End of the Year and Playing with Lace

When I was clearing some the of clutter in the weaving room at my house, I found the first piece of "costume" lace that started this whole series.  Along with the frill, I found the list of what different sizes of lace I wanted and the amounts that I needed.  This plan was made several years ago and, in fact, I had not been working on that lace for quite a long while.  Any way, I started lacing on this piece and then decided to stop the wide flat lace at three yards.  The plan that I found said to do two and a half yards.  Was it stuck in the back of my head for all this time?  And I thought I couldn't remember anything that I've been doing!  And this narrow lace that I decided to do five yards (I thought I pulled that length out of the air), on my plan it calls for just over five yards.  I'm amazed that I came so close to the original plan I made so long ago.

Three different laces

On the bottom of the picture you can see the original frill, on the top of the picture is the wide lace and in the middle, wrapped around the storage bobbin, is the narrow lace.  

I have been using the same bobbins with the original 90/2 linen for all three of these, as I probably planned to do.  So now a bunch of those bobbins are running out of thread and I need to splice some more on.  I really don't know the correct/standard method of splicing, so I use my weaver's method.  I double the thread for a section and then start using the new thread I added.

Two Pair

You can see the right hand pair has a bobbin out of thread.  I wind a new bobbin with the same thread and attach it temporarily on one of the pins.

Extra thread looped around a pin

Replacement bobbin tied to the original

I tie the two bobbins together so that I will remember to use them as one bobbin.

One stitch done with the two pair

You can see on the left side that instead of two threads I have a single and a double in that pair.  I usually work the pattern for a section to make sure the new thread is attached well.  I like to work it in the ground pattern, because it does not show so much.  It can also be worked in the spider, but it looks bad if it is worked in the half stitch shell.

doubled thread worked in ground

After I have worked enough lace for the repair to come off the pillow, I cut both ends to make the lace look like there are no mistakes...well, at least, look less like it has mistakes.

Using the linen in our dry climate, I have to spray water to keep the yarn strong.  When I forget, I get a break in the thread.  These are a little harder to correct.  I can add a new thread, but the old one is usually very short and I am not able to work them double.  A few times I have un-laced to get an end to work in, but not all the time.  

To repair this error, I need a needle to weave it back into the web and very good eyes.  I have lots of needles, but need help with the eyes.

Tools to use for repairs

I got a magnifier from my Dad's old things and it comes in very handy when I need to see things clearly.  I use it for repairs on my weaving also.

Needle showing the repair.

I have more than a few breaks on the wide lace, so I will be doing a lot this type of repair.


Several of the pictures I have on here do not look clear and sharp.  I don't know if that is because I have been taking them at night when the light is not so good or if I am shaking the camera.  I may have to rely on a tripod to get the pictures to look better.

Well, the 31 day challenge is over and I did not do so well.  However, I learned what I want to continue to do on my blog and I want to keep producing information.  I like to share what I do, but I don't do enough to share every day.  I may still resort to a wordless day and just show pictures now and then, but I don't want to do it that often.  If you just want a picture, you can follow me on Instagram.  Here I want to show what I do, and hopefully how I solve some of my problems so that you will not have trouble with the same problems.