushed in all the way but, alas, not below the pillow's surface g). And since it doesn't shed, one can make those work cloths with a small circular hole in them without the effort of hemming -- I prefer those to the horseshoe (never could make *that* work for me properly, either g). But as for Ultra Suede (or any suede) stopping the bobbins from rolling... IMO, it's only a very tiny step above diddly squat, and that only at the beginning, before it gets slick from use :) *Even* with an absolutely flat pillow... I use my T-squares (which Neil Keats in Oz makes for me) exclusively, for all laces. They slide easily, but do not roll (or only if pushed really hard), no matter what the workcloth is made of. But, at the IOLI Convention in August, I picked up a lovely pair of black Bayeux bobbins, each celebrating the 50th anniversary, but each with a different design. So, naturally, I wanted to use them immediately :) And where better than as a gimp pair in my class -- the gimp bobbins do not have to be exactly the same as the rest; it's actually desirable to be able to distinguish them easily... Although it was called gimp in the supplies list, it turned out not to be -- it was a thick pair, at the outer edge of each sample triangle (an outline) and cloth stitched throughout. I was using a single ply (composed of 5 strands) of Kreinik's Silk Serica for it. And what I noticed -- very soon -- was that the inner bobbin of the pair (kept somewhat in check by the outer one) behaved well; the thread remained loosely twisted, with excellent coverage. But the *outer* one -- with nothing to stop it on one side -- did not; it kept twisting the thread tighter and tighter, till it wanted to kink up and till it was as thin as the base thread. I had to do the pick up, roll in the opposite direction, pick up, roll in the opposite direction trick all the time (or far too frequently for my taste, at any rate g). The pillow was the block one from Gabriele -- as flat as yesterday's beer. The workcloth was Ultra Suede, freshly washed (ie with it's nap up again). The pair was sometimes on the right-hand edge, sometimes at the left-hand one... *None of it* made a blind bit of difference -- the outer bobbin rolled till I was nearly distracted. So I rewound the thread onto a pair of squares and think of the Bayeux pair as Christmas tree ornament. I *may* one day use it again as a gimp but only if I'm certain that it'll remain surrounded by other bobbins (which will keep it from rolling) - Tamara P Duvall Lexington, Virginia, USA Formerly of Warsaw, Poland - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
