Making Lace

I spent a very enjoyable day on Monday in the shop with some dear friends, being taught how to make Torchon lace by another dear friend.  I started the day in complete bewilderment, with no idea what was expected of me or what I was going to do.  I've never made anything like lace before.  Basically you use bobbins wound with thread or in our case yarn, a large straw, foam or polystyrene covered cushion and lots of pins.  You weave the bobbins in set patterns to create stitches, the pins hold the threads in place where necessary.  Sue, our teacher, gave us dotted paper which is the pattern you work to.  I took to it like a duck to water.  For some reason the whole process felt completely logical once I'd got started.  Mind you, I couldn't explain it to anyone else, but give me time.  I've added a couple of photos below to show you what I did.  Beaker Button will hopefully be adding this class to our workshop program very shortly, as Sue is happy to teach for us.  I'm really looking forward to the next class.

My first piece.

Lots of bobbins


 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

No Sew Mitred Square Blanket and the point of knitting!

Image
No Sew Mitred Square Blanket This was one of those projects that made me consider why I knit. I don't need a blanket. I spend most of my time overheating, especially at night so actually a blanket is probably the last thing I need. I did have a huge amount of fibre from my Mum's stash, which prompted the idea.  A small selection from mine and Mum's stash! I'm finding spinning very soothing at the moment, with all the crazy going on. But why a blanket? I love to knit mitred squares. They way they get smaller as you make them, the look of the stripes as they form that distinctive V. I made a jacket a couple of years ago, well more of a coat really, with the huge amount of 4ply yarns I have. That started life as a blanket, but morphed into a coat as I was working it.  Me in my Mitred Square Coat I wanted something simple to work, and no sewing, and mindless, hence the blanket. Who knows, maybe next year it will be cold enough to use it. This project did it's job though...
Read more

Lyra Hat, for people with a BAHA hearing aid.

Image
As some of you may know, I have a BAHA (bone anchored hearing aid). This is a fabulous piece of kit. I have a metal screw in the mastoid bone in my head (which incidently has to be tightened each year so I do occasionally have a screw loose),and my heading aid clips onto this screw. I hear through the bone rather than through my broken ear. This does, however, make it a little difficult wearing hats, as the hearing aid sits proud of my head and anything placed on top of it makes it whistle like a tea kettle on the boil! Lyra Hat is my solution so I'm sharing it here for other people like me. It would also be useful if you wear a ponytail. Lyra Hat www.beakerbutton.co.uk   ©Jen Best 2019   Skills required. This hat is worked in the round from the top down.  Working in the round. M1r increases, knit front and back increases. Ability to recognise and work knit and purl stitches as they appear in the work without the need for a written pattern. Casting on and off within ...
Read more

Shirtlace or Dorset button?

Image
I had an interesting Facebook exchange with someone yesterday regarding some new thread buttons I've been teaching myself to make. These buttons are called shirtlace buttons, also known as zwirnkopfe, which means thread button. They are often mistaken for Dorset buttons, because they're hand stitched around a ring, but they are made differently and from a not from Dorset. I thought it might be a good idea to try and explain the difference here.  Dorset buttons are made by stitching in a blanket stitch around a ring (casting), turning the ridge around the edge into the middle (slicking), wrapping the thread around the ring to form spokes (laying), and then stitching in a back stitch over the spokes to form the inside pattern. Dorset buttons were made all over East Dorset, and sent all over the world. They were started by Abraham Case in 1622 and were an industry until 1851.  I know very little about the history of Shirtlace buttons, other than they were made in Germany, Austria...
Read more