Hi Suzy Try twisting the thread 5 times - the number of twists depends on the thickness of the thread and the size of the pin. You need just enough for the little twisted cord to fit round the pin and 5 is usually about right for medium weight thread.
I guess you are doing picots on the plaits. Have a good look at the pricking and choose which one to do first as they are often not exactly opposite each other. Do the first one first if that makes sense. It doesn't have to be the RH one. To do a RH picot, use the RH pair and pick up the RH bobbin of that pair with your right hand. Take a pin in your left hand (scary, you need to be a little bit ambidextrous here) and put it behind the thread to the bobbin (on the far side of the thread, so the thread is between you and the pin). Now, keep the pin still and wrap the thread once round the point of the pin. If you rest the tip of the pin on the pricking, the thread from the bobbin should be underneath the thread from the lace (I'm still just talking about that one bobbin thread). If it is, move the pin into the hole, but *don't pull the thread tight* and *don't put the bobbin down*. Pick up the other bobbin of the pair with your other hand (the hand that had the pin) and take the thread in front of the pin and on around it. Now very gently snuggle the threads until they are the same tension; you should be able to see the twisted bit going round the pin now, and then snuggle it tight around the pin. The twists should be like the cheese in a sandwich with a thread each side of them because the first thread was underneath and the second is on top. To do the other picot, do the half stitch as Barbara says (this is to stop a hole forming in the centre of the plait) but if the other picot is quite a way in front of the first, you can do a cloth stitch instead of the half stitch to fill the gap better. A LH picot is done with the LH pair, picking up the LH bobbin with your left hand. Take the pin in your right hand and then you can follow the rest of the directions from above, because they don't say left or right! The important things are: 1) Make sure the first thread from picot to bobbin is under the picot to plait bit of the same thread. 2) Keep the whole thing loose until the second thread is in place. If you don't, it is hard to get the twists to go round the pin. 3) Make sure the second thread goes the same way round the pin as the first. If you haven't, one thread comes out from above and the other from below the pin so it's quite easy to spot. As for an official way, this is the way we traditionally make them for English lace but they can be done with the whole double twisted thread wound round the pin which originates with the continental fine laces, or as a knotted picot which only leaves a single thread in the actual picot so is used with thicker thread laces. The important thing is that it keeps its shape and is crisp enough to look as if it's meant to be there. Badly made picots just look as if you've forgotten to tidy your threads up. Hope this helps, Jacquie - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
