Viv
If you do want to try out Honiton without wasting
money on new equipment but without hampering yourself
so you give up unnecessarily, I'd suggest the
following:
Pillow: If you have a 16 inch domed straw pillow, use
it, provided it is firm. If you want to use a
slightly domed polystyrene pillow, put a layer of felt
under to cover cloth - it needs a bit of "give" for
sewings, oddly enough. I find it helpful to sit with
feet on a footstool and pillow on lap, but really, use
any set-up that works. Photos of 19th century workers
shows they used pillows unlike our standard modern
Honiton ones anyway. However, a very large 23 inch
one would almost certainly make life very difficult,
especially on smaller pieces. At the Honiton class I
attend (in Honiton), most people use a stand or table
in any case, so all that matters is the top of the
pillow, not the depth, and the Belgian ladies use
the equipment they are used to.
Bobbins: I would buy a new set. 24 (12 pairs) should
be enough to take you to the stage of knowing whether
you like it or not, and proper ones are (at least in
the UK) not expensive - 33p each a couple of years
ago. These standard beech ones are better than the
more expensive, generally thinner, ones sold by
general bobbin makers more used to Midlands bobbins.
If you use the Continental ones with the bulbous ends,
you will probably find the Honiton techniques and ways
of working harder - the different bobbins and pillows
and Continental techniques work well together, but
you'll end up making Duchesse, not Honiton, not
surprisingly.
Books: The Lace Guild book is a good choice, so go
with it. If you want another for comparison, and in
due course to progress, Susanne Thompson's two books
for Batsfords are in my opinion a model of what "how
to do" lace books should be. The second is one of the
few that gets you into advance techniques smoothly,
and the patterns are not just efficient exercises, but
desirable in their own right. However, the Guild book
is more than good enough for starters.
Thread: Use 120/2 Egyptian cotton or equivalent to
start with, and later, if you want to, use 170/2 or
equivalent (the Egyptian 170/2 is very close to other
spinners' 180/2). The standard patterns are all
generally plotted for one or the other, your book for
the 120/2, and if you use something else, you'll have
to adapt patterns, use different numbers of pairs, or
get an odd result - too much of a pain when you're
learning. Most Honiton workers will use just one or
the other, depending on preference or local tradition.
The current habit in Honiton itself at present (ie in
the "Perryman" line) is in fact to use 120/2, so don't
feel the need to convert to thinner just to be more
correct, if you can't get on with it. On the other
hand, if you want to and do, again go for it.
Sticking with the one thickness is useful in
maintaining tension, instinctively knowing how many
pairs are needed, and if necessary how to prick out
your own patterns or true up old ones.
Pricking card: It is a lot easier to use the thicker
card, for sewings etc, and you really do need very
little. The glue in sticky-backed plastic can be a
nuisance, but some people get on with it. Prick with
a no 8 sharp (or betweens/quilting) needle; you do
need a good pinhole, and don't want to struggle
pushing pins all the way in. Until I did this, I too
ended up roughing up finger tips, bending pins etc,
wondering whether I needed pushing devices. Problem,
as so often, was between the ears; lacemakers should
follow their fingers, not their brains.
Needle pin: Do try and use a proper one, and persevere
with it. Again, get a cheap beech one from a Honiton
supplier - I am amazed at how awkward some fancy ones
can be to use. It is worth the effort, as the really
tricky sewings cannot be done with hooks or bits of
cotton in needles, and you always forget at least one
magic thread. You need the practice on the simple
ones! I got myself into the habit by not using a hook
until I had had three proper goes with the needle pin,
regardless. At first, it was three goes, then the
hook did it, but gradually it happened, probably
because I was not tense, and just going through the
motions before I could use the hook. On raised work
with several sewings, it's so much quicker with the
pin that you're not put off raising by the thought of
having to sew. Do though pull up before and after the
edge stitch to get a clean pin hole. It not only
looks better, it's so much easier for sewings. Don't
forget, if you knit, you're used to pulling threads
through loops using a needle without a hook on the
end...
Hope this is helpful - it's from someone who learnt
the basics from Mrs Thompson's first book before going
to classes, so it can be done! On the other hand, the
improvement on going to Mrs Perryman's classes was, to
put it mildly, marked!
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Looking forward to a week at the beginning of July in
Honiton on a course with Mrs P. - with 170/2 thread
and a rather odd largish pillow, but using a needlepin
and standard bobbins!
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