I have said on arachne several times over the years that theres no point in doing twists after the picot; this is what I was taught by Pat Read in the mid 1980s and I how I have done them and taught them ever since.
If you analyse where the twists go, the ones before the pin form the cord around the pin; like the jam in the sandwich it sits between the two threads making the picot. But any twists after the pin just make a leg between the picot and the edge of the lace and can push the picot at an angle to the edge, rather than it sitting square on to the edge. The number of twists depends on the thickness of the thread relative to the pin size. There is no magic number. This is one of the things which you should work out as you do your first picot of the piece (or even better, as you do your thread sample!); you need enough twists to make your cord around the pin the right length to fit the pin neatly. Too few and the picot can look scruffy and the threads may not be be held tightly together, too many and you will have trouble making the picot smooth. A thick linen might only need three or four twists even around a heavy pin, whereas 180 Honiton thread can take easily take 7 or 8 twists around a very fine pin. On the same theme, make sure all your pins are the same size or your careful calculations won't work! I see lots of people with pin tins and cushions of assorted sizes. Jacquie in Lincolnshire - To unsubscribe send email to majord...@arachne.com containing the line: unsubscribe lace y...@address.here. For help, write to arachne.modera...@gmail.com. Photo site: http://community.webshots.com/user/arachne2003
