Helen asked:
Can anyone explain to me the difference between different threads and how it might affect the lace it's used for? Obviously, the material it's made out of (cotton, linen, synthetic) will make a difference but how does the weight work?
See below
And what *is* mercerised cotton?Mercerisation is a process in which the cotton is treated with caustic soda. This makes the individual fibres swell and the thread is more lustrous than unmercerised cotton
DMC Broder Machine comes on two different size reels - the bigger ones are Broder Machine Retors D'Alsece and the smaller ones are Broder machine Brilliante; and yes it is mercerised. There are (currently) two sizes available, 30/2 and 50/2
On the desk in front of me I have:
DMC Broder machine 50 (I think I intended on buying Brilliant d'Alsace) (I assume mercerised, only because I know that's what it says on Silko (??) machine thread)
Mettler Stopf-u. Stickgarn, No 60/2 (100) which is mercerised cotton
60/2 is the cotton count, 100 is the metric number - again see below
Venus Crochet Cotton #70 (I have four of these in different colours all of which are #70, so it can't be a colour code)
Venus crochet cotton is 70/6, cotton count
Bocken Linen 80/280/2 NeL (English Linen number)
Apart from the Bockens linen all of these threads are sized by the English cotton count (cc) which refers to the number of 840 yard hanks of thread which can be produced from one pound of fibres spun to that thickness. The finer the thread the more hanks that can be obtained from the one pound and so the higher the cc number
I thought that the numbers 50,60,70 and 80 referred to the weight of the thread, however, the Mettler (60/2) is visibly the thinnest. The other option I can come up with is that the weights are measured differently for different types of thread.
The DMC and the Mettler are both two ply threads - 50/2 means two plies of 50cc spun together and 60/2 means two plies of 60cc spun together. Venus is a six ply, but double spun - two plies of 70cc are spun together and then three of those are spun together in the opposite direction. Most crochet threads are double spun.
The metric number (Nm) is the number of 1,000 metre hanks that can be made from one kilogram of fibres
The English Linen number (NeL) is the number of 300 yard hanks that can be made from one pound of fibres
For both Nm and NeL the number of plies in the thread affects the thickness in the same way as with cc. 80/3 linen has half as many fibres again as 80/2.
I'm also assuming that all are suitable for beginner lacing at least as the Mettler was what my nan gave me to start a whole-stitch giraffe many years ago and the others were bought at the recent Weston-super-Mare suppliers fair.Personally I'd say that Mettler 60/2 is rather fine for a beginner - unless you are starting with Honiton!
Cotton thread is generally easier for a beginner to work with so I'd suggest starting with your Venus cotton, however for bobbin lace the thickness of the thread and the scale of the pattern do have to match each other.
There's a chart on my website to match the distance between pinholes of a pattern to the thickness of a thread measured in wraps/cm which is how I've measured everything in my "Threads for Lace" book. Have a look at
http://tinyurl.com/66qjp
BTW Venus is 27 wraps/cm, DMC broder machine 50 is 42 wraps/cm, Mettler stickgarn 60 is 46 wraps/cm and Bockens 80/2 is 28 wraps/cm.
DMC Brilliante D'Alsace 50 *is* Machine Broder 50 and is only a bit thicker than Mettler stickgarn 60.
Various patterns in the book I'm working from call for DMC Brilliant d'Alsace 30 & 50 and Campbell's/BDUC linen 100. Which threads from the ones I already have can be substituted for the ones listed above?
Bockens 80/2 an Venus are similar in thickness but quite a bit thicker. Bouc linen 100 and Campbells 100 both come in between as regards thickness.
The book was published in 1985, so it won't surprise me if some of the threads haven't been made for several years.Even a book published in 2005 can be out of date as regards available threads!!!
Brenda http://www.argonet.co.uk/users/paternoster/
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