RE: [lace] instructions

[Lorelei Halley]

Absolutely, I agree with Alex.
Lorelei

-Original Message-
From: owner-l...@arachne.com [mailto:owner-l...@arachne.com] On Behalf Of
Alex Stillwell
Sent: Monday, March 20, 2017 4:38 AM
Subject: [lace] instructions

Many lace books are written with the patterns in a progressive order so that
patterns later in the book involve techniques already covered earlier in the
book so the last pattern may involve the majority of those explained
previously. If the pattern was sold as a one-off it would need the whole
book to support it. One-off patterns are just that, they are not teaching
books. I suggest you invest in a good instruction book and work through it
pattern by pattern, learning each technique thoroughly as you go. The lace
workers used to insist that a yard of each new pattern had to be worked in
order to learn the techniques and build up speed; I have found that, if
there are only 2-3 new techniques in a piece than 4-5 repeats are all that
are necessary. Once you understand the techniques you can make anything. 

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[lace] Fwd: The Urchins

[Susan E Babbs]

Back in January, Devon Thein posted a request for help crocheting sea urchins 
for an installation in Singapore, which eventually included over 32 miles of 
3mm nylon rope. I made 3 repeats, which doesn't sound like much, but they were 
hard work, not least because the rope they sent us to use was thicker than the 
rope they had used to sample the work, so we had to adapt our numbers of 
stitches (and even some of the types of stitches) to fit exactly to the size of 
the architect's design.  

We have just received a report on it all.  I hope you will enjoy looking at the 
photos.

 Original Message 
 Subject: The Urchins
 From: Jin Choi 
 Sent: Monday, March 20, 2017, 10:35 PM
 To: Sue Babbs 
 CC: 

Hello Sue,


The Urchins in Singapore have been a great success.  We are very grateful that 
you have been part of the creation of the Urchins. 


We have posted images of the Urchins in Singapore on our website, including 
images from the fabrication and installation, and a brief page about the 
concept of the design.  Please check that you name is correctly listed on the 
Urchins and the fabrication pages, and let us know if there are any omissions 
or corrections needed.  The webpages are here:


The Urchins in Singapore


The Urchins Fabrication


The Urchins Concept


The fabrication of the Urchins had three major parts.  The first one involved 
crocheters like you from around the country (and some international ones)  
making motifs and panels.  As the crocheted works arrived back at our office, 
we started joining the pieces into strips of 5 motifs, then joining the joined 
motifs and strips into the large skins for the there urchins.  We completed 
each skin except for one seam, which we planned to join around the metal frame 
once in Singapore.  Images of some of this work is on the website. I am sorry 
that our communications with you largely stopped once this started, but joining 
the motifs required much more work than we anticipated, and almost every waking 
hour we had was spent on the assembly in Boston with our crew of assistants.


The third fabrication step was planned to take place at the site in Singapore, 
consisting of assembling the metal frame and fastening the crochet skins to the 
frame with a local assembly crew.  This went more or less according to plan 
although the festival organizers were a little late with the riggings and 
supports for us to hang the Urchins, and once hung, they were local engineering 
problems with the height of the hanging, but after many days of sweating in the 
tropical sun and humidity, we managed to hang all three Urchins on the lower 
boardwalk at Marina Bay, just west of the Marina Bay Sands hotel.  We have 
never worked as hard in such uncomfortable heat as we did for the five days of 
installation, but by 2 o’clock in the morning on the day before the opening, 
the urchins were hanging and lit, ready for the opening night.


The Urchins proved to be very successful on opening night with large crowds of 
visitors photographing the Urchins, standing inside of them peering out, and 
appearing to greatly enjoy the art work.  The were so many people visiting and 
touching the Urchins that festival organizers posted 2 guards at the artwork, 
limiting the number of visitors to 20 people at a time, with lines of people 
waiting to get in to see the Urchins.


The festival organizers have requested that we allow the Urchins to travel 
around Southeast Asia to other light festivals.  We do not know if this will 
happen, but we will keep you informed if the project progresses.  It is also 
possible that the Urchins will travel within the US, and we have received some 
requests from museums to show the work.  We hope the Urchins return to the US 
and travels around the country, so that you can see your finished work.


Each person who helped with the Urchins rightly deserve credit for this success 
and we could not have completed this project without your help.  Thank you 
again.



All the best,



Jin Choi +Thomas Shine


Choi + Shine Architects 

358 Tappan Street, Brookline MA 02445

Phone: 617-879-3255

Fax: 617-879-3254


Creators of the Land of Giants™ and the BIT Light™

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Fwd: [lace] Books/ out of print books

[Lbuyred]

I whole heartedly agree.  I have gotten some real bargains from the Lace Guild 
library.  And I found the lady who helped me was very kind and patient.  I got 
the books very quickly even though I am on a different continent.  Thanks to 
all those people who donated their books!
Liz R,  Raleigh NC, USA

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Re: [lace] Books/ out of print books

[Carolyn M Salafia]

how does one drop a note to the librarian?

Thanks

carrie

On Sun, Mar 19, 2017 at 6:59 PM, Clare Lewis 
wrote:

> At The Lace Guild we regularly get boxes of books sent to us by families
> who are dealing with loved ones estates. If these are duplicates to ones we
> already have in the library we sell them as second hand books.
>
> This is a blatant advertising email because we have boxes and boxes of
> books which we would love to get out there in the wild again. If you are
> looking for a particular book it would certainly be worth dropping the
> librarian an email to see if she can help.
>
> Clare, in wet and windy Portsmouth
>
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>



-- 
Carrie

carolyn.sala...@gmail.com

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Re: [lace] Books/ out of print books

[Clare Lewis]

Hi carrie,

You can email libr...@laceguild.org but be aware that Sara, the librarian,
works part time so you may not get a reply the same day.

On the library page of the Guild website there is a link to as pdf of
current s/h books for sale ( https://www.laceguild.org/museum/library.html
).


Clare, still in Portsmouth where it is even wetter and windier than last
time I posted.

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Re: [lace] Books/ out of print books

[Maureen]

Not only does the Lace Guild have out of print lace books for sale but I am 
sure that local lace groups will as well.  I know ours does.

Maureen
E Yorks UK

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[lace] Books/secondhand books

[Jean Nathan]

As Clare says, the Lace Guild has boxes and boxes of secondhand books donated
by those clearing out after the death of a loved one. We also see them in lace
groups. Most of us have already got the books we want, as well as ones we just
desire.


I've recently decided to save my relatives the task of disposing of my stuff
when the time comes, so I'm in the process of sorting out all of my craft
stuff and if it hasn't been used in the last two years, its time for it to go.
At least I might be able to get at things instead of having to dive into piles
to find what I want. It will also give my cat one less place to go mountain
climbing and and caving!


Because there's such a glut of lace books with the number of new lacemakers
dwindling, I give those I've grown out of to charity shops in the hope that
someone who hasn't thought of trying it will come across one and decide to
give it a go. Maybe they'll get hooked. If just one person starts to make lace
because of a book they found in a charity shop, that's one more person to keep
it alive.


Jean Nathan in Poole, Dorset, UK

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Re: [lace] Books/ out of print books

[AGlez]

I have also bought many books that way: the Lace Guild or private
lacemakers. And there is also a good Facebook Page (for hose who are on
Facebook), which is called Bobbin Lace Market (
https://www.facebook.com/groups/Bobbinlacemarket/). I have just bought the
book of Russian Lace by Bridget Cook for a very reasonable price and second
hand from someone who had it twice. You only have to wait patiently until
the opportunity arrives!

Have a nice week and beginning of spring!!

Antje González, from Spain

www.vueltaycruz.es

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Re: [lace] instructions

[Sue Babbs]

I also think the way people learn to make lace is an issue.  I learned in 
England and was given a pricking and taught to look at the original lace / 
photo of lace and see what stitches were worked at each pinhole, and also 
taught how to start and finish in various ways. Written instructions and 
working diagrams were not provided.


Since moving to America, I have discovered that generally people here are 
not taught this way and expect complete working diagrams and detailed 
instructions for each piece, which facilitates working at home, but tends to 
make cause dependence on these instructions and does not readily enable one 
to carry the ideas from one piece of lace forward to another piece of lace.


This then means that it is much harder to share one's own patterns with 
other people readily, as it is much easier to produce a pricking than a 
working diagram


Sue

suebabbs...@gmail.com

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[lace] Daphne's project

[Alex Stillwell]

From: Daphne Martin 
Subject: [lace] (Lace) Alex

Hello
  I totally agree

Congratulations Daphne. What a marathon. Well done to all involved.

Alex

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[lace] instructions

[Alex Stillwell]

Regarding instructions, many lace "patterns" don't seem to include them!

Hi Susan

You comment on the lack of instructions with patterns. The comment that the
instructions are found in books is very relevant.  Many lace books are written
with the patterns in a progressive order so that patterns later in the book
involve techniques already covered earlier in the book so the last pattern may
involve the majority of those explained previously. If the pattern was sold as
a one-off it would need the whole book to support it. One-off patterns are
just that, they are not teaching books. I suggest you invest in a good
instruction book and work through it pattern by pattern, learning each
technique thoroughly as you go. The lace workers used to insist that a yard of
each new pattern had to be worked in order to learn the techniques and build
up speed; I have found that, if there are only 2-3 new techniques in a piece
than 4-5 repeats are all that are necessary. Once you understand the
techniques you can make anything. One of my students, who was making Bucks,
went to one of Pam Nottingham,s courses to start floral Bucks. But Pam said
she had to learn to ,read, a geometrical Bucks pattern, (i.e. understand how
to make a piece when presented with the pricking only – no picture of the
lace, no instructions) before she would teach her. (I had already told her
that but she thought she could take a short cut.)

Have fun

Alex

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Re: [lace] Colour in lace

[Brenda Paternoster]

> I am making a bookmark  from Technique of Bobbinlace. For anyone that has
the
> book it is decoration b on page 46 and I would like to make it in white
with
> the three outlined motifs in blue. I have never used colour before and
would
> like some help from anyone who can tell me how to change from white to blue
> and back again please.

Do you mean “The Technique of Bobbin Lace" by Pamela Nottingham?
In my copy page 46 shows six different sections of a sampler, and b is a
diamond shape of torchon ground with tallies enclosed by a gimp.
Is that what you are asking about?

It’s not usual to change colours in gimps (the outlining threads) and
preferable not to have any joins in them because being much thicker than the
main thread any knots or overlaps will be very visible.

If you are asking about changing the colour of an area of cloth stitch what is
usually done is to change the workers and leave the passive threads as they
are.

There are two ways of doing that; either use knots to change the colours and
get the knots as close to the pin as you can or at the start of the section
you want to be coloured hang in a new worker pair and leave the original
worker pair as an additional passive pair.  When you get to the end of the
coloured section just lay the coloured pair bac over the work and close with a
cloth stitch made with the two should also be on the same pin.  Once the lace
is off the pillow you can weave in the ends of the contrast threads.

Brenda in Allhallows
paternos...@appleshack.com
www.brendapaternoster.co.uk

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Re: [lace] instructions

[catherinebar...@btinternet.com]

Sent from my iPad 

Catherine Barley Needlelace
www.catherinebarley.com

> On 20 Mar 2017, at 09:37, Alex Stillwell  wrote:
> 
> Regarding instructions, many lace "patterns" don't seem to include them! Many 
> lace books are written with the patterns in a progressive order so that 
> patterns later in the book involve techniques already covered earlier in the 
> book so the last pattern may
> involve the majority of those explained previously. If the pattern was sold as
> a one-off it would need the whole book to support it.

I agree with Alex on this one as a great deal of thought goes into writing  a  
'how to/instruction book' and a good book will have patterns with instructions 
in a progressive order, each pattern building on previous  knowledge whilst 
introducing a new technique.

Catherine Barley
Henley-on-Thames, UK

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[lace] Colour in lace....

[Sandi Woods]

Re the query from Ann Humphreys lace digest no.#39:

As many people are perhaps aware, way back in 1991, I worked out how it
would be possible to invisibly change the colours of threads when working
lace and was invited by BT Batsford to write two books* about it.

The methods are many and varied but the basic advice that I can offer is:
Hang the new pair on a temporary pin above the work, as near as possible in
the angle along which it will be travelling once in work.i.e. if it is a
passive pair to be changed, then the new pair is to hang directly above the
work, but if the leader pair is to be changed, then the new pair is to hang
along the path the leaders will take.
Cloth stitch the new pair through the old pair and tension, tie a
reef/square knot and a half with the old pair.remembering, to when
tying the knots of the old pair, to tension the threads by pulling their
ends along the direction that the old thread, and consequently the new
thread will be travelling i.e.a new passive pair will be tied vertically,
whereas a leader pair will be tied slightly off the horizontal.
Ease down the new pair, and throw back the old pair, both pairs still
following their angles of working.

Basic, illustrated, thread changing pattern booklets and more advanced
patterns are available from my website:
www.sandiwoods.com
where I may also be contacted (via the website).

I will be tutoring a workshop 'Changing Colour in Lace' at The Lace Society
AGM on 29th April 2017 - for more information and details contact The Lace
Society.

*Both of these books are out of print, but it is worth enquiring of The
Lace Guild from time to time to see if they have used/donated copies of my
two books; 'Special Effects in Coloured Bobbin Lace' and 'Alphabet
Inspirations in Coloured Bobbin Lace'.

Hopefully this note may be of some help to Ann and others...
Sandi Woods
(Currently enjoying yet more torrential rain in Warwickshire, UK)

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Re: [lace] instructions

[Malvary Cole]

When I first started learning (teaching myself from the old Golden Hands 
magazines), I heard about a lace workshop and went to see and to talk to the 
teacher.  She was whizzing round the room from student to student and for 
most of them the instruction was along the lines of "do cross twist cross to 
the next pin hole and then I'll be back" or whatever they were supposed to 
be doing.


When she had a moment and spoke to me I showed her what I had done - her 
response "Not very good is it.  Of course you can't do good lace if you 
don't use linen thread".  I admit it wasn't very good, I'd only been trying 
for about 2 weeks, but I did understand what I was doing.  When we formed a 
group a couple of months later, several of those ladies were stuck - didn't 
know what to do or how to do it; didn't know what the stitches were called; 
didn't understand the concept of finishing one motif before doing the next 
bit, etc. etc. etc.  The couple of ladies in the group who had perhaps made 
a little lace before the workshop had to help the others and it was several 
month before the bookmarks were even close to being completed in many cases.


Malvary in Ottawa where it is going from -6 this morning to +6 by this 
afternoon.  Nice bright sunny day.


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