On Tue, 31 Aug 2004 16:05:11 -0400, Amanda wrote: >I've had my sights set on Binche for a long time - basically ever >since I heard of it. For once I want to take it slow (I have the >rest of my life to make lace and don't want to run out of things >to learn!) and not just dive right into the deep end. But Olive >Branches is a big temptation to do just that! To keep me from >giving in and cutting right to the chase, where can I find this >"baby Binche" to get started with? Are there good books? And does >anyone have suggestions on the best path to follow to work one's way >up to Binche? I understand Flanders is involved.
I have been told that the classical route to Binche is Flanders, Paris, Valenciennes then Binche. My own route was a couple of years of Flanders because I like it, a single piece of Paris, skip Valenciennes entirely and then Binche. Other lacemakers, David for instance, just got stuck straight into the Binche. Given that you want to do it slowly, then the question is what will you learn from these other laces on the way. Flanders introduces four pairs per pin. It has its own grounds that aren't used again in Binche. Bits of Flanders that get reused in Binche are picots, the methods for creating and dropping workers in motifs and a different way to handle gimps. Paris lace uses the same picot, gimp and worker methods as Flanders. The different element in Paris is the ground, which is used as a background in small areas in Binche. My opinion is that this ground is harder than it first appears, so a piece of Paris is worth doing to get familiarity with the ground. In Binche the Paris ground areas may be set in any direction. I treat them as a nice easy bit that can be worked without a diagram, in contrast to the rest of Binche. However I have to admit that I don't care for the appearance of Paris, so my one bad practice piece is going to be my lifetime's output. So far as I could see the distinguishing feature of Valenciennes is a diamond background of plaits, worked without pins at the joins. This is hard to do well, isn't used again in any other lace that I know of, and so far as I'm concerned life's too short for that technique. So in summary my advice is do the other laces that you like, spend as long or as short on them as you want, and the only thing I'd say you *ought* to do before plunging in to Binche is a sample of Paris lace. -- Come to think of it, there are already a million monkeys on a million typewriters, and Usenet is NOTHING like Shakespeare. Blair Houghton Steph Peters, Manchester, England [EMAIL PROTECTED] Scanned by WinProxy http://www.Ositis.com/ - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
