On Feb 23, 2008, at 3:56, Jenny Brandis wrote:
What do you do with your prickings?
Pretty much what Debbie in Florida does: keep them in binders, in those clear plastic sleeves/pockets. By now, I have several binders: Point Ground, Flanders, Rosalibre, Wireworks, 2 Miscellaneous (probably ought to start a 3rd), Christmas and have recently (about a year ago) started a Reconstructions one.
Each pocket holds: a copy of the page (if the pattern came from a book) with title, autor and page number, the pricking itself with thread suggestions, any samples I cut off with an explanation as to what was wrong with it (if appropriate. Some are so bad, no explanation is necessary, since their errors are obvious <g>) and diagrams. Also, notes I made while making the pattern (so as to avoid making the same mistakes next time around). A photo/photocopy of the finished lace (if I had finished it). Sometimes, a photo of the work in progress, if it seems easier than trying to explain/diagram a particular spot.
Into the same binder, a couple per pocket, so that they're easily accessible, go "ideas" or "visual stimulants": photos of paintings, drawings, ornaments, lace etc -- wich I either took myself or cut out from various catalogues and other junk mail. All of these are either to be developed into a pattern "one day, maybe" or else -- as in the case of the Reconstructions binder -- help me decide which particular technical trick would have been used in a particular situation.
Unlike Debbie, I was a self-taugh lacemaker, so nobody told me to do this. I started because once, I sent off a pattern to be published, it got lost in the mail and I was never able to reproduce it. Since then, I've kept a copy of all documentation. And, while it's true that I don't often re-use prickings, sometimes I do. If I participate in the Christmas exchange, for example, I sometimes like to give my partner a choice of the ornament, rather than develop a new one for the occasion. It's easy to reach into the Christmas binder, dig up the pocket, remove it, and have all the materials next to my pilow as I work. Same's true about little gifts of wire earrings -- they're all housed in the Wireworks binder and easily accessible.
-- Tamara P Duvall http://t-n-lace.net/ Lexington, Virginia, USA (Formerly of Warsaw, Poland) - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
