Bobbin Lace - First trials and tribulations

I wound my bobbins over three evenings, taking my time because it made my left wrist ache a bit.

I started with the fan, and carefully laid out my pins and made the first two rows. I got to the third row, and realized I was 1 pair short. So I un-laced my little bit, and started again. That's not too bad, I thought, and managed to finish the fan and moved on to the trail.

I worked the trail to a stopping point, and looked at the bobbins. I had 6 pairs left, and my pricking said I only needed 4. So I un-laced again, and worked to the next stopping point.

Now I was ready to start the edge, but I had 5 pairs left, and only needed 4. I didn't want to un-lace a third time, and took a second to think things through. Finally I counted my pairs, and realized I had wound 16 pairs instead of 15. Whew. I'm glad I didn't decide to just stick it in somewhere.

I have just barely finished one repeat of this pattern, and I must admit my enthusiasm is flagging. I wound a yard on each bobbin because I wanted to do a small sample before I committed to the project. I think I will do another repeat or two and hope it gets easier. Right now I spend a lot of time looking at the book and it's very slow work.

I have found a different lace edging that might work. I've re-sized it for thicker thread, but will have to draw my own corners for the frame. I thought I was starting with enough time for this year's fair, but now I think I could have started sooner!

Ready to Wind Bobbins

I'm ready to wind some bobbins for my next project. I finished the bookmark of grounds, and won't show a picture of that one. I had trouble with the edge stitches, and since I included a contrasting passive pair, you can easily see the sides weave in and out like a drunken sailor.

A new site posted on the Arachne lace list caught my eye and gave me an idea. I loved the section with picture frames, and I was inspired to do one of my own for the County Fair. Whew. It's turned out to be more head-scratching than I expected.

I chose a photo of my grandson, it's 3.5x5" which is a nice, small size. Then I chose a lace hanky from G. Stott's book (Amanda p. 86). I spent some time with the scanner, a pair of scissors, and lots of resizing in MSWord. I finally came up with a picture frame with the interior size of 3.25 x 5" and the pinhole sizing should fit Finca thread I have on hand. I can't get it any closer because of the pattern repeats, and I don't want to choose a different pattern because I think this one is simple enough I can do it well. I hope I'll be able to stretch it a little when I block it, or maybe I'll just give my husband an Exacto knife and tell him to lose 1/4" from the picture.

I printed my frame out on blue paper twice, and I plan to do a sample in my chosen thread. The original hanky has half stitch trails, and I think I prefer a more substantial cloth stitch trail. I'll try several options and decide.

The County Fair is in mid-July, so it's time to get started. I'm not sure if this will work, and I may have to try something else.