Slinca Bauble

This is a new technique to me.  I only knew of 'dancing spiders' or circles made with trails before.   Slincas use turning stitches to create the hole in the center, the tensioning is important so the circle doesn't pull to one side.  These two baubles were made different ways. The first is Sybille's working which uses up to 10 pairs at a time.  The complete outside edges are worked first,  followed by the two trails which are added to the edge and sewn in at the opposite side, then the slincas are added.  The piece is worked from the back.  Beads are added in the center band of slincas.  The red and white threads used for the slincas show how the two red plaits and the two white plaits follow different paths. 

Worked by Sybille Zapf

I started my working of the bauble at the top loop using 4 pairs, two for the 'pin under four' edge, and two for the passives.  The most inside passive and the worker use a turning stitch instead of a pin.  Tension is important to make sure the band stays even because there is only one row of pins being used.  To make a turning stitch, use cross, twist, cross, twist, cross, leave the outer pair and use the inner of the two pairs to work through the waiting passive as normal with a cloth stitch and work the pin. 

Turning stitch

There are no pins used in the center, the center is worked using turning stitches.   A turning stitch is shown on patterns with a small circle where you would expect a pin to be.  This technique is used a lot in Milanese Lace, well worth having a look at some videos to see it being made. 

My thread was a bit on the thin side for this, so I added picots to each plaited 'leg'.   I worked my version by starting the edge on both sides and working down to the tail, adding each band in turn.  This way I added the threads for the bands and trails into one side as I worked the edge, and tied them off at the other edge before working the next trail or slinca band.   If I had been working with all one colour, I could have taken the pairs into the edge passives and thrown them out as I worked down the edges but there were a lot to throw out at once, four consecutive edge pins had to have two pairs thrown out, so tying off was a better option.  The side which faced upwards had to be the 'wrong' side of the finished lace because of the knots.

The thick coloured sparkle thread was added as a single gimp thread.  Twist the worker twice after working though the passive pair before the gimp thread.  Lift the LEFT worker (this is the same whichever direction you are going) and pass the gimp under the left and over the right bobbin, replace the left bobbin to the left and twist the workers twice before the next passives are worked in cloth stitch.  

This way of adding a thick thread is traditionally used with only white thread, sometimes with a thick thread, sometimes with a bundle of ground threads, sometimes a thick thread may 'carry' some ground threads along with it to get them to a further point.   The single worker which goes over the top of the contrasting gimp in this piece gives a stripy look to the edge and trails. 

Worked by Lesley FW

Following the diagram for the slinca, the two plaits added at the center top split into pairs to make a double halo. The two outer plaits split into pairs and weave in and out to create the contrast in the center.  Between the two halos, my worker has two twists because the thread was rather thin, this exaggerated the space between the halos. A thicker thread, like Sybille's, may only need one, or no twists, it is worth experimenting to find out what your thread needs and which look you want to go for.  There will be other ways of making slincas, in a way, it is a bit like a fancy compound spider. 

Slincas are unusual in that they can be added after a piece has already been finished.  If it is still on the pillow, you can add to the outer edge to make a piece bigger, or fill in a space with just an odd slinca.  They can be made alone, but they would need stiffening because the points of the plaits may try and warp.