>>>when teaching the basing 3 stitches (half/CT;whole/cloth/CTC; double half/CTCT), which is the easier route to go, when it comes to teaching half and double half? Ie which one is easier to learn first? <<<
So many people are intimidated by half stitch, that I'd save it for last.....
I'll play a bit of devil's advocate here. Yes, CTC is often taught first because it is easier to see the result, and see that it is going straight. CT is visually more confusing when an area of it is being done.
However, if you learn the harder one first, then the others are easier, and the student has a sense of accomplishment very early in the process of learning.
When I was studying sewing, my first teacher told me that she had us use the most difficult thread for learning, then when we needed to use the other threads, they were no problem at all. The students who started with the easier threads had a real struggle to learn how to deal with the difficult thread, and often restricted their work to the easy thread and lost out on some beautiful effects. We accepted the difficult thread as 'normal', and used whatever thread would produce the desired results without stress.
The lessons we use in this area start with half stitch, but used in a ground formation. This has the student doing CT pin CT. It is the half stitch motion, but without the visual confusion of continuous half stitch. It is followed with standard half stitch. Then double stitch CTCT is introduced, and finally cloth stitch CTC. They also are learning to follow a pricking and read a diagram during these lessons.
Then the student starts putting these in various combinations to make spiders, rose ground, add gimp, tallies, leaves, plaits and picots.
If a student is determined to learn, he/she will learn no matter in what order the stitches are taught. Present the information, encourage, praise. And keep a sense of humor.
Happy lacing, Alice in Oregon -- where we are back to normal winter rain.
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