[lace] Re: Leaves - a question/making leaves left handedly
Jenny Brandis wrote: I have been trying to follow the leaves thread as this is one area in lace I am having difficulties with. I can (sort of) get a leaf shape if I leave the bobbins on the pillow and hold the worker. The leaf looks like some caterpillar has nibbled at the edges as I have not mastered the tensioning. My question however is as a left hander, I want the worker bobbin to be in the left hand and that affects how I tension. I have used the #3 bobbin as the weaver instead of the #2 bobbin - is this ok? Should I try to turn right handed at this stage in my life? Hi Jenny, I too am left handed and make my leaves with the bobbins in the hand. The important thing to remember when making leaves and want a good point at each end is to start and finish off with a whole/cloth stitch. With the four bobbins make a whole st., I then take the two right hand bobbins and twist them once, right over left as normal, this leaves a bobbin on the far right of the four bobbins which will become the weaver for the leaf. Then starting with the first bobbin on the left I put each of the 3 bobbins that will be the passives between the fingers of the right hand, 1st. bobbin between index and middle finger, 2nd. bobbin between middle and ring finger and the 3rd. bobbin between ring and little fingers. You should have the 4th bobbin still lying on the pillow to the right of those in your fingers. Now take that 4th bobbin in your left hand and weave it Over the bobbin which is between your little and ring finger, under the next bobbin and under the last bobbin, bringing that weaver bobbin back to the left hand side and ready to weave back again towards the right. With the bobbins between your fingers you can open you knuckles of that hand a little bit to widen the middle part of the leaf or close the knuckles to narrow the leaf. Once you have made the leaf up to about 3/4 of it's finished length begin to narrow it gradually towards the final point and finish off with a whole stitch. Then when taking those bobbins from the leaf back into the maid part of the lace make sure you use the pair that does not contain the leaf weaver first as this will prevent you pulling the leaf out of shape when you do take the pair with the leaf weaver back into the body of the lace. Not sure if this is clear but if you read this while making a leaf it might become more legible. I also found that when I worked a picot on the left of a plait etc., I had problems placing the pin correctly. I couldn't see the pin hole for my hand being in the way. I made myself learn to be ambidextrous when making picots. I hold the pin in my right hand when making a picot to the left of a plait and in the left hand for picots to the right. Much easier only needs practice. Regards Jenny DeAngelis Spain. - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: [lace] Re: leaves
At 7:22 pm -0500 11/11/06, Bev wrote: I made a leaf according to Jean's directions. It looks good, Bev - nice to know my instructions made sense. What I forgot to add was that I was working with 4 bobbins of Soie d'Alger and up to 4 bobbins of Soie Ovale, one of which was used as the weaver. Also that you start with a cloth stitch, shape the leaf as you work and work a bit further than you think you need to. Finish with weaver and pendulum bobbins at the centre. For weaver to left of pendulum: twist weaver bobbin over left edge pairs, right edge pairs over pendulum bobbin so that weaver and pendulum bobbins are at the outside edges. (For weaver at right of pendulum, twist pendulum bobbin over left edge pairs, right edge pairs over weaver bobbin.) Place pin between the two groups of edge bobbins and tension edge bobbins firmly (you should be able to see everything 'tighten up' as you do this). Jean in grey, windy Glasgow where nearly all the leaves are off the trees - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[lace] Re: leaves
From: Jean Leader [EMAIL PROTECTED] The Cluny de Brioude way of making leaf-shaped tallies doesn't come in the book at all - it's difficult to describe and the best way to get the hang of it is to see someone doing it. Wow, Jean! Great explanation. I understood it completely, although it sure sounds like an awkward/difficult way to make leaves. I find it hard enough to control the bobbins when I'm doing familiar things with my hands--flipping them over to pick up a bobbin from behind?! Whoa! Robin P. Los Angeles, California, USA (formerly Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) [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: leaves
ok, I'll bite ;) I made a leaf according to Jean's directions. The method is similar to what I've developed on my own (with 4 threads only, though), can appreciate that the thumb movement could be painful. I have posted a picture at my blog, url below. On 11/10/06, Jean Leader [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: The Cluny de Brioude way of making leaf-shaped tallies doesn't come in the book at all - it's difficult to describe and the best way to get the hang of it is to see someone doing it. -- Bev in Sooke BC (on Vancouver Island, west coast of Canada) blogging lace at www.looonglace.blogspot.com - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: [lace] Re: leaves, again
...and may I say 'thankyou' to Jean for taking the time and trouble to post detailed directions for making a leaf the Cluny de Brioude way. Some years ago the making of a leaf or tally consistently baffled me, but I swore g to learn the minutae of leaf-making, until making them became second nature, instead of a chore, or worse, a dread to be avoided. I asked questions on the list, and tried many ways. Every time I found a how-to book about bobbin lace, I would turn to the page that showed how to make a leaf - surely if others could make leaves, I should be able to, to. Finally things clicked. If one way doesn't work, try another. Some have already mentioned that this is the way they make leaves, and some time I'm going to see if I can make a leaf 'in the air' - where the one bobbin moves over and under. I watched an older (than me) lacemaker begin a very long leaf, which, in the pattern was the eye of an owl. I was fascinated that she held 3 bobbins in one hand, and the weaver bobbin in the other, and at quite a length. The result was a very long,neatly formed oval tally. I love leaves () and leaves [] and leaves |) and even these leaves /\ :) -- Bev in on a grey Remembrance Day in Sooke BC (on Vancouver Island, west coast of Canada) blogging lace at www.looonglace.blogspot.com - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: [lace] Re: leaves, again
Bev wrote: ...and may I say 'thankyou' to Jean for taking the time and trouble to post detailed directions for making a leaf the Cluny de Brioude way. I'd like to say thanks, too. I can finally envision it, and will give it a try very soon. I did notice that in the instructions for the final pattern in the Cluny de Brioude book, they do talk about adding one pair of Soie Ovale so you can use one bobbin of the Soie Ovale for weaving the leaf, and they said to hide the other bobbin of the pair inside either the right or the left edge, but never the centre. Looking at the leaves in the picture, it does seem like the edges are quite firmly packed with threads. This notion of packing the leaves with extra threads attracts me. With the ability to add anywhere from 1 to 4 threads I can create a variety of leaf dimensions within the same project. Will have to experiment. Adele North Vancouver, BC (west coast of Canada) - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[lace] Re: leaves
The Cluny de Brioude way of making leaf-shaped tallies doesn't come in the book at all - it's difficult to describe and the best way to get the hang of it is to see someone doing it. However, as I started this thread I'll have a bash You start with your hands palm down, bobbins (up to eight) held between fingers and thumbs. The weaver bobbin is on the left of those in the right hand, the central pendulum bobbin on the right of those in the left hand. 1. Release weaver bobbin and flick it to the left - it goes under the central pendulum bobbin. Release pendulum bobbin, pick weaver bobbin up between thumb and first finger of left hand, pendulum bobbin between thumb and first finger of right hand (this should all flow together smoothly). 2. Tension so that everything looks nice (the word I would use here is 'shuggle' - pull gently, wiggle and so on). Keeping the pendulum bobbin well to the right is important. 3. Turn left hand palm up towards the left, release weaver bobbin (gently) on to pillow, and turn hand palm down again. Hold weaver bobbin between thumb and first finger of left hand. (The weaver bobbin has gone over and under the other treads in the left hand.) 4. Release pendulum bobbin and flick to the left under weaver bobbin. Release weaver bobbin, pick pendulum bobbin up between thumb and first finger of left hand, weaver bobbin between thumb and first finger of right hand. 5. Tension - this time keeping pendulum bobbin well to the left. 6. Release weaver bobbin, turn right hand palm up to the right and pick up weaver bobbin between thumb and first finger of right hand (this is the uncomfortable bit). Turn right hand palm down again. (The weaver bobbin has gone under and over the other treads in the right hand.) Start again at 1. What is nice about this method is that it allows you to control up to 8 bobbins which can be very useful when you're using colours - you can hide the ones you don't need until later inside the tally. But, like Tamara, I reckon that the secret of ridges at the side is packing in as many passes as possible - I get them when working flat on a pillow (with the weaver long and the other threads short). (Clay - is this how Anny Noben-Slegers makes tallies? She came to see Natalie making a tally during the class but they talked in French...) Jean in damp, grey Glasgow, Scotland - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: [lace] Re: leaves
Hello Jean - Yes, in answer to your question, this sounds very much like the way Anny Noben was making tallies. In fact, I flipped my digital camera to movie mode, and made a couple of film clips of her work... she was going slowly so that we could see how it was done, so it really is quite clear. But the problem is that even though the clips are not long, they are too big to send as an attachment. Tess and I have communicated on this subject, and I will be sending her a disc next week with the two clips on it. Her nephew is far more savy than either of us, and will figure out how to either cut the clips down to size, OR - even better - post it to the Professor's website where we can all see it. Once we can see one method, it will be far easier to understand distinctions between this and other methods. AND... we can add other methods as we are able to capture them on film!! And BTW... I learned to make Tallies from Ulrike Lohr (her name at the time...) and have made them that way ever since. But that method was useless for me with regard to leaves, so I took a workshop with Christine Springett last winter, and am very pleased with the result. The secret to Christine's method has to do with the tensioning, which is also one of those things easier to understand if you can see it. So this may be another method to be documented on whatever website we eventually find to host these clips. Clay Jean Leader wrote: The Cluny de Brioude way of making leaf-shaped tallies doesn't come in the book at all - it's difficult to describe and the best way to get the hang of it is to see someone doing it. However, as I started this thread I'll have a bash You start with your hands palm down, bobbins (up to eight) held between fingers and thumbs. The weaver bobbin is on the left of those in the right hand, the central pendulum bobbin on the right of those in the left hand. 1. Release weaver bobbin and flick it to the left - it goes under the central pendulum bobbin. Release pendulum bobbin, pick weaver bobbin up between thumb and first finger of left hand, pendulum bobbin between thumb and first finger of right hand (this should all flow together smoothly). 2. Tension so that everything looks nice (the word I would use here is 'shuggle' - pull gently, wiggle and so on). Keeping the pendulum bobbin well to the right is important. 3. Turn left hand palm up towards the left, release weaver bobbin (gently) on to pillow, and turn hand palm down again. Hold weaver bobbin between thumb and first finger of left hand. (The weaver bobbin has gone over and under the other treads in the left hand.) 4. Release pendulum bobbin and flick to the left under weaver bobbin. Release weaver bobbin, pick pendulum bobbin up between thumb and first finger of left hand, weaver bobbin between thumb and first finger of right hand. 5. Tension - this time keeping pendulum bobbin well to the left. 6. Release weaver bobbin, turn right hand palm up to the right and pick up weaver bobbin between thumb and first finger of right hand (this is the uncomfortable bit). Turn right hand palm down again. (The weaver bobbin has gone under and over the other treads in the right hand.) Start again at 1. What is nice about this method is that it allows you to control up to 8 bobbins which can be very useful when you're using colours - you can hide the ones you don't need until later inside the tally. But, like Tamara, I reckon that the secret of ridges at the side is packing in as many passes as possible - I get them when working flat on a pillow (with the weaver long and the other threads short). (Clay - is this how Anny Noben-Slegers makes tallies? She came to see Natalie making a tally during the class but they talked in French...) Jean in damp, grey Glasgow, Scotland - 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: Leaves and braids and rules
On Mar 4, 2006, at 12:37, Alice Howell wrote: The braids are tensioned after each TC to make a smooth, even braid. The braid is stopped just ahead of the pin. If the braid covers the pinhole, one step is taken back out so that it comes just TO the pinhole. If the extra length is taken up by pulling the threads around the pin, the lower part of the braid would be compressed while the upper part would remain as made. Indeed, that is so; however you make your leaves (overlong and retensioned after or, like myself, pack-'em-as-you-go), the braids/plaits are (or should be, anyway g) tensioned after every TC. The one exception being the first stitch, which is CTC and is tensioned after those 3 movements. If the braids are too long for the space, the finished lace will have floppy connections instead of straight and neat. Since lace tends to relax and shrink a bit when unpinned, excess length in a braid will be exaggerated. If the braid is just a tad short, it will lie straight when the rest of the lace pulls in. That, again, is true. But every rule has its exception and this one does also :) You know those tallies (they're common as dirt in Russian Tape; don't know about other be-tallied laces) where you make a tally to a point, then come back to the starting point with a plait (instead of another tally) because it's quicker? If your plait is just so in length, it'll hide behind the tally, smack down the middle of it, leaving the tally flat. Which may very well be the visual effect you want. But do consider a plait that's slightly overlong -- at least one TC, or possibly two -- made on purpose. If you support that slack with a pin, placed at the widest point of the tally and right next to it, before making the sewing back into the starting point, the plait, instead of hiding, will hug-outline the tally, adding an extra dimension to it. Which might just be the visual effect you prefer, in some circumstances. Oh, and a plait that's significantly _shorter_ than the distance it needs to travel back to the starting point... That one is useful also. It'll come back to the starting point hidden, as the just right one does. But, instead of leaving the tally flat, it'll bow it outwards, again creating an impression of 3rd dimension. In extreme cases, when your plait consists of only the starting CTC before being sewn back into the starting point, you have a nice, fat, triangle. Bloopers offer a fertile ground for study and an opportunity of turning a lemon into lemonade... -- Tamara P Duvallhttp://t-n-lace.net/ 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]
