Hi,
I'm also new, although depending on how you feel like counting I've either been learning lace for a couple of months or for around 20 years ;-)
From the leftie side of things, it's not a problem at all. As someone else has just commented, bobbin lace is a fairly ambidextrous sort of thing - the only time I've ever had problems is when I was younger and my nan (rightie) would wind my bobbins and and I'd (leftie) put the hitches on them in the opposite direction. You know when the bobbin's been wound or hitched the opposite to what was needed because you've suddenly got a bobbin dangling around your ankle because it's unravelled itself. It's a lot easier now I both wind and hitch my bobbins myself!
Personally, because I'm still only using 8 pairs for simple, small bookmarks and because I'm a student with no money, I would say that a bobbin winder is a bit of a luxury to start off with. Mine get wound while I'm sat in front of the TV of an evening. On the other hand, some of the patterns in the book I'm using want 20 or more pairs, so a winder may be at the top of my birthday list this year.
The book I'm working through right now is Pam Robinson's "A manual of Bedfordshire Lace". It starts off with a strip of whole and half stitch and then goes on to a *very* simple bookmark made of four interwoven plaits made of 4 strands each with some picots (pretty knot things) around the outside. The patterns do get more difficult, but I certainly can't think of anything simpler to start off with.
I hope this helps a bit. If anyone feels that I'm talking rubbish and wants to correct me at all, please do!
Helen
(cold and dark Somerset, UK)
At 13:55 27/02/2005, Jenny Brandis wrote:
.....................QUESTIONS from a newbie
Will my being left handed be an advantage in learning bobbin lace? What is a beginners lace pattern?
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