Re: [lace] Speed and co-operative lace
Hi all, I'm with Alex -- I most enjoy puzzling out a new pattern or reconstruction of 17th -- 18th C Binche/Valenciennes. I gain most pleasure from getting it right with the best technique I'm capable of, and speed is only an issue in relatively boring spots such as cloth stitch -- hence my having learned to speed up cloth stitch. The all-absorbing challenge of a complicated, asymmetric pattern is heaven, and I don't necessarily want it to go by too fast. To each her own. Fascinating diversity keeps the world an interesting place. And faster means more lace so thank heavens most people go faster than I do!! Nancy Ashford, Connecticut, USA On Wed, Nov 25, 2020, 05:27 Alex Stillwell wrote: > ... > Although I make no effort to work fast I get the same joy of experience > working with my hands and having the experience of seeming to block out > other > stimuli but it comes not only from making lace but also from the activity > of > puzzling out what to do next. > ... > - 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] Speed and efficiency in lace
There is a difference between techniques and methods. Mostly is used the closed method in which the stitches except cloth stitch end with the appropriate amount of twist. Skansk Knipling is made according the open method in with every stitch ends with a cross. This method is common in laces which are originally made on a roller pillow. There is no need to switch method when using a new technique. Skansk Knipling can also made in the closed method. The result is the same. Originally my mother taught me the closed method the same way as she learned how to make lace. More than 20 years ago Lia Baumeister taught us the open method, the way she learned to make lace. The last method is more efficient because every stitch end the same way with a cross. So the threads are always laying or hanging straight down without twist. Easy to sea. Also when you are making point lace or torchon, when some stitches end with 1 twist, another with 2 and the tulle stitch with 3 twists. Using the open method there is no need to check if you made all the twists needed for the stitch because you make them at the beginning of the stitch. This method works on a roller pillow as well as on a cooky pillow. So switch from one technique to another without changing your method of bobbin lace making. Gon Homburg, Amsterdam, The Netherlands > Op 25 nov. 2020, om 05:56 heeft Robin K Panza het volgende geschreven: > > Much of the time it is easy to switch to a different technique, but not always. Many of the European bobbin laces share the same basic techniques. Half stitch is C, T; US whole stitch is C, T, C, T; and cloth stitch is C, T, C. But Skansk Knipling is different: HS = T, C and USWS = T, C, T, C; the hands fight to start those with crosses because of muscle memory. - 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] Speed and co-operative lace
Hi Arachnids One fact has so far been neglected and that is the difference in speed between working a new patterns and familiar ones. Having to constantly cope with techniques instead of repeating the same ones. The lace teachers of the past insisted that a yard (metre) had to be made of every new pattern so that the lacemaker would become so familiar with it that it became automatic and she could go on auto-pilot. Although I make no effort to work fast I get the same joy of experience working with my hands and having the experience of seeming to block out other stimuli but it comes not only from making lace but also from the activity of puzzling out what to do next. Regarding group projects, this idea is not new, they have been around since the early days of lacemaking. I have three pieces of early Honiton lace They are about the same width, two of them have joins. In one the two pieces are of different design. The other has two pieces of the same design but it looks like they were made by different lacemakers. The lace is very fine, finer than 240/2 Egyptian cotton, and even when made at speed would have taken a long time to make. At this rate the lacemaker could not have afforded to make much lace before she had to cut it off to sell it and therefore the pieces would have frequent joins and several lacemakers would have made the same design so they could be joined into one piece having the same design throughout. Many Honiton lacemakers would have each made only one design and become very speedy. Then the pieces from many lacemakers would have been used to make a larger item, a collar or a wedding veil, and a skilled joiner would have joined the motifs together for a collar or mounted them on net for a veil. Many Honiton collars show a variety of motifs and often the repeated motifs look like they were made by different lacemakers. Many collars look as though a handful of mixes designs had been placed together, the two sides of the collar not being the same. Some motifs are in the same place on the two sides while in other places, although the motifs are the same size and taking the same space, they are of different design. Enjoy your lace at whatever speed suits you Alex - 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/
