Re: [lace] Twisting lace comment

[Brenda Paternoster]

On 16 Oct 2005, at 19:35, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:

Kathy told us how upsetting it was when she took her first piece of 
lace  off

the pillow and it twisted.

Well, Kathy, I don't know how long you've been subscribed to Arachne 
but not
so very long ago Brenda Paternoster was trying to do a 'research 
project' to
establish which combination of threads and stitches had this effect.  
And
that's what made your lace twist.  Unlikely to have been any mistake 
in your
lacemaking (except that your tension was probably good or the thread 
wouldn't have

been 'stressed' enough to twist the whole piece), just an unfortunate
combination of thread and stitch type.

The 'research project' is documented at
http://paternoster.orpheusweb.co.uk/lace/curlylace/curlylace.html


Unfortunately I don't think Brenda was able to come to any firm 
conclusion of

which combination of threads and stitches to avoid.
It tends to be half stitch rather than cloth stitch and firmly twisted 
threads, especially those plied in the Z direction that are most likely 
to twist.


Since writing that article (it needs updating!!) Bev Walker and I tried 
experimenting by working "mirror-image half-stitch" ie 3 over 2, 1 over 
2, 3 over 4.  A very slow and laborious process!  Mostly the results 
were as expected with Z twisted threads more or less behaving 
themselves  and S twisted threads causing the lace to curl in the Z 
direction and so proving the theory, BUT there was one exception; the 
Piper's silk which had curled so badly with regular half stitch also 
twisted when used for mirror-image half-stitch.  All I can suggest is 
that being filament silk it is very shiny and slippery and is able to 
move around within the finished lace more so than less shiny threads 
can.


Brenda
http://paternoster.orpheusweb.co.uk/

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[lace] Twisting lace comment

[Laceandbits]

Kathy told us how upsetting it was when she took her first piece of lace  off 
the pillow and it twisted.

Well, Kathy, I don't know how long you've been subscribed to Arachne but not 
so very long ago Brenda Paternoster was trying to do a 'research project' to 
establish which combination of threads and stitches had this effect.  And 
that's what made your lace twist.  Unlikely to have been any mistake in your 
lacemaking (except that your tension was probably good or the thread wouldn't 
have 
been 'stressed' enough to twist the whole piece), just an unfortunate 
combination of thread and stitch type.

Unfortunately I don't think Brenda was able to come to any firm conclusion of 
which combination of threads and stitches to avoid.  

One of my very early pieces was a simple Torchon fan edge worked as a circle. 
 I made it in crochet cotton which was way too thick and when I took it off 
the pillow it buckled and just wouldn't lay flat.  So I then made the same 
piece in sewing cotton which was way too thin (I did learn eventually how to 
sample threads, and now with "Threads for Lace" life is so much easier).  It 
lay 
flat but was so flimsy I had to applique it to fabric so it didn't pull out of 
shape.  

The problems with the first I blamed for years on the thread being so thick, 
but one day I was showing the two extremes to a student and was playing with 
the thick bit.  Quite by accident I folded it and all of a sudden it was flat - 
somehow I had worked two repeats too many!  So obvious in hindsight.

Jacquie in England 

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