Lace Samplers

 

Now that I'm feeling a little more confident in being able to make lace, it was time to work out a sampler for students to work on in order to learn some of the basic 'stitches'.

I figured out how to print out graph paper to a desired size, then marked out a simple pricking to begin with.

Since I wasn't sure what size yarn would work 'best', I did two; one with 2/8 cotton (teal) the other with 2/16 (navy).

I made a couple of mistakes on the first one (the 2/8) so it was good to re-do it and work out where I went 'wrong'.

The 2/16 is too 'thready' and I'm not really happy with the quality of the textile.  So I'll get the students started with 2/8 on this pricking.

I will do one more sampler, this time in linen.  I have some 'fine' linen left over from the towels I was weaving.  Too much to toss, too little to weave much of anything.  Historically lace was made with linen, so I think a sampler made from a nice linen thread will make a good thing to share with the students.

I may change the pricking slightly in terms of the spacing of the pins and see how that affects the lace, too.  I've got quite a bit of the linen - in bobbin lace making terms - and curiosity killed the cat; satisfaction brought it back.  And I'm curious to see if I can manage to do this, rusty as I am. 

The current warp in the loom is about 2/3 (or a bit more) done.  There may be 5 more towels worth of warp left in the loom.  If I can continue with my current two sessions a day, I should be finished this warp on Tuesday.  We'll see.

While I have the next warp designed, I still have more 2/16 yarn to use up, so it's time to design another draft or two.  Once I'm done the current colour combination, I suspect I'm going to switch to something else for a while.  Time to use up other things in my stash, too.

But I'm actually enjoying making lace more than I thought I would, and given how many years it's been since I touched the lace stuff, I'm grateful my hands remember as much as they do.