In message <20100617020233.shthf.174453.r...@cdptpa-web09-z02>,
hottl...@neo.rr.com writes
Hello All! In from the garden for the night so will toss in a comment
about variegated threads. Shortly after I started making lace, I fell
in love with Oliver Twist threads.
Variegated thread is a good way to punch up a simple project so give it
a try.
Use of colour in lace is all about experimentation, though the effect it
will give can be planned with the help of a working diagram, coloured
crayons and an understanding of the paths individual threads will take
according to the stitches used.
There is a difference, however, between variegated and space-dyed
threads - in that the mass produced variegated threads tend to have
shorter lengths of each of their colours, and not all blend from one
colour to the next. Space-dyed tend to be a longer thread length before
going into the next colour, and the colour change can be quite dramatic.
Some threads are dyed in different shades of one colour, graduated so
that they blend from one to the other, others are a mix of several
different colours.
Some patterns work well - a torchon sampler bookmark I designed some
time ago (for an Arachne bookmark swap - it has been published since, in
Lace 113, January 2004) has been successfully worked using variegated
colours - I think it was a Sulky in a pinkish-mauvish-red (It wasn't me
that worked it on that occasion). Others, well.... large areas of
roseground do not work, unless the shade difference is very slight. This
is because having each thread of a different colour or shade, the
individual thread paths show up very clearly. When the thread (I'm
thinking DMC Special Dentelles 80) has purple on one bobbin and yellow
on another, the colours may go well in colour theory but in practice, in
a standard roseground square, they look awful! However, a metallic
variegated, such as Madeira's Astro, can have quite a shimmering effect
in a trail of cloth stitch.
The one use of variegated threads I have really sat back and said "wow"
to, was when Bev adapted my asymmetric square pattern and used a mix of
plain and variegated threads - perhaps for those who haven't seen it,
Bev could post a link to the photo? It is also shown on the back cover
of the Canadian Lacemaker Gazette, Vol.20 No 3, Spring 2006.
A lot depends on the overall effect you want to have, and sometimes the
use of only variegated threads can work, sometimes they don't, and
sometimes the pattern needs a mix of variegated and plain.
--
Jane Partridge
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