Viv If you do want to try out Honiton without wasting money on new equipment but without hampering yourself so you give up unnecessarily, I'd suggest the following:
Pillow: If you have a 16 inch domed straw pillow, use it, provided it is firm. If you want to use a slightly domed polystyrene pillow, put a layer of felt under to cover cloth - it needs a bit of "give" for sewings, oddly enough. I find it helpful to sit with feet on a footstool and pillow on lap, but really, use any set-up that works. Photos of 19th century workers shows they used pillows unlike our standard modern Honiton ones anyway. However, a very large 23 inch one would almost certainly make life very difficult, especially on smaller pieces. At the Honiton class I attend (in Honiton), most people use a stand or table in any case, so all that matters is the top of the pillow, not the depth, and the Belgian ladies use the equipment they are used to. Bobbins: I would buy a new set. 24 (12 pairs) should be enough to take you to the stage of knowing whether you like it or not, and proper ones are (at least in the UK) not expensive - 33p each a couple of years ago. These standard beech ones are better than the more expensive, generally thinner, ones sold by general bobbin makers more used to Midlands bobbins. If you use the Continental ones with the bulbous ends, you will probably find the Honiton techniques and ways of working harder - the different bobbins and pillows and Continental techniques work well together, but you'll end up making Duchesse, not Honiton, not surprisingly. Books: The Lace Guild book is a good choice, so go with it. If you want another for comparison, and in due course to progress, Susanne Thompson's two books for Batsfords are in my opinion a model of what "how to do" lace books should be. The second is one of the few that gets you into advance techniques smoothly, and the patterns are not just efficient exercises, but desirable in their own right. However, the Guild book is more than good enough for starters. Thread: Use 120/2 Egyptian cotton or equivalent to start with, and later, if you want to, use 170/2 or equivalent (the Egyptian 170/2 is very close to other spinners' 180/2). The standard patterns are all generally plotted for one or the other, your book for the 120/2, and if you use something else, you'll have to adapt patterns, use different numbers of pairs, or get an odd result - too much of a pain when you're learning. Most Honiton workers will use just one or the other, depending on preference or local tradition. The current habit in Honiton itself at present (ie in the "Perryman" line) is in fact to use 120/2, so don't feel the need to convert to thinner just to be more correct, if you can't get on with it. On the other hand, if you want to and do, again go for it. Sticking with the one thickness is useful in maintaining tension, instinctively knowing how many pairs are needed, and if necessary how to prick out your own patterns or true up old ones. Pricking card: It is a lot easier to use the thicker card, for sewings etc, and you really do need very little. The glue in sticky-backed plastic can be a nuisance, but some people get on with it. Prick with a no 8 sharp (or betweens/quilting) needle; you do need a good pinhole, and don't want to struggle pushing pins all the way in. Until I did this, I too ended up roughing up finger tips, bending pins etc, wondering whether I needed pushing devices. Problem, as so often, was between the ears; lacemakers should follow their fingers, not their brains. Needle pin: Do try and use a proper one, and persevere with it. Again, get a cheap beech one from a Honiton supplier - I am amazed at how awkward some fancy ones can be to use. It is worth the effort, as the really tricky sewings cannot be done with hooks or bits of cotton in needles, and you always forget at least one magic thread. You need the practice on the simple ones! I got myself into the habit by not using a hook until I had had three proper goes with the needle pin, regardless. At first, it was three goes, then the hook did it, but gradually it happened, probably because I was not tense, and just going through the motions before I could use the hook. On raised work with several sewings, it's so much quicker with the pin that you're not put off raising by the thought of having to sew. Do though pull up before and after the edge stitch to get a clean pin hole. It not only looks better, it's so much easier for sewings. Don't forget, if you knit, you're used to pulling threads through loops using a needle without a hook on the end... Hope this is helpful - it's from someone who learnt the basics from Mrs Thompson's first book before going to classes, so it can be done! On the other hand, the improvement on going to Mrs Perryman's classes was, to put it mildly, marked! [EMAIL PROTECTED] Looking forward to a week at the beginning of July in Honiton on a course with Mrs P. - with 170/2 thread and a rather odd largish pillow, but using a needlepin and standard bobbins! __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Win a $20,000 Career Makeover at Yahoo! HotJobs http://hotjobs.sweepstakes.yahoo.com/careermakeover - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]