Re: [lace] Lace magazine - cover has inspired me to Honiton
Viv, I can hardly wait for my issue of Lace to arrive after hearing your impression of the cover. I believe you could very well try Honiton with the equipment you describe and get a good feel for it. Un-spangled Midlands bobbins (especially if one of the smaller types) are not that different than Honiton bobbins. And a domed 16 pillow would work also, especially if you choose to enlarge the pricking at all. I really believe it is how one exquisites the the stitches and not the equipment that makes the lace. Lorri F Graham, in the foot hills of MT. Rainier - Original Message - From: Viv Dewar [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Sunday, May 09, 2004 8:06 AM Subject: [lace] Lace magazine - cover has inspired me to Honiton Hi everyone. I too was thrilled to get my Lace magazine this weekend. I saw the front cover, was inspired and looked eagerly at the inside pages to see if the design was accompanied by its pattern. Sadly it wasn't, but as I read that it took the lacer (Barbara Churchward) ten years to complete I engaged brain and thought that my initial adrenaline inspired idea to embark on this as my first ever piece of Honiton lace was so way out as to be ridiculous! Does anyone on the list know any more about this mat? Does it look even more stunning in reality? How large is it so on? Next to get back to the inspiration and a wish to have a go at Honiton I'd like your ideas on the question Do I need the right equipment? I know that if I take to this particular style of lace I would, but until I know I wouldn't want to buy another pillow and a set of new bobbins. I've got le UK Lace Guild's basic technical instruction book for Honiton, which has enough details to tell me how. Would a 16in domed straw pillow be ok to start with? (or a flat polystyrene one) Would unspangled light weight midlands bobbins work, or would they be so frustrating as to put me off before I got going? When I did my first attempts at Milanese braids I enlarged the prickings and used a thicker thread. What would the pitfalls of doing this as a complete Honiton beginner? Many thanks as always for your thoughts Viv - 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] Lace magazine - cover has inspired me to Honiton
In a message dated 10/05/2004 15:43:06 GMT Daylight Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: I believe you could very well try Honiton with the equipment you describe and get a good feel for it. Un-spangled Midlands bobbins (especially if one of the smaller types) are not that different than Honiton bobbins. And a domed 16 pillow would work also, especially if you choose to enlarge the pricking at all. I really believe it is how one exquisites the the stitches and not the equipment that makes the lace. Lorri F Graham, in the foot hills of MT. Rainier My first foray into honiton was with a free lace piece which really was honiton in disguise. I really wanted to start it with all the right equipment (sorry that's just the obsessive in me!) but as I got the pattern about 3 days before Xmas there was no way that I was going to get a pillow and bobbins in time for the holiday period. I started it off with my favourite east midlands bobbins (spangled) on a high domed 18 polystrene pillow from SMP but as soon as I had to start sewings I realised that these are not that easy with spangles when you have to do them all the time so I swapped them onto my bruges bobbins which worked fine. The celtic dragon that I made is not the greatest thing I've ever done, but then I'd only been making lace for about 6 months and the other pieces of lace, such my torchon were about the same level. Anyway, I was hooked and started buying every book I could find on honiton and reading it to get a feel for the lace. Then being totally obsessive I had to go and buy the equipment, but then that's just me. What I did discover is that I am allergic to straw pillows - I found this out when teaching. Everytime one of my students came along I would get a runny nose and sore eyes - I realised that I was allergic to her pillow! So it's polystrene or nothing for me. Also I found that the weight of the pillow, when I wanted to sit with the pillow on my lap was better with this type of pillow - I don't often make lace at a table, except when at lace days - I make lace in bed (but watch out for those dropped pins). I was given one piece of advice - get a cushion cover - just an ordinary one about 16 or 18 square and fill it with polystrene beads like you get in a bean bag. Not too full. Then put that on your lap and wedge the honiton pillow into the cushion cover - it then sits beautifully in the nest!! As to bobbins, the one thing that I found is that I prefer bobbins of a similar size for honiton as they move easy for me but that is just personal preference. Anyway, just my thoughts Regards Liz Beecher I'm blogging 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] Lace magazine - cover has inspired me to Honiton
Hi Viv: I haven't seen the Lace Guild magazine yet, but as to your other questions: I'd like your ideas on the question Do I need the right equipment? I know that if I take to this particular style of lace I would, but until I know I wouldn't want to buy another pillow and a set of new bobbins. Traditional Honiton uses very fine threads, and involves many sewings. You therefore need very lightweight bobbins that are smooth so they don't snag break the threads when you do the sewings. They do not have to be traditional Honiton bobbins. I have made fine Honiton successfully with Binche bobbins and some very lightweight Swiss bobbins I happen to have, as well as unspangled Midlands bobbins, though if they're unfinished you'll have to be careful not to snag them. As for pillows: I learned on a straw-filled pillow, and they're nice if you can easily get one cheap. I still have my first, all-too-ambitious Honiton project sitting on that straw-filled pillow (it's been 23 years, now), so I use my standard cookie pillows for my newer (and less ambitious) projects. When I did my first attempts at Milanese braids I enlarged the prickings and used a thicker thread. What would the pitfalls of doing this as a complete Honiton beginner? Because Honiton uses such fine threads, it uses techniques that can be unsightly with thicker threads. For example, you may be directed to finish off 6 pairs of threads by bunching them together, tying threads around the bundle several times, and cutting off. That's pretty well invisible if you're using 170/2 thread - if you're using Pearl Cotton #8 it makes a really big bump! Probably you'd use some thread in between these two extremes, but I'd say that you may well do better to use a 100/2 or 80/2 for your first attempts, so you get something nice without having much of a problem with your thread breaking. Hope this helps. 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]
Re: [lace] Lace magazine - cover has inspired me to Honiton
on 5/9/04 2:09 PM, aurelia loveman at [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: on 5/9/04 11:06 AM, Viv Dewar at [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Hi everyone. I too was thrilled to get my Lace magazine this weekend. I saw the front cover, was inspired and looked eagerly at the inside pages to see if the design was accompanied by its pattern. Sadly it wasn't, but as I read that it took the lacer (Barbara Churchward) ten years to complete I engaged brain and thought that my initial adrenaline inspired idea to embark on this as my first ever piece of Honiton lace was so way out as to be ridiculous! Does anyone on the list know any more about this mat? Does it look even more stunning in reality? How large is it so on? Next to get back to the inspiration and a wish to have a go at Honiton I'd like your ideas on the question Do I need the right equipment? I know that if I take to this particular style of lace I would, but until I know I wouldn't want to buy another pillow and a set of new bobbins. I've got le UK Lace Guild's basic technical instruction book for Honiton, which has enough details to tell me how. Would a 16in domed straw pillow be ok to start with? (or a flat polystyrene one) Would unspangled light weight midlands bobbins work, or would they be so frustrating as to put me off before I got going? When I did my first attempts at Milanese braids I enlarged the prickings and used a thicker thread. What would the pitfalls of doing this as a complete Honiton beginner? Many thanks as always for your thoughts Viv - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Dear Viv -- Honiton isn't so terrifying as your e-letter might suggest! The 16 domed pillow would be fine; so would the polystyrene cookie. You could certainly use the unspangled midlands bobbins; you could equally well use delicate and pretty little wooden Binche bobbins, if that's what you had. However, I would not really, not! do the enlarged pricking and the thicker thread. I think you would lose the sense of Honiton, the fine light hand, the delicate turns. (That's only my opinion) The most thing I would suggest is that you get a copy of Susanne Thompson's first book, Introduction to Honiton Lace. Sue will take you by the hand very gently, lead you past pillow and bobbin issues, and before you know it, you will be making Honiton lace! When you realize that that's, in fact, what you are doing, you will be so thrilled that you will rush right out and get Perryman and Voysey's New Designs in Honiton Lace. That book is pure heaven. I have survived beginnerhood in Honiton: my first teacher was Elsie Luxton, then Cynthia Voysey for years; and then (two or three years ago) a workshop with Pat Perryman. So I say, Don't hesitate! Good luck! Aurelia Loveman - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
