Fwipping Along

 

Since I am in the mindset of 'getting rid of stuff', and I am about to launch a ginormous book auction for the guild, I sorted through my bobbin lace books and decided I could actually live without some of mine, as well as the ones I 'inherited' from a past weaving/lace making friend.

I've just gone through the books and will be endeavouring to decipher eBay auctions (again), maybe tomorrow.

In the meantime, I have the following bobbin lace books for sale.  These are the auction upset prices.  If I need to mail them, add $22 to the auction price.

All of the books (both mine and Jean's) are from non-smoking households.  Some have minor wear and tear but most are in 'good' condition.

Bobbin Lace Books

Barber, Jacqui.  Tradition into Creation.  Soft cover $20

Brooke, Margaret. Lace in the Making $10

Collier, Ann.  Lace Fans.  Soft cover $20

Collier, Ann. Lace for Dolls and Dolls’ Houses $20

Cook, Bridget and Geraldine Stott.  The Book of Bobbin Lace Stitches $30

SOLD Dyer, Anne.  Copper Wire Lace.  Soft cover $20 SOLD

Earnshaw, Pat.  Bobbin and Needle Laces; Identification and care.  Hard back.  $30

Earnshaw, Pat.  Threads of Lace; from source to sink.  Soft back.  $20

Eveleth, Lolita.  Chart for lace Identification and the Meshes of Handmade Lace $10

Maidment. Margaret. A Manual of Hand-Made Bobbin Lace Work  $20

Nottingham, Pamela. Complete Book of English Bobbin Lace  $40

SOLD Raffel, Marta Cotterell.  The Laces of Ipswich,  soft cover  $20 SOLD

Stott, Geraldine and Bridget Cook.  100 Traditional Bobbin Lace Patterns.  Soft cover $30

Woods, Sandi.  Special Effects in Bobbin Lace $45

 If there is anything here you want to purchase before I set the auction up, let me know.  I can accept Paypal, or payment by 'donation' to my ko-fi page, or if you are in Canada, etransfer.  Prices will be listed in Canadian dollars, so USians will get the current currency exchange 'discount'.  Once the auction begins, it will have to run until the time is over.  If you want any of these books for the upset price, let me know asap.

Motivation

 

All of my life I have been pretty highly motivated.  When I set my mind to do something, I will, hell and/or high water not usually an impediment of much note.

I thought I would continue to the end of my days in the same fashion.  I mean, I loved my work (not all of it, of course not, but the weaving? yes, indeed) and I saw no reason to stop weaving.  When I did 'retire' (for certain values of) I anticipated continuing to teach in person, and to weave, but now I would make things more for my own interest, and less consideration of what would, or would not, sell.

But life had other plans, as they say.  My stout body (in every sense of the word) has suffered a string of injury and illness.  

Frankly, that outbreak of shingles a couple of years ago nearly did me in.  And after I 'recovered' from that, everything *else* seemed to get a lot 'worse'.  More pain, less mobility, more frustration, less energy.

I am *finally* starting to feel 'better' but at a cost.  Medications always, *always* come with adverse effects, and I *always* seem to get whatever the paperwork says are a possibility.

So, my new medication doesn't cause the brain fog the hydromorphone caused, but it does come with fatigue and nausea.  And so I take Gravol, which *also* causes fatigue.

I manage to get to the loom twice, most days, but sometimes I need to do other stuff, and by the end of the day I'm flat as a pancake.

A month ago the pain doctor recommended I try 'red light laser therapy' as a way of treating what ails me.  (mild impingement of the S1 disc and moderate to severe of the L4 disc, plus suspected damage to the SI joint, all of which leads to chronic sciatic pain, PLUS peripheral neuropathy in both feet).

By then I had switched from the hydromorphone to low dose naltrexone, which appeared to be helping but wasn't entirely dealing with the pain, and the doctor had read that people with diabetes and PN were finding relief from the pain by using red light laser therapy.

I found someone who was using that on patients, and began treatment, partially skeptical, partially desperate for relief.

Reader, it seems to be working.  

The problem is, I've been sleep deprived for years because when the pain was bad, as it was increasingly becoming, I could not tune the pain out.  For far too many nights I have sat up, doing jigsaw puzzles, and more recently fwipping bobbins to make lace, but nonetheless, NOT sleeping.  

And my motivation appears to have dried up as dry as the rivers that no longer flow, but merely trickle through my town.

I have tried SO many things, and wound up crushed by disappointment that nothing was working I barely allow myself to hope that things will improve to the 'before times' reality.  I have not quite lost hope that things will improve such that I will be able to weave with less discomfort, but am now resigned to not being able to teach in person.  Unless I do it locally and students accept my limitations. TBD.

Since weaving helps with things like aerobic health (critical for someone with cardiac issues) and generates endorphins (which helps reduce pain), my priority is always to get to the loom.  My main goal is stash reduction, and on that front, I have made progress.  But so much more to be done.

Over the past two years I wrote two more books, but right now?  I'm having a really hard time to write anything but these blog posts (and sometimes sarcastic posts on social media - sorry/not sorry).

I have 3 articles I've promised to School of Sweet Georgia, and I'm hoping I have the mental wherewithal and energy to begin dealing with those - soon.

In the meantime, I've decided to 'test' eBay auctions by auctioning off the lace books I don't want or need.  This weekend I will log into there and begin listing those books.  That will get me up to speed on the functioning of the site because it's been about 10 years since I've done an eBay auction and, well, things change.

The list of bobbin lace books is below.  If you are interested in any of them, I will post the link to the auction as soon as I'm done listing them, here and elsewhere (my social media, such as it is).

And if you are interested in *weaving* books, I'll be starting the guild eBay auction asap after April 15.  Stay tuned...

My books available at the usual places.

Bobbin Lace Books

Chart for lace Identification and the Meshes of Handmade Lace by Lolita Eveleth  $10

Lace for Dolls and Dolls’ Houses Ann Collier $20

Special Effects in Bobbin Lace Sandi Woods $45

The Book of Bobbin Lace Stitches Bridget Cook and Geraldine Stott $30

Complete Book of English Bobbin Lace Pamela Nottingham  $40

A Manual of Hand-Made Bobbin Lace Work Margaret Maidment  $20

Lace in the Making Margaret Brooke  $10

(I may dig through my 'library' of lace books and add a few more.  We'll see how much energy I have.)

Back to Bobbin Lace

 

Last night was a 'bad' night (again!) and I finally sat down and tried to distract myself by working on the little 'star' I started a few days ago and hadn't touched since.

It's not perfect, and I'm not entirely happy with it.  I think when I took the photo of the pricking the page wasn't entirely flat and that caused the pricking to be slightly distorted.  But I'm continuing with this star because I'm learning how I need to approach making it.  If I decide to continue, I've learned a number of things that I want to change, plus I'm getting used to working in the 'round', which means a certain amount of fiddling with the cover cloth and making sure the pins are pushed all the way in.

The cover cloth has a hole in the middle and you place the opening over the area you are working.  In the photo, I folded the cloth over so that I could see what I had done.  During the working, you only ever see an area about the size of a tennis ball (if that).  The cover cloth is over most of the pins but you still wind up catching the threads on the pins surrounding the area you are working on.

I'm also getting familiar with the sew-in tool again.  With the braid crossing over itself, you have to attach the upper braid to the lower and you need to 'sew' the workers to the already made lower braid.  It's fiddly, especially when the threads want to catch on everything.  But if I don't do it while making the braid, I'd have to 'sew' it after it's off the pillow.  

I don't want to work the lace in the centre of the star, but when I was out the other day I stopped at the Dollar Store (now the $2 store - inflation!) and found a packet of several sizes of glass 'pearls', some of them large enough I could hang one in the middle of the star.  So I'll try doing that as part of the 'practice' I'm doing making this first one.

I have collected several other designs that would be appropriate for a Christmas tree, so I will have several different motifs I can make.  Since they have to be ready by the end of October, I have a deadline, so I'm going to have to get cracking.  The goal is to have 40 bobbin lace ornaments to hang on the tree.  Most of them are fairly small, so I'm not expecting any trouble making that goal in plenty of time.  

If I keep going and stop procrastinating!

Lace Books

 

I have done a search on line for the books I'm offering for sale.  The above pamphlet appears to be highly sought after, but I have put a low price on it because I really have no idea if anyone is interested.

Most of the books are 'classics', still commonly in use and valued, although some are older publication dates.

The books are from a non-smoking household, and while they are used (and some of them quite old) are in decent condition.

Here is the list.  The price listed does not include shipping.  I will be adding $20 each for shipping in Canada and the US.  

I'm not going to run an eBay auction (just don't have the spoons for that - been there, done that, know exactly how much effort it takes).

I will be listing these books on my ko-fi shop, which will simplify payment, especially buyers outside of Canada.  The listings should be up later today or tomorrow - I have to get photos first.  I'm just posting the information here in case anyone is interested, or know someone who might be.

Bobbin Lace Books

Chart for lace Identification and the Meshes of Handmade Lace by Lolita Eveleth  $10

Lace for Dolls and Dolls’ Houses Ann Collier $20

Special Effects in Bobbin Lace Sandi Woods $45

The Book of Bobbin Lace Stitches Bridget Cook and Geraldine Stott $30

Practical Skills in Bobbin Lace Bridget Cook $35

Complete Book of English Bobbin Lace Pamela Nottingham  $40

A Manual of Hand-Made Bobbin Lace Work Margaret Maidment  $20

Lace in the Making Margaret Brooke  $10

The Bobbin Lace Manual  Geraldine Stott  $30

Down Sizing

 

It's taken me a while to get to this point, but this morning I decided to finally begin downsizing my bobbin lace stash.

I will keep two pillows and all of the handmade/painted bobbins made by my friend Jacqui Southworth (Larkholme Lace) because, well, she (and Eric) made/painted them.  I will keep my original cookie pillow because I prefer it over most others.  It was purchased from my first bobbin lace teacher, made by her spouse and is filled with sawdust.  It's just the best pillow I've worked on (imho).  But it isn't the best for some applications, so I'll keep one of the others which is a little bit more versatile.

The rest I'll offer to my lace student if she is interested in continuing, although she may find that she doesn't 'love' it enough to invest in the equipment.  Or she can make her own.

I've sorted the bobbins that I am willing to sell into packages.  Most of them are spangled, but not all.  I'm not interested in investing in beads and wire to get the unspangled ones spiffed up so I'll offer them as well.

Then there are the books.  I've 'inherited' a bunch of lace books and have duplicates of some, and some I'm not interested in, so those will get listed and hopefully sold off.

I'm old enough, and my eyesight is not great, so I'm not going to work with anything very fine.  I'm using sewing thread right now and managing, but I certainly don't want to go any finer.  And I don't want to invest too much time into a 'big' project.  So I will work on small items - ornaments for xmas trees, or window decorations.

In the photo above, there are 3 pillows - one roller pillow, the others are cookie or square with foam.  The two bags are full of books.  This coming week I'll be looking for where to list these for sale and try to figure out 'fair' prices, given shipping is so expensive now.  

I hope the pillows will stay in western Canada due to the cost of shipping them.  However, I would be willing to ship via courier *within* Canada.  Especially if someone buys a pillow and some books or bobbins, for example.  

If anyone knows of a sales site for bobbin lace makers, let me know.  I found 3 groups on Facebook, but none allow sales.

Expectations/Reality

 

Re-learning bobbin lace is almost like starting over again, from scratch.  OTOH, I have been a bit surprised - and very pleased - that if I just trust my hands, they actually remember.  Quite a lot, to be honest.

I made dozens of these little birds about 20 years ago, so I got pretty good at making them.  Now, I'm having to re-learn how to move the bobbins through the pricking (the pattern) and come up with something that doesn't totally 'suck'.

This little bird is several skill levels higher than I'm currently at, so it's been a bit of an exercise in frustration as I pick my way through making each.  And there is plenty to improve upon.  However, I have a very large spool of a very bright lemon/lime, a friend who adores that colour and has no interest in learning how to make lace, so I'm re-learning how to do it by making her what will likely turn into a flock of these little birds.

The design actually comes with a separate 'tail' which I'm ignoring, because she is a quilter and may want to use them to embellish a quilt.  Or hang them in a window, make a mobile, or...whatever she may choose to do with them.  

They are serving a purpose - I'm getting comfortable with moving the bobbins through each other, and studying the results.  The bottom bird was the first I made, using option A but I really didn't like the 'logic' behind that one so I'm now using option B and finding that a lot easier to work.  I'm not working it the way the pattern says but using my own approach.  Which, when it comes to lace, is pretty standard, from what I understand.  

I'm not going to starch them, as per the instructions, because I don't know what my friend will want to do with them.  The thread I am using isn't very stiff so they are pretty flexible.  But if she wants to spray starch them. I'm pretty sure she knows how to take care of that.

We have another sunny day today.  I may try to get photos of the rest of the Matrix towels.   They are dark navy warp with dark weft colours and don't photograph well so I've left them on the back burner for a sunny day.  

Looks like today is the day.  Check my ko-fi shop for the new towels with more coming, perhaps later today.

Bobbin Lace

 

setting up the lace pillow

So, what is bobbin lace?

Well, it's kind of like weaving, where you build your loom as you make the textile; where warps can turn into wefts, and back again; where you can tie knots, or twist threads together, creating holes or plain weave (whole cloth) or any number of combinations to create different textures and holes.

People look at all the bobbins and shudder, but honestly?  You only (usually) work with four bobbins at a time.

There are only two things you can do - cross or twist.  It is in the order you do those two actions that the design begins to grow.  Working the bobbins is logical, too, as you follow design 'lines'.  (There is, of course, free-form lace, but that's not what I'm doing right now - I'm trying to re-learn the traditional Torchon lace stitches.)

Bobbin lace, like every other textile craft, has grown up in various locations, using different tools, and different approaches.  The complexity is in all those different approaches.  But when you break it down, it all comes from crosses and twists.

As I re-learn the craft I am also confronted with the variety of ways different instructors present the information.  Each one has their own approach to beginning a piece.  Some methods I find more helpful than others.  And then when I change sources, I have to figure out what each designer intended to happen, because the notation is simple and open to interpretation.

I think, however, I have learned enough to do an introductory session with someone who wants to learn.  Today I am challenging myself by upping the degree of difficulty again.  (Too soon?  Probably!)  I'm trying a bookmark I obviously made previously because the pricking has holes in it.  The problem is, I don't remember doing it, and I really don't remember how it was supposed to begin.  So, I fudged.  

The bookmark has areas of 'rose ground', which is fairly complex as it takes a longish series of pins, twists and crosses to complete.  But I like the look, and since the areas of rose ground are small, I'm going to give it a try and see if I can do it.

But I'm also working with sewing thread, not 2/16 or 2/20 cotton.  This is much finer and it's a much bigger challenge than I wanted, honestly.  However, the rose ground won't really show well in a thicker yarn, and I really want to see if I can produce something even close to the intended cloth.

After this, I think I'm going to tackle that little bird I made a couple of decades ago, from the design by Eeva-Lisa Kortelahti.  She is Finnish and has a number of books out with a large variety of traditional and modern designs.  I like her work, although most of it is far above my skill level.  But I do remember making a flock of these birds a long time ago and enjoying them.  Every one was different as I tried (and tried) to make them the way they were intended.

Once again textiles reminded me that just because something isn't 'perfect' doesn't mean they are 'bad'.  In the end, I doubt anyone (who doesn't make lace) would know (or care) that my little birds weren't entirely the way they were intended by the designer.  

And bobbin lace is something else I can do quietly during the night when I can't sleep.  Making lace provides enough distraction I can more or less ignore the pain.  And that, all by itself, is worth my fwipping the bobbins quietly.

The Teacher Learns

 

Torchon lace bookmark in teal and peach

One of the challenges to any craft is the learning curve and the fact that if you don't use it, you lose it.

It was a bit of a happy surprise that when I sat down at the pillow last week, my hands retained so much of the basic movements.  That led to a bit of hubris, and I found myself trying levels of difficulty that were far beyond where my current skills happen to be.

So I had some pretty 'sad' results until I realized I really did need to dial back and re-enter the craft at a more beginner level.

Happens I have a few (ahem) books on lace and one of them is a pretty basic introduction to the craft that I feel will be appropriate for teaching purposes.  Both for myself, and anyone who wants to learn.

Last night I prepped and started this bookmark and (thanks to insomnia - has to be good for *something*) I worked on it in the wee hours of the morning until it was finished.

No, it did not go without errors, but they were soon fixed and onwards I went.  I didn't like the 'ending' the author had given, so I did something different, with some level of success.  But I can see I might want to adjust what I did on the next one which is similar to this, see if I can come closer to what I would like it to be.

My plan for the 'taster' session(s)* is to introduce the student to the basic stitches and how they are formed, and do that through the making of a sampler of stitches.

I have lots and lots of tag ends of unmercerized 2/8 cotton, which isn't the usual yarn/thread used for lace, but will serve.  I'm not going to go out and buy more yarn!  Plus all my tag ends come in lots of different colours so the student can choose something pleasing to them.

Once bobbins are wound, we'll begin and do a 'lace along'.  I'll do the sampler on my pillow and they can follow along on theirs.

If that goes smoothly, this bookmark will likely be 'next'.  There are just two 'stitches' - half and spiders, with some extra fillips to help make it all work.  

Hopefully it will be enough to get the person started and then they can see if they want to go further.

In the meantime, I know I have to practice more and go a bit slower.  The basics are there, if I don't rush, I'm sure I can figure it out.  

Slow and steady will get me there.

*Scroll down the page to the appropriate event

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.  

Mylar

 

Nancy asked how I used the mylar thread in my lace.  This is a bookmark I made a while ago (a really long while ago!)

The shiny thread in this one isn't the same as the hologram thread I'm using in the current bookmark, but shows how I use it.  Normally I will wind one of the cotton threads with the mylar as part of my working threads, not as a separate gimp.

This bookmark isn't one of my best.  I'm not terribly happy with how I used the mylar.  It does act to 'frame' the spiders, though, so it's not terrible.   But it does divide the 'heart' motif at the edges so that you lose the shape.

For the current bookmark, the mylar is much thinner and not textured, as such.  I placed those pairs one pair inside the edge threads and I'm not all that pleased with that placement, either.  I had intended to make it the outside pair, then changed my mind as I was setting up the pillow.

It's the same pricking as this one, and since I don't have the instructions for how to make it, I'm winging it.  And making a bit of a hash with it.

I'm also finding it hard to see.  My eyesight has deteriorated over the years and it's harder to see the fine threads and the fine lines/dots of the pricking.  Let's just say I've unmade nearly as much of the current bookmark as I've made!

This design is probably (likely!) a skill level or two above what I should have tried next.  But I had bobbins already wound with the red 2/20 merc. cotton and it seemed like A Good Idea at the time.

The above bookmark was 'mounted' by using a trifold piece of heavier paper, a 'slot' was cut into the paper just the width of the narrow point of the book mark, then the bookmark was carefully inserted into the paper.  The paper had a 'cover' (back and front) printed on it and I offered some for sale.  I did sell a few, but mostly I gave them as gifts.  

The bookmarks I am making now are practice pieces and will be given as gifts.  My goal is to make 'ornaments' for an xmas tree and donate them to the guild's tree, decorated co-operatively with some of the other tenants of the arts studio building.  The Festival of the Trees is a fund-raiser for the local hospital and generally quite popular.  It is one way to give back to our community, and I'm happy to make some small items that can decorate our tree.

Bobbin lace is a kind of weaving where you build your loom as you create your textile.  Warps can (and do!) turn into wefts.  You can twist, cross, knot, and generally make the threads go 'off grid' in order to create motifs.  You can work in the round, a square, or long lengths.  Or make shapes.  I've done a bit of designing, usually tape lace, some simple Torchon items, but I'm hardly an expert.  But I am pleasantly surprised at how much my hands 'remember'.  I think I can, at least, show people who are interested the basics.  And then let them loose to carry on if they wish.

Learning Curve

 is curvy...

I'm glad I chose this bookmark design to begin with.  It's easy, just two 'stitches' and I'm using 2/20 merc. cotton so the threads are big enough I can see to do it.  :)  

Today I will look for a different bookmark design, something with another stitch in it.  There won't be a lot of time in the 'taster' sessions, but I would like to have each person go away with at least a sampler (to learn the basics) and then maybe a small item.  I have a couple of student 'pillows' I could send them home with and let them finish, then meet with them again to do the finishing part, which can be a bit tricky for a new lace maker.  

I didn't do anything 'fancy' for these, I just wanted to remember how to make lace.

Yes, I undid and redid each bookmark - the first one more times than the second.  So it felt like I was making progress.  Learning how to recognize a mistake, then take it back and fix it, is a very important part of lace making.  As it is with any textile (or other?) craft.

These will get a pressing, then be inserted into a plastic 'sleeve'.  In my deep dive in the studio collecting all of the lace stuff in one place, I actually found the stack of sleeves I bought from my English lace making friend.  When I use these up, I'm not sure where to get more.  Guess I'll have to figure that out when I get there.

In the meantime, I have begun weaving the linen weft towels.  It's looking good, so far, and I'm pleased that I can use up another yarn in my stash.  The linen is a bit fiddly to work with, even after steeping in the humidor for a few days.  But the relative humidity in the house is below 30% so some unruliness is only to be expected.  The end result appears like it will be well worth the extra effort.

Yesterday I was able to read through (most of) the latest iteration of A Thread Runs Through It.  It's looking good.  We are on track for the scheduled launch date, and that pleases me no end.

I still have 'I donwanna' tasks on my task list and I know I need to tackle those - soon.  At least I managed to get a few of them done during my light duty days.

The lace stash still needs to be organized and stored...somewhere.  But in the meantime I will keep picking away at this and see what I can manage.

Insomnia

 

Could not get to sleep last night and in the end gave up trying for a while and decided to distract myself by working on the bobbin lace bookmark on my pillow.

It isn't 'pretty' but it's done.  It could use a good pressing, although there are a few issues with tension (I'm out of practice) and the yarn is slippery and thicker than 'usual' (it was a practice piece).  But overall, I figured it out, even though it took a few runs at it.

This style of lace is called Torchon and is about the simplest of the bobbin laces.  Since I hadn't touched bobbins for at least 5 years, I was actually surprised that I remembered (or my hands did) what to do.  Mostly.

It was also a good reminder to pay attention to the pattern (pricking) instead of just assuming!  

Once that was done I stripped the bobbins from this and the previous project (a dud, but good practice to get me going).  In the bag with the bookmark pillow there was a package of bobbins already wound with yarn, so next I'll see about doing a project with that.  It's 2/20 mercerized cotton and I used to use that a lot for lace making.  It's thicker than sewing thread, but still thin enough that it makes good bookmarks and such.  And I need more practice before I do my lace 'taster' sessions.

Since I no longer have a photocopy machine I'll have to scan and print out the prickings to work from, but I think I can 'size' them by pasting into Word, then enlarging the 'picture'.  Something to try later.

In the meantime, I did manage a few hours of sleep (eventually) so I'm going to go weave on the loom.  I think I can finish the navy 2/16 today, then cut off and re-tie.  

Once the navy cotton is done, I'll switch to some of the linen I 'discovered' in November.  But that linen is thicker than 2/16 cotton, so I'll weave a header, check what the yarn wants to beaten in at, then decide on a treadling and generate the length.  Since the linen is heavier, I will be using a finer linen (limited in quantity) to weave the hems, so I have to program the treadling to warn me when I need to switch to the hem weft, then weave in a cut line (which I can do by changing the tie up, OR inserting a contrasting colour).  There is probably more than enough of the linen to finish this warp, so the rest of it will get used up on the next warp.  And then one more yarn will be used up.  

I won't use the heavier linen for bobbin lace because it is a singles, but the finer linen thread could be used for lace as it is plied.  I will see what is left at the end.

Another grey dreary day.  It is raining.  In January.  The roads are sheets of ice.  The snowpack is melting away - and there was too little to begin with.  It seems the current drought conditions are going to continue in the 'north' for the coming year.

Things, they are a-changing...

Still Weaving

 but on a much smaller scale!

After sorting through my bobbin lace supplies over the past few days and getting one-on-one 'classes' set up for next month, I quite literally dusted off one of my pillows and set about trying to get this tiny star finished.  It is barely larger than a dollar coin and quite frankly I could not remember how it was supposed to be made so I made my best guess and forged onwards.

It is now ready to be sewn up (tail to beginning), then I'll braid a hanging cord and take it off the pillow.

It was with a sigh of relief that I sat down and actually remembered (or my hands did) how to do the cloth stitch (ie plain weave) the star is mostly made with.  I will have to see if I can find the book I took the design out of and re-read the instructions.

One thing is abundantly clear - I will have to enlarge designs so that I can actually see what I'm doing.  My eyes just aren't as good as they were and such tiny threads and pins packed so closely together make it hard to see the pricking (the design I'm following).

I had a bit of a bobbin lace 'stash' to begin with, then when mom died, I kept all her sewing thread (mostly quilting thread) because those bits of spools held enough to do small items in bobbin lace.  Then, as I 'finished' weaving with the 2/20 mercerized cotton, I figured those nearly empty tubes could also be used for bobbin lace.  I used to use 2/20 merc cotton all the time and it worked well.  I will never make bobbin lace with anything finer than those threads now.  But I understand what it takes to use really fine yarns and appreciate the exquisite nature of such delicate textiles.

Since I am not interested in committing to large projects, I will stick with tiny things like this star.  Even enlarged, it will still be 'tiny' and will only take a few hours to make.

My local fibre arts guild is looking at joining forces with a couple other guilds to make a tree for the Festival of Trees, so that is a perfect excuse to make small items like this star, or the birds I was going to try making again.  

There are two 'classes' (tasters, just to see if anyone is interested in continuing) booked for February, and I would be willing to do at least one more.  These are one-on-one, a lace pillow and bobbins will be supplied, and I have 3 'kits' consisting of pillow, bobbins and a book on lace that I can sell to anyone interested.

I know there are lace makers in town, but none currently involved in the Fibre Arts Guild, so it would be nice to grow a few more.  Then we could set up a lace making group.

In the meantime, I need to practice my skills and get comfortable reading prickings and explaining how the bobbins move to create cloth.

Bobbin lace is weaving, but where your warps can turn into wefts, where plain weave can morph into knots, twists, and turns, creating the 'holes' in the cloth that make 'lace'.

Bobbin lace is dated to around the 1400s, generally accepted to have started in Italy, then spreading across Europe.  

There are elements of sprang, netting and weaving involved, and of course we all know those gigantic lace 'collars' from paintings from the 1500s.  Yards and yards of extremely fine threads made into those iconic (and very stiff) collars.

Now, most bobbin lace makers do smaller items - window dangles, bookmarks, decorative edgings to adorn collars and cuffs.  In the 1980s lace makers began to break out of the traditional and use colour and now there are many lace makers working with colour to great effect.

For me, though, it is another way of 'weaving' that is less physical and may provide a way to keep playing with threads if weaving becomes too...much...for my body.

For now, however, it would just be nice to grow a group of people also interested in this craft.

Register here if interested.  (Scroll down to get to the lace listing)

Creative Chaos

 

This past week I spent some time locating the various bins and boxes of bobbin lace 'stuff', then emptying and sorting the 'stuff'.

The goal is to offer private lessons to anyone interested, and be able to sell them a beginner's kit to get them going, if they decide they want to continue.

In the meantime, the guild has been asked if we want to do a group tree for the Festival of the Trees in November, and I realized that my plan to dig my lace stuff out and make small 'ornaments' could fit right in with this project.

I work best to a 'deadline' and this is the perfect opportunity to actually clear the dining room table of the puzzle board and set out a lace pillow.  I *think* I still remember the basics of Torchon, but if I'm going to teach it would be a really good idea to make sure that I do actually still have the skills!

So I spent several hours going through everything, sorting out the bobbins I'm willing to sell, then searching online for prices of supplies.

This morning I talked to the guild person who organizes the small 'lessons' for the guild and it looks like the last two Saturdays of February are available for me to use the guild room, so now I have a more immediate deadline to refresh myself on Torchon basics.

I have four lace pillows I could sell, one of them a roller pillow, which I know I won't use.  I told Doug the  other day I really don't want to commit to doing a large project like a (long) piece of lace trim.  But I have lots of books with small 'ornaments' which could be used for beginners to learn from, and if they decide they want to participate in making an ornament or two for the tree, well, the more the merrier!  

My personal goal was to make some lace birds from a design from Eeva-Liisa Kortelahti.  I made a flock of these birds years ago and included them in xmas cards and I thought I could do something like that to get back into making lace.

But I also have lots of other designs I could use to teach new lacers - small items that are simple to make but don't take forever and a day.  And making something that they could hang in a window, or from a tree, or tuck into an xmas card makes it more accessible, I think.

I have a lot of different bobbins, most of which were hand turned and then painted by a couple in England.  Some of them are personalized to me (birthday gifts, etc) and I will keep all of those bobbins.  But I have others that I am willing to part with, so the plan is to offer a pillow and a starter pack of bobbins.  I'm hoping to sell the kits locally so that I don't have to deal with shipping, but if none of the students (should I get any) want the roller pillow, I will offer it online and see if anyone wants it.  

Lace making is my 'hobby' and ultimately, if I can't weave at some point in the future, I could potentially still fwip a bobbin or 24 and still be weaving.

Because that's what lace making is - weaving where the warp can turn into the weft and the weft into warp, and tie knots where needed.  

Who knows, I might even make a bookmark or a dozen...

Some Sunny Day

 

Coming down to the 'end' of the current spate of tea towels, and this one is showing some promise.  I'm going to tweak the treadling, I think, see if I can 'counter change' (checker board) the motifs.  But even if I can't, I think I'll weave this, just to see how it turns out.

After a small snow dump yesterday (about 8" or 20 cm) we woke to a brilliant sunny day today.  It's still 'cold', but a 'normal' temperature, not the extreme cold we had over the weekend.  Still, I'm just as glad I don't have to leave the house.

My goal today is to finish the warp currently on the loom.  I am also in the midst of sorting through my bobbin lace supplies.  I have decided to downsize my bobbin lace 'stash', in part because I truly do not need that many pillows.  I will keep two - my two 'favourite' pillows, and try to sell the rest.

I'm still sorting through my bobbins, but there are plenty to make beginner 'kits' - pillow with x number of bobbins.  IF I can find anyone local who is interested in learning.

I also have someone who will look at the large wall piece Water Sparkling Falls, and I *may* have a 'home' for it.  If not, I'm not sure what to do with it.  In the end, it's just cloth, but cloth woven for a very specific purpose and not really suitable for anything else.  Unless I can find another artist who might see potential in it for...something.  TBD.

Sorting through the bobbin lace stuff has been a lot more emotional than I hoped.  The vast majority of my bobbins were made by a friend, who died in 2018.  Many of them are personalized for me - in celebration of my birthday, and such.  Her husband turned the bobbins, then she painted them with things like the provincial flowers, or for xmas, easter, and such.  

I found the book I wanted to use to make small birds, which I'll include in my xmas cards this year - or donate to the guild to sell.  I also 'found' the card blanks with cut outs and envelopes to fit the tri-fold card stock.  I did a bunch of these little birds a long time ago and included them in my xmas cards that year.  What I do not want to do is begin a big lace project.  So I will do smaller items, maybe put hanging threads on them so they can be hung on an xmas tree or dangle in a window.  Small indulgences.

We all need a little 'pretty' in our lives.  With a small amount of effort, some work with a creaky brain, and a little bit of thread, I could make some small pretties to give to my friends.  One nice thing about bobbin lace is that it's pretty flexible and if you go 'wrong' sometimes it's really hard to tell.  And if it can't be fixed, well its a few pennies of thread to toss.  And goodness knows, I have thread aplenty, given I kept all my mom's quilting thread.

I have also promised myself I am going to tackle the loom's little quirk of tossing heddles off the end of some of the shafts.  I've tried a variety of things and none of them stop it from happening.  So I checked the loom and I *think* I can add a 'keeper' string, like is used on Scandinavian loom style shafts.  It's a simple 'fix' and if it works, it will be a relief.  I may be the only person on the planet to have a Megado that keeps tossing heddles off the ends of the shafts, but TexSolv heddles are expensive and I'm tired of tossing heddle bits away.  Because the only solution is to cut them off once they fall off and become entangled.  I have some 'extra' heddles I can add to one of the shafts that needed me to tie in 'repair' heddles in order to weave the current warp, but I don't have enough for all of the 3 shafts that are low (because they keep tossing their heddles off!)  So I may have to buy more.  But I can add some to the one that is lowest, and tie the keeper string onto the top of the shaft and see if that works.  If it does, I may invest in two more bundles and add those to the two other shafts low on heddles.  And then do ALL of the shafts, just because I'm tired of getting the loom all set up and then, when I go to start weaving, oops, the loom has a big mess out of sight and I need to cut the tangled heddles off before I can continue.

The problem is, tying those strings to the shafts is fiddly and awkward.  So I will likely do the worst offenders to begin with, and then maybe one or two at a time until all the shafts (16) are done.  I don't have a lot of tolerance for doing fiddly jobs in awkward positions.

Anyway, the sun today is very welcome.  As is the snow that fell yesterday, even though the roads are crappy.  We desperately need the moisture.

Bookmarks

 

Was reading Femina by Janina Ramirez and she talks about King Alfred (the Great) and how he encouraged literacy by sending out 'pointers' with manuscripts and it started me thinking about books, and reading, and thinking - my brain has been a bit of a 'stew' recently as I dig around in my brain box examining this attitude and that 'known' thing, wondering if I actually 'know' that thing or have just accepted it as 'gospel'.  About myths, not just the 'fairy tales' of my childhood but societal 'myths' we tell ourselves without ever examining them very closely to see if they are 'true'.  Or not.  Or if circumstances have changed since we learned those things all these many years ago.

And I thought about how we 'bookmark' events in our lives - before this or after that.  So much of lived experience rotates around wins - and losses.  Around the grand decisions, but also, the small ones that seem too small to be very important, but in hindsight become milestones on our journey through our lives.

At my age I have a plenitude of them.  Some I knew were huge at the time, some seemed of minor importance.  But as I look back, they were all stepping stones.  Milestones showing my journey on this earth.  

On a whim I took a bobbin class class, not expecting it to be much, then found I'd slipped down a rabbit hole.  I stopped making lace a few years ago because life got overwhelming and I just didn't have the time or mental wherewithal to do it.  But instead of getting rid of my lace supplies I hung onto the pillows, bobbins, books.  They take up a substantial amount of my space, secreted here and there, in corners.  Out of my way, but not out of my sight.

Every once in a while I contemplate digging everything out but so far have not managed to carve out time to do it.

About once a year I think I really ought to get rid of it.  All of it.  And I just can't seem to manage to do that.

I did sell on one of my lace pillows in 2019, but when it came time to sell the rest, I couldn't.  

What do I want to make in lace?  Dunno.

I've been so focused on weaving down my stash I really haven't had much time to think about making lace.  But as my body slowly breaks down and I can see an end to weaving - not now, not this year, maybe not for several years - I think about the lace.  I can't see all that well anymore, but there is no reason to only use really fine yarns.  

But then, when I make it, what do I do with it?  I'm not a 'lace' kind of person when it comes to garments.  But other people are and while I wouldn't dream of trying to sell it, I could gift it.

I made a lot of bookmarks when I was first learning how to make lace.  Small items, quickly done, on to the next, usually with a new technique to learn.  Samples, but with a purpose.

But hardly anyone reads a physical book anymore and if they do, would they use a handmade lace bookmark?  Who knows.  

So my lace supplies sit, here and there, and I think about them now and then.  And move on.  For now.

Sort of like life.  We pay attention to the noisiest things, ignore the quiet ones.  Until the time is 'right'.  So I guess I hang onto the lace stuff and who knows, maybe next year I'll dig it out again.  Maybe even offer a beginner's introduction to lace making.  I've got several pillows and loads of bobbins.

Time will tell...

Bobbin Lace

 

bobbin lace supplies

Someone moving contacted me about their bobbin lace supplies and asked if the guild would be interested.  Doug went and picked it up and it now resides behind the Leclerc loom until I have the time and energy to go through it.

There is a stack of books that might get sold as a fund raiser, but I suggested to one guild member that between the pillows that were donated and my own, I could potentially do a small (4 students max) class and teach torchon lace.  If we all wore masks, kept good distance, we could make it work.  In the new year.  After our guild sale is over.

I've been saying for years that I want to get back to making lace and this might just be the spur to finally do it.

I've been having a hard time trying to justify making bobbin lace.  It isn't much in vogue these days and is very time consuming.  To make good lace, you really need to use fine threads.

But what constitutes 'good' lace?  What may have been true before, may not be true now.  So while I let the packages of books and supplies sit, I am simmering thoughts of what lace is and what it might be now, in these pandemic times.  

Trim for masks?  Possible.  I suspect we are going to be advised to wear a mask for quite a while and why not make them pretty?

Things change and morph, depending on what is happening at the time.  And adding beauty is never a bad thing.

Plus the advantage to teaching beginners is that I can use nice big fat yarn (as in 2/8 cotton size - that's fat for lace).  

It seems the universe has a way of showing me the direction I should be going - like when weaving kept showing up in my life.  Spinning wheels.  Now bobbin lace.  I sense a trend.

Learning Curve

For the 1995 ANWG conference here, one of the people on the conference committee had really wanted a workshop on bobbin lace.  When it came time to confirm or cancel the lace workshop, we needed one more person to make it 'go', while the workshop I was supposed to be teaching was lacking 5 or 7 (I forget the cut off). 

Looking at the numbers I told everyone to cancel my workshop and I would sign up to take the lace workshop because I wasn't all that interested in learning, but I was willing to provide a warm body.

At the end of the two days I walked out with $150 worth of lace supplies.

Bobbin lace is just another kind of weaving, one where you build your loom as you weave, where warps can turn into wefts, and vice versa.

I made quite a bit of lace, mostly Torchon, and even taught a few people enough to get them started.  Three of us have kept up a friendship but all three have had significant health issues over the past few years and it had been a rather long time since any of us had felt up to making lace.

Which means, we'd pretty much forgotten everything we knew.

Last year I had to make a decision:  either make lace or get rid of my supplies.

Well, lace supplies are pretty hard to come by these days and I had some really good quality things - pillows, bobbins, loads of thread, books.

So I talked to my friends and we decided that we would like to get started again.  I did manage to make a couple of small items last year, but it was just here and there.  Today the three of us got together and started making a tiny star.

As part of my studio destashing, I found some die cut cards and this tiny star just fits into the 'window' of the card so the intent is to make some stars with hanging loops and put them into Christmas cards for this Christmas giving.  Recipients can use them as window dangles or Christmas tree ornaments.

However, my supplies are mostly put 'away' and I've lost track of some of my things so I'm going to have to make do until I have time to rummage and find my pin pusher and sew in tool.  The sew in tool is fairly easy to work around but the pin pusher is sorely missed.  My fingers don't like the pressure of pushing the pins down into the pillow but I have to or else the threads will get tangled up in the pins standing proud above the pillow.

I have worked the points on the star three different ways because I don't remember the 'correct' way to do it.  I will check in some of my books what I ought to be doing and see if anything I've done so far is even close to correct!

But the star is tiny and no one is going to be able to tell I've not done it 'properly'. 

This little star is pretty simple, but it has a few things that are causing me to scratch my head to see if I can figure it out.  And it's something that I think I will enjoy once I get it figured out.

Last year I mailed out just 9 cards.  Surely I can make 9 stars this year?

Lace Architecture

As I go through these books I am constantly amazed at how the threads can be made to move through the textile and the cleverness of our ancestors who figured this out.

This is a small table runner and rather than work with a bazillion bobbins, the lace meanders back and forth to create a much larger textile with a more manageable number of bobbins.

While I can't yet quite follow this diagram, I get just enough of it to be blown away by whoever figured this out.

After seeing Ivan Sayers collection of lace at Fibres West, the fineness of the threads used, and the designs that were created, usually in very low light conditions, I can only offer up my respect to the (mostly) women who made these lace textiles.

And, while I am intimidated, I am also inspired to dig my pillow and bobbins out.  I just wish I didn't have so many crunchy deadlines right now.  But never mind, I have the books and I can feast my eyes on these incredible patterns and - who knows - set up a pillow for a very very simple lace.

Currently drooling over Discover, Explore, Master Torchon - a three part series written by Ulrike Voelcker.  Available in Canada from Trillium Lace in Ottawa, ON.

Another Kind of Loom, Another Kind of Weaving

Well, I'm not sure I'll have the mental wherewithal to actually work on this any time soon but here it is.

I'm using a design from one of the books by Eeva-Liisa Kortelahti, a Finnish bobbin lace artist.  While I have done very very simple designs of my own, I can't come close to the artistry of Kortelahti.  I simply haven't done lace frequently enough to even think about trying to design something.  Not to mention my eyes aren't great and I'm having more and more difficulty seeing 'fine' threads.  So I enlarged this design and instead of using 50's thread (sewing thread) I'm using 2/20 mercerized cotton.  And still finding it hard to see.

However, I think I've got the kinks worked out - at least enough to be going on with.  Doug helped me set up a small table with a light and an old office chair, which appears to be just about the exact right height.

I've started piling clothes and personal items on the bed, including all of my pills (how did I ever come to need so many?) and a stack of books.  A friend dropped off a little gift bag with things like eye glass 'wipes', a book light, and various other small items that I'm sure will be much appreciated for the hospital stay.

Once the mail comes, hopefully bringing the rest of the bills for the month I will head to town for errands.  Then I suppose all that's left is to finalize the packing and wait for one more sleep.