Re: [lace] Speed and efficiency in lace

Dear Robin, I think you missed the difference between a method of bobbin lacemaking and the various techniques. Every lace teacher should know about the closed and the open method in bobbin lace and explain the difference between the two to their students. When you are making Skans lace on a

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

Re: [lace] Speed and efficiency in lace

Here in Adelaide we call the 's Gravenmoerse half stitch  -  half stitch with attitude.  :-) Once you've done a half dozen half stitch blocks you might be able to understand the geometry of the stitch  -  so different but so beautiful when once you get the hang of it. Cheers, Shirley T.  - 

Re: [lace] Speed and efficiency in lace

On November 24, 2020, at 8:23 AM, Gon Homburg wrote: >Of course I make lace for a long time now, but I never have that my muscle >memory got in the way when I learned a new technique like three pairs fiandra. Much of the time it is easy to switch to a different technique, but not always.

Re: [lace] Speed and efficiency in lace?

I am making lace for an alb. I want to get it done before I die and that may take some two hours every day. LOL. Anyway if someone could research what the women did who made it fast and accurate for a living, to put food on the table and clothes on their backs, I would love to learn. I want to

Re: [lace] Speed and efficiency in lace?

Perhaps it is true it takes that long to become an expert and to make lace fast and efficient. I think that the trick is, that the best way to become an ‘expert’ to make lace fast and efficient is to do it on a natural way. During my education as a lace instructor I had to make of course much

Re: [lace] Speed and efficiency in lace?

I revisited it and watched again and noticed that when she made the leaf that she did it the way that I've seen the ladies in Camariñas do it - several passes then pull it up. I also noticed that she had a loop at the side of her leaf, making it a holly leaf. So yes she was fast because it

Re: [lace] Speed and efficiency in lace?

Interesting that it shows the lady making a fairly narrow Beds edging, and then shows the sunshade with a very deep, probably Bucks lace frill. Adele's link to the youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IwcSaAXtZsc Malvary in Ottawa where the sun is shining and it is very cold. - To

RE: [lace] Speed and efficiency in lace?

On a different scale - a very large scale - Choi + Shine, architects, have designed international lace projects handmade by skilled crocheters from all over the world.http://www.choishine.com/ 2016 Amsterdam Light Festival - a sail spanning a canal. "The Six antique motif designs used for

Re: [lace] Speed and efficiency in lace?

Pierre et al, That is the famous lady at Kantcentrum whom I mentioned in a prior post on this thread. She is just amazing. A number of years ago, I made lace for two altar cloths. It took over two years to finish the project, working at least 2 hours every day. I felt I was experiencing,

Re: [lace] Speed and efficiency in lace?

In general it takes 10.000 hours to become an expert. That is 3 hours a day, 7 days a week for 10 years. I did a workshop once with three pair stars. The novices had no more trouble than with any other new trick. The muscle memory got in the way for the veterans. For them it was very hard if

Re: [lace] Speed and efficiency in lace?

One of our members comes from France and I saw her using the leather/vinyl cover cloth.  I've made myself a couple and they do seem to speed up the bobbins  -  maybe I should get them out to work Mum's tablecloth.  :-)  Brigitte works with continental bobbins on a flat pillow.  I

Re: [lace] Speed and efficiency in lace?

I think the idea of community effort to make a large project is a great idea. I know that was practiced in the past to get a large project finished in the smallest amount of time. Many different lace makers would work on a portion of the lace and then a trained person would sew the pieces

Re: [lace] Speed and efficiency in lace?

Wow- two digests in one day. I was about to reply to Elenas question when the second digest popped up containing more or less things that I might have said. I too watched the amazing elderly lady in the window at Kantcentrum and was intrigued by the leather cover cloth on her pillow. An

RE: [lace] Speed and efficiency in lace?

Of Pierre Fouché Sent: Monday, November 23, 2020 1:07 PM To: lynrbai...@supernet.com Cc: Elena Kanagy-Loux ; Arachne Subject: Re: [lace] Speed and efficiency in lace? Thank you for the wonderful video links, everyone! And to prove the point that speed is possible with many bobbins on the pillow

Re: [lace] Speed and efficiency in lace?

In the last few years it seems to me that we have emphasized perfection over speed in making lace. I find that I am faster when I use continental bobbins vs. using spangled bobbins. I have learned to do the the whole stitch where you move both the cross and the twist together across the an area

Re: [lace] Speed and efficiency in lace?

Hi Nancy, Elena and other Arachnids, The overlap in the cloth stitch is really fast. I do it for years now. It is faster than making the cloth stitch with palms up. That way you have to pick up pairs and lay down pairs. On a cooky pillow with palms down it is for me a natural way of making the

Re: [lace] Speed and efficiency in lace?

Ooops! I looked at the thumbnail and thought it was the right film, but it wasn’t. I was thinking about “Lace of Long Ago” (1931): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IwcSaAXtZsc Adele > On Nov 23, 2020, at 12:01 PM, Malvary wrote: > > Hi Adele

Re: [lace] Speed and efficiency in lace?

There is an old British Pathé newsreel from 1929, where they filmed an elderly lacemaker at work. Given her evident age, she would have learned her lacemaking in the 1860s or so. The interesting thing for me is that she moves the bobbins with her left hand, and puts in the pins with the other.

Re: [lace] Speed and efficiency in lace?

Hi All, I flick my bobbins when doing tallies/leaves, and find it doesn't take long to make one. After I learned that way (thanks, Josée!), I had other teachers demonstrate other methods but none were any where near as fast. I also work cloth stitch the way Nancy mentioned - it's much quicker.

Re: [lace] Speed and efficiency in lace?

My sister and I have watched the ladies making lace in Camariñas on many occasions. They work very fast and we were intrigued by the way they make leaves. Across and back 3 or 4 times or more and then pull them up into leaf shape. We asked one lady if she could go slower so we could watch how

Re: [lace] Speed and efficiency in lace?

Thank you for the wonderful video links, everyone! And to prove the point that speed is possible with many bobbins on the pillow (and Flanders at that!) too: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EUHFZrJIzTo (I love the casual peek at the pair diagram next to her halfway through..) It seems that a

Re: [lace] Speed and efficiency in lace?

Hi Elena and Arachnids I'm very intrigued by this as well and find it interesting that contemporary lacemakers don't value speed and efficiency as much as knitters do for example. Anyone who has learned how to play a musical instrument can attest to muscle memory not happening after a week or a

Re: [lace] Speed and efficiency in lace?

Elena, I meant to include the url for that, and then I see it did not happen. Thanks for including that. lrb Lyn, that's an excellent idea!For those that didn't see David Hopkin's lecture yesterday, I took the liberty of watching the entire video on YouTube this morning. Here it is, for

Re: [lace] Speed and efficiency in lace?

Lyn, that's an excellent idea! For those that didn't see David Hopkin's lecture yesterday, I took the liberty of watching the entire video on YouTube this morning. Here it is, for those who are interested: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yXgFV_YXYKA Best, Elena - To unsubscribe send email to

Re: [lace] Speed and efficiency in lace?

Elena, I think I know the lady you mean at Kantcentrum. I saw her when I spent a week there, in 2009, working in the afternoons. She always sat in the corner with the most light, and had been making lace since she was 7. At that time she was in her 70's. She was so fast, and her work was

Re: [lace] Speed and efficiency in lace?

Hi Clare, Agreed, they are just breathtaking! I have a video of a lacemaker at Kantecentrum that I share in most of my lectures for graduate classes and I always warn them that they will probably be disappointed with the speed of my live demonstration at the end after watching this video. :)

Re: [lace] Speed and efficiency in lace?

Dear Nancy, Interesting! I had never considered that, but it makes a lot of sense. I'll have to give it a try! :) Best, Elena - 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:

Re: [lace] Speed and efficiency in lace?

Elena asked about speed - the fastest lacemakers I’ve seen in person are at the Kancentrum in Brugge, Belgium. There seemed to be a few of underlying commonalities. First, they seemed to be working on patterns they understood and knew well. Second, they had been making lace for years. Third,

Re: [lace] Speed and efficiency in lace?

Hi Elena and fellow Arachnids: I have found that, when doing an area of cloth stitch, I can go twice as fast if I "overlap" stitches. Do the cross in the next stitch as you do it in the current stitch, and move across, doing two crosses at the same time just like you do a twist with each hand. I