[lace] Re: Pins - straightening thread - also Binche books
I unwind them for 6-8 inches, pull them straight, dampen them, and pin them down firmly. For a tassel on a book mark, I found that unwinding the bobbins for 6-8 and just leaving them hanging overnight (hanging off the edge of the pillow) was sufficient to straighten the thread nicely. The weight of the bobbins does all the work for you. Marianne asked about books. I recently obtained this one from the Boekhandel in Bruges Verborgene Spitzen aus dem Museum Kunstpalast Heike Beckers-Hartl, Maria Kilian, Claudia Schuster 27.50 euros It was reviewed by Jane Partridge in the October 2014 issue of Lace (vol 156). I think the lace is wonderful. Would love to make a piece or three! In the same issue was a review by Hilary Davies of Bobijntje 5 Fumie Kanai Kantcentrum VZW ISBN 978-4-902348-05-7 34 Euros This also looks to have some beautiful Flanders and Binche patterns, but I've not yet seen the book myself. The Lace Guild reviews lots of books, so worth browsing back issues for ideas. So many beautiful patterns - so little time. Best wishes, Jane In a sunny and dry New Forest - To unsubscribe send email to majord...@arachne.com containing the line: unsubscribe lace y...@address.here. For help, write to arachne.modera...@gmail.com. Photo site: http://www.flickr.com/photos/lacemaker/sets/
Re: [lace] Re: Pins - straightening thread - also Binche books
 I saw a beautiful Peacock pattern on facebook that I would love to know where the pattern came from. It was for an edging and quite elaborate in design. Beautiful. Some much lace so little time but the seeing of said lace makes my eyes very happy. Wind To Thy Wings,SherryNew York, US of Americacelticdreamweave@yahoo.comhttp://celticdreamweaver.com/http://celticdr eamweave.blogspot.com/Nata 616 On Sunday, July 19, 2015 7:25 AM, Jane janefr...@googlemail.com wrote: I unwindàthem for 6-8 inches, pull them straight, dampen them, and pin them down firmly. For a tassel on a book mark, I found that unwinding the bobbins for 6-8 and just leaving them hanging overnight (hanging off the edge of the pillow) was sufficient to straighten the thread nicely. The weight of the bobbins does all the work for you. Marianne asked about books. I recently obtained this one from the Boekhandel in Bruges Verborgene Spitzen aus dem Museum Kunstpalast Heike Beckers-Hartl, Maria Kilian, Claudia Schuster 27.50 euros It was reviewed by Jane Partridge in the October 2014 issue of Lace (vol 156). I think the lace is wonderful. Would love to make a piece or three! In the same issue was a review by Hilary Davies of Bobijntje 5 Fumie Kanai Kantcentrum VZW ISBN 978-4-902348-05-7 34 Euros This also looks to have some beautiful Flanders and Binche patterns, but I've not yet seen the book myself. The Lace Guild reviews lots of books, so worth browsing back issues for ideas. So many beautiful patterns - so little time. Best wishes, Jane In a sunny and dry New Forest - To unsubscribe send email to majord...@arachne.com containing the line: unsubscribe lace y...@address.here. For help, write to arachne.modera...@gmail.com. Photo site: http://www.flickr.com/photos/lacemaker/sets/ - To unsubscribe send email to majord...@arachne.com containing the line: unsubscribe lace y...@address.here. For help, write to arachne.modera...@gmail.com. Photo site: http://www.flickr.com/photos/lacemaker/sets/
[lace] Re: pins and thorns
On 24/05/2011 06:57, Alex Stillwell wrote: Hi Linda This was sparked of by someone coming out with the old wives tale of lacemaker using thorns and fishbones for pins and I was asking if there was any evidence. Obviously thorns have been used in Brazil, but not for the very very fine early lace. No one has managed to give any evidence of any thorns being suffuciently fine for that. Happy lacemaing Alex Thank you, Alex, for your very neat summary of the situation. I'm very curious to know how this old wives' tale first arose. It would be interesting if we could track down the first time the alternative pins were mentioned. Old wives' tales can be most intriguing clues: some I've known have turned out to be good information, unreasonably dismissed by someone supporting an alternative theory. (Alright, doctors!) Others have been the purest invention, wishful thinking, romantic story-telling. But occasionally you can discover an intriguing clue, which has been the result of a misunderstanding. To get this tale by the tail, (sorry, couldn't resist that), we first need to find the earliest mentions of it, then we can understand the context, and the exact way in which the words were used. I still think there may be more to this than meets the eye . . . Linda Walton, (pondering in a cool and breezy High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, U.K.). - To unsubscribe send email to majord...@arachne.com containing the line: unsubscribe lace y...@address.here. For help, write to arachne.modera...@gmail.com. Photo site: http://community.webshots.com/user/arachne2003
[lace] Re: pins and thorns
Hi Linda Just m - Original Message - From: Linda Walton linda.wal...@dsl.pipex.com To: Alex Stillwell alexstillw...@talktalk.net; Lace lace@arachne.com Sent: Tuesday, May 24, 2011 7:32 AM Subject: Re: pins and thorns On 24/05/2011 06:57, Alex Stillwell wrote: Hi Linda This was sparked of by someone coming out with the old wives tale of lacemaker using thorns and fishbones for pins and I was asking if there was any evidence. Obviously thorns have been used in Brazil, but not for the very very fine early lace. No one has managed to give any evidence of any thorns being suffuciently fine for that. Happy lacemaing Alex Thank you, Alex, for your very neat summary of the situation. I'm very curious to know how this old wives' tale first arose. It would be interesting if we could track down the first time the alternative pins were mentioned. Old wives' tales can be most intriguing clues: some I've known have turned out to be good information, unreasonably dismissed by someone supporting an alternative theory. (Alright, doctors!) Others have been the purest invention, wishful thinking, romantic story-telling. But occasionally you can discover an intriguing clue, which has been the result of a misunderstanding. To get this tale by the tail, (sorry, couldn't resist that), we first need to find the earliest mentions of it, then we can understand the context, and the exact way in which the words were used. I still think there may be more to this than meets the eye . . . Linda Walton, (pondering in a cool and breezy High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, U.K.). - To unsubscribe send email to majord...@arachne.com containing the line: unsubscribe lace y...@address.here. For help, write to arachne.modera...@gmail.com. Photo site: http://community.webshots.com/user/arachne2003
RE: [lace] Re: pins
Alice wrote: In 19th century USA, pins were used as an informal monetary unit. Remember stories like Tom Sawyer... admission to the performance the kids gave was a pin (or two). I may sound like I'm very ancient, but I remember as a child that a paper of pins was sometimes used in shops to give change, if the farthing was in short supply. Liz Pass (in Poole, UK) PS I was born after the war (the second one that is!) - To unsubscribe send email to majord...@arachne.com containing the line: unsubscribe lace y...@address.here. For help, write to arachnemodera...@yahoo.com
[lace] Re: pins
On Apr 11, 2009, at 8:54, laceandb...@aol.com (Jacquie) wrote: First of all, a sidestep. Can anyone tell me the origin (and meaning) of the saying For two pins.. Don't know the origin but, the way I've always heard/seen ithe phrase used, meant without much encouragement or for a small price. It's always used in the same way: for two pins, I'd... (do something or other). Must have been invented once the pins were factory made and no longer expensive :) -- Tamara P Duvallhttp://t-n-lace.net/ Lexington, Virginia, USA (Formerly of Warsaw, Poland) - 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] Re: pins
That was what I thought, but I've been wondering about this for quite some time (intermittently, you understand, not continuously) and in the process I had got to the stage where instead of Oh, for two pins I'd just do it myself I was wavering that it was more derogatory of what ever the task was as in For two pins, it's not worth the effort. Thank you for reassuring me that my original thought was the right one. Perhaps if it was originally a lace term, as lacemakers had such a connection to pins, and so many of them, even before they were hand made and less expensive, but I doubt if we will ever know. Jacquie - To unsubscribe send email to majord...@arachne.com containing the line: unsubscribe lace y...@address.here. For help, write to arachnemodera...@yahoo.com
[lace] Re: pins
Tamara P Duvall t...@rockbridge.net wrote: Don't know the origin but, the way I've always heard/seen ithe phrase used, meant without much encouragement or for a small price. It's always used in the same way: for two pins, I'd... (do something or other). Must have been invented once the pins were factory made and no longer expensive :) Perhaps it started as two pennies, then. In the US we have the phrase for two cents, I'd which has the same meaning. Robin P. Los Angeles, California, USA robinl...@socal.rr.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] Re: pins
In 19th century USA, pins were used as an informal monetary unit. Remember stories like Tom Sawyer... admission to the performance the kids gave was a pin (or two). Back then our coin money was worth something, and for values less than a penny they used pins. I don't remember how many pins would be worth one penny. Pins could be a bit hard to obtain and the ones a person had were valued. Two pins would be a value smaller than the penny. This term was probably carried down by common usage, way beyond the time when it had real meaning. For a history of the pin, look at http://www.madehow.com/Volume-7/Straight-Pin.html However, it does not tell about the use of the pin as currency. Alice in Oregon -- expecting a very wet Easter - Original Message Subject: [lace] Re: pins On Apr 11, 2009, at 8:54, laceandb...@aol.com (Jacquie) wrote: First of all, a sidestep. Can anyone tell me the origin (and meaning) of the saying For two pins.. - To unsubscribe send email to majord...@arachne.com containing the line: unsubscribe lace y...@address.here. For help, write to arachnemodera...@yahoo.com
[lace] Re: pins
On Aug 13, 2004, at 16:42, [EMAIL PROTECTED] (Julie in Baltimore) wrote: I am working on a Chantilly fan and I am thinking about pins.[...] I decided to use the long and thin pins for the figures and my usual pins for the ground. Not Chantilly, but... When I took a class (with Pompi Parry) in Polychrome de Courseulles, that's *precisely* what she had us do; we used thicker pins for the ground, and thinner ones for the motifs, where the pins were spaced closer together (sometimes twice as many as in the ground). I ended up using the same mix as you do - the IBC pins, 30x.5mm (my usual) for the ground, and the 38x.4mm, Mechlin ones, for the motifs. That way my fingers got a bit of rest from pushing the thin pins and I wouldn't use very many thin pins at a time so I wouldn't run out. I didn't have much trouble with pushing the long-and-thin pins in (I work on a felt-filled pillow) but I also found them a bit bendy (even though I do have the stainless steel variety) the first time I worked with them (before Parry's class). So, when they were requested for Parry's class, I bit the bullet, and bought 4 tubes of them (they're not only bendy; they're spendy, too, so the bullet was very hard to bite g). And yes, some of the first lot got bent out of shape quickly - being so thin, they're also v sharp, so they seem to think the hole is *here* when it's not... But, after I used them for a while on the same pattern, they seemed to miscalculate less, and slide into the pre-pricked holes correctly more. So, fewer got bent, as I got the rhythm in my *fingers*, not in my eyes... :) What made this idea particularly feasible is that the difference in the lengths of the pins meant I could easily distinguish between the two types when I was reaching into the thicket for a new pin. I don't use pins directly from the pillow; for all it's faster, somehow I never was able to get *that* rhythm right... So I pull them out when they're no longer needed, and put them into their rightful pincushion (and yes, I keep two separate ones, and it *is* a nuisance g), from which I then pull them out again, as needed. Sometimes, I'd put the wrong batch of pins into a pincushion and, reaching blindly, I'd pull a wrong-sized one out. But, within a few hours, my fingers learnt to distinguish the size - by thickness, not length... The holes have gotten much farther apart and easier to see as the weeks have gone by. Yes, and the thread is much thicker, too; it would take a lot of special effort to break them. Isn't it a miracle? VBG It never ceases to amaze (and amuse) me to observe how adaptable our bodies (eyes and hands, in this instance) are... Much quicker than our minds g Now I'm thinking that maybe I could have used my usual pins on the half-stitch figures after all? Possibly... But, equally possibly, you'd not have a series of dots, but one long trough, through holes overlapping. How do pins fit into the grand scheme of things? I mean, what is the theory about which types to use and how does it all tend to work out in practice? When I bought my first batch of Mechlin pins (the long-and-thin kind), it was on Holly's (Holly Van Sciver) reccomendation; supposedly, they allow one a better look at the lace when the pins are so close together they become a forest. I wasn't entirely convinced, but experimented (a piece of Toender, where one repeat was pinned with the bread-and-butter, and the other with the platinum-priced). And discovered for myself that she's absolutely right g; it *is* easier to see the lace beneath, when the the pin-shafts are thinner, and the pin-heads slightly higher up... I had problems with the short pins, but perhaps that was only because I wasn't used to them and is not characteristic. I never liked short pins, but, equally, could never tell why; it was instinctive. Come this summer, I took my bread-and-butter pins (.5mm) with me to Prague. Where I worked on lace which used a thicker-than-I'm-used-to thread, and *much* harder tension... And kept hearing from the teacher: your pins are so thin, you have to push them in deeper. *Deeper, deeper*; at least two-thirds in, to hold the threads without bending. I was very happy my pins weren't any shorter than they were, since they didn't have the ball-heads that the Czechs use on their laces, and the stitches - being made in thick thread - would have slipped entirely off them, had I to push them in any deeper... :) I guess, a forest of pins is like any other forest; the deeper the tap-roots of the trees, the stronger they stand :) --- Tamara P Duvall http://lorien.emufarm.org/~tpd Lexington, Virginia, USA (Formerly of Warsaw, Poland) Healthy US through The No-CARB Diet: no C-heney, no A-shcroft, no R-umsfeld, no B-ush. - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
RE: [lace] Re: PIns
From: Tamara P. Duvall [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] years ago, and ex-Arachnean (Penny Boston), who studied microbe life in deep caves for NASA, took some pins with her and left them in one of the caves, to see what effect constantly damp and chilly environment would have on them. As I remember it, the brass pins, for all they were thicker, were eaten through within 3 months; it took 6 for the stainless steel ones to give up the ghost :) Well, to be entirely honest, the cave air was highly acidic, not just damp. Sulfuric acid fumes. Still, the stainless of stainless steel does refer to resistance to rusting. Not rust-proof, but resistant. I have had or seen stainless steel pins rust, and also black insect pins. Usually, the rust starts where the surface has been scratched a tiny bit. The bottom line, IMO, is that all pins will corrode under the right conditions. What pin works best for one person does poorly in another's house. Pollutants, humidity, temperature, and frequency and speed of change of them; all vary from city to city and from household to household, and all will affect the metals. Robin P. [EMAIL PROTECTED] Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA http://www.pittsburghlace.8m.com - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[lace] Re: PIns
On Monday, Oct 20, 2003, at 10:30 US/Eastern, Panza, Robin wrote: The bottom line, IMO, is that all pins will corrode under the right conditions. What pin works best for one person does poorly in another's house. Pollutants, humidity, temperature, and frequency and speed of change of them; all vary from city to city and from household to household, and all will affect the metals. Personal chemistry should be considered as well. My perspiration seems to be highly corrosive also: fabrics, finish on bobbins, metals... Anything I handle too much will disintegrate after a while. Doubtless it the same element which due to my bitchy nature makes my blood too bitter even for the mosquitos :) - Tamara P Duvall Lexington, Virginia, USA Formerly of Warsaw, Poland http://lorien.emufarm.org/~tpd/ - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: [lace] Re: PIns
Methinks her bitchy mood *today* is due to the passing of another of those annual downers... the birthday. Wish her a happy one anyway!! Clay - Original Message - From: Tamara P. Duvall [EMAIL PROTECTED] Doubtless it the same element which due to my bitchy nature makes my blood too bitter even for the mosquitos :) - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[lace] Re: PIns
On Sunday, Oct 19, 2003, at 12:05 US/Eastern, [EMAIL PROTECTED]
(Jacquie) wrote:
Stainless steel pins rust, brass ones tarnish. Not quite the same.
Not the same at all. But, *good* stainless steel pins don't rust and
they don't tarnish either.
I brought a big bunch of East-German sewing pins (lovely glasss heads,
in many colours) with me when I came here 30 yrs ago. They were 10 yrs
old *then* and still none shows any signs of rust, for all they sit in
a box with a magnetic opening on top, open to all elements (and
Virginia can get very humid in the summer). Some loose their heads
every once in a while and have to be thrown away, but that's the extent
of the damage. OTOH, I bought a box of sewing pins (plastic heads, in
many colours g) the first year I started making lace ('89) and those
made my pincushion look like a crowd of flies with diarrhea had a party
on it -- all of them melded into the fabric with rust.
I've been using IBC silk pins (get them from Clotilde here, but I know
some lace suppliers carry them too) ever since then, and have had no
trouble with rust. I do get a new box of them every now and then, but
that's because I throw the bent ones away, and some laces are more
pin-intensive than others as well. I like those pins, because they're
fairly long (1.25) and fine (.5mm), yet stronger (less bendable) than
brass ones of the same dimensions (if one can find such g).
Also, I'm not so sure about Jacquie's original statement that stainless
steel ones rust, the brass ones only tarnish, and that the first damage
is permanent, while the second can be corrected (ie washed out of the
affected fabric/lace). I have some brass-on-leather ornaments (buckles,
studs) which I brought from Poland. After 3-4 years, they all develop
not just a green patina, but *bunches* of coarse green crud. And, some
years ago, and ex-Arachnean (Penny Boston), who studied microbe life in
deep caves for NASA, took some pins with her and left them in one of
the caves, to see what effect constantly damp and chilly environment
would have on them. As I remember it, the brass pins, for all they were
thicker, were eaten through within 3 months; it took 6 for the
stainless steel ones to give up the ghost :)
-
Tamara P Duvall
Lexington, Virginia, USA
Formerly of Warsaw, Poland
http://lorien.emufarm.org/~tpd/
-
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[lace] Re: pins (digest VI #3662
In a message dated 6/29/2003 2:11:52 AM GMT Daylight Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: From Lace and Bobbins, T.L.Huetson 1973 The making of pillow lace requires the use of pins, and when the art of making lace was brought to England these were very expensive. Consequently the workers had to improvise their own, long thorns being used in the midlands and fish bones in south Devon. The lace-makers along the coast of Devon, where fishing was their livelihood, were in the ideal position of having plenty of fish from which to choose good strong slender bones of suitable length. His bibliography includes Thomas Wright and Palliser, neither of which I have, so I can't follow it back. I don't have Palliser in London, but I do have a nice old copy of Thomas Wright (1919) and this is what his book says on the subject of pins being used by lacemakers in England: Soon after the Flemish Exodus brass wire pins came into general use in this country. Pins of a sort had been made here as early as 1347, but our brass wire pins date only from about 1530. By the statute of 1543 entitled An Act for the True making of Pynnes the price was not to exceed 6/8 per 1000. Nevertheless until 1626, when John Tilsby established a manufactory in Gloucestershire, most of the pins used by English workers were imported from France. The Pinmakers Corporation of London was not established till 1636. (Page 36) On page 122, the book continues: The early brass pins made in England had a globular head of fine twisted wire made separately and secured to the shank by compression from a falling block and die. Consequently the heads often came off. It was not until 1849 that the kind with solid heads now universally in use appeared on the market. The workers liked to use pins with red waxed or beaded heads for the Headside (or Turnside) of the lace, and gold wax or green beaded pins for the Footside. Sometimes however, for these purposes they used pins on which were threaded six or more tiny beads of blue and white or red and white placed alternately. In North Bucks these pins are called Limicks, in South Bucks Bugles, in Beds King Pins , and like the other coloured pins they added greatly to the beauty of the pillow. (page 122) He continues with a discussion of other types of pins. Burheads ornamented with the seeds of goosef-grass, and a bit about two pins with bone heads, inscribed with the usual dotted fashion common to bobbins, with the names Ruth and Thomas. These are pictured on plate 21. The shank of these pins look to be about the length of a Honiton bobbin...i.e. quite long! Elaine Merritt The Lace Museum 552 South Murphy Avenue Sunnyvale, CA 94086 tel. (408) 730 4695 - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED]
