0h look, a skating rink!

Finished my Bedfordshire style letter 'O' design and these cheeky little penguins jumped in to skate about!

 

Guiding Star

My Guiding Star Pattern, a gift in memory of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth ll

I had just started making my Guiding Star when the news came in of the loss of our dear Queen Elizabeth ll. 

A few days later I was in town choosing fabric when everyone in the little shop made for the door,  one of the ladies offered to stay behind to serve me.  I didn't want to hold anyone up so asked what was happening. 

 "To hear the Proclamation of King Charles lll being read out in the square."   

I wasn't going to miss a piece of history, and would not want to stop anyone else so the ladies locked up and we all went to witness the event.  That evening, I finished the Guiding Star.  I shall always remember this pattern and the changing moment in time when this star came into being. 

Queen Elizabeth ll was patron of over 600 charities.  I chose to gift this pattern to lacemakers to mark the occasion and would love it if a donation could be made to a charity instead of paying for this pattern. 

Bedfordshire/Cluny style lace  -  60 Pairs   -  18.5 cm hight  -  Print at A4

30wpc - suggested threads Gutermann Quilting Cotton.  Presencia Finca Bolillos  30 or 40   Madeira Tanne / Cotona 30. DMC Broder Machine 30 

Made using a Cluny technique for crossing over a trail.  I do prefer this method because if gives a smoother edge to the trails. 

Start at the tip and work down both sides to end at the point.  

Edge trail uses 6 passives, inner circle uses 4 passives. 

The Half Stitch Mystery

I found half stitch really difficult when I started, and this is how I made sense of it. There are many ways to make half stitch for different effects but for the beginner ribbon, this helped me.

Half stitch has a different rhythm to cloth stitch.

One of the worker pair (Fred) makes a new 'friend' at each half stitch. You can see Fred weaving across through the passives as you work, leaving behind his new 'friend' at each stitch, going off with a new 'friend' and leaving a horizontal, single thread weaving from side to side.

If you lose track, find the horizontal thread coming from the pin, that is Fred.

If you use two twists around the pin, Fred will stay as your main worker. This means you can keep control of the tension on the last row or two.

If you have passives to work in cloth stitch at the edge of a piece, use Fred and the friend he is with. When you reach the passives work through with cloth stitch. on returning to the half stitch ground, put extra twist on Fred and friend so Fred is always leading.

Starlight Kangaroo

 

'Starlight Kangaroo' pattern is my gift to Australian bobbin lacemakers who challenged me to design one, though anyone is welcome to make this little creature.  

The five silver stars of the Southern Cross feature in this little Bedfordshire Lace style kangaroo.  The leaves and flowers of the Golden Wattle make a trail down the tail and the leg.  

Print at A4

PDF is available. 

 

This pattern is not to be sold or republished digitally or in print without permission.  Personal use only.  You may sell the Starlight Kangaroo made in lace if you wish.  All patterns, diagrams and photographs remain copyright of Lesley F. Williams 2022

My Nostalgic Choice of Thread.

My preference for the Empress Mills thread is based on a nostalgic fondness for the part of England where I was raised and where this thread is made.  

There are probably many threads better suited to fine lace making, something to do with the direction of the twists and the number of cores.

 

White 4,000m reel

I buy 4,000m reels because I am continuously refining new designs on the pillow.  Using a plentiful supply of matching thread is one less thing to think about when I am elbow deep in a pillow full of bobbins!   Any yarn left on the bobbins will always match up and I only need to de-thread the bobbins when I change to a new reel.  

One day I hope I will use some of the beautiful threads I am hoarding!

This thread is not as widely available as others (although it is online) so here a list of a few comparable threads about the same wpc (wraps per centimetre)  as listed in Brenda Paternoster’s ‘Threads for Lace’ book (sadly now out of print)  the twists and the finishes will vary, as will the handling. 

Wraps per Centimeter

I am using Empress Mills long staple Egyptian Cotton Machine Quilting 50s - 3Z - 27 wpc.

Comparables are:-

Gutermann Quilting 3Z - 28 wpc

Presencia Finca Bolillos  30 - 3Z - 27 wpc 

Presencia Finca Bolillos  40 - 3Z - 29 wpc

Sulky
Premium All Purpose Mercerized Cotton 30wt - 2Z - 27 wpc

Valdani All Purpose mercerised cotton 35wt -  2Z - 28 wpc

Madeira Tanne / Cotona 30 - 2Z -  29 wpc

Mettler Quilting  Art no 136 - 40/3 - 3Z - 28 wpc

This is by no means an exhaustive list, many threads have become discontinued, new threads are constantly being released and, of course, it varies so much from country to country.

This is how I keep the thread clean. A hole in the top dispenses the thread and the reel stays still. The larger reels like this are designed to have the thread taken from the top of the reel, not from spinning around like the smaller ones.

Thread dispenser

Gift of a Sunflower

I present my gift of a sunflower motif to help spread a bit of cheer. 

 Made with 46 pairs and cotton thread of 30 wraps per centimetre it measures 8.5cm tall. Techniques used are leaf tallies, changing colours, plaits, double picots, half stitch, adding and throwing out pairs, starting edge and plaits in two directions

There are a few ways of adding/taking out coloured threads. Look at the photo on the blue background. The deep yellow of the circle around the petals can be seen running into the top of the green stalk. The yellow of the petals is added as a third pair for each leaf tally at the top, all are carried through the half stitch centre and then, after the windmill crossing through the circle at the other side, throw out the yellow pair and you are left with two pairs of white to make the plait. Hope this helps.

Ribbon pattern for fundraising

 I designed a charity ribbon pattern after being asked to sell a large donation of lacemaking equipment for Blood Cancer UK charity.   The colour for this charity is red, but could be made in any colour for any charity fundraiser.

This pattern is my gift to any lace makers who would like to make a simple piece and to maybe help a good cause at the same time.

Start at one end, work all the way around the top loop, back to the middle and just sew the worker thread into the four pins at each corner where it crosses then throw out at the end and weave the last two pairs back in.  Throw out pairs at the same rate you add them in the first place.