Wednesday, July 18, 2012

Meeting Highlights: Hairpin Lace


We had a good turnout for our July meeting despite the heat and the slight change of venue.

First the chapter business.

There are seven spaces left for the September retreat.  There is still time to reserve your spot.  The early deadline was to ensure that we had enough interest to book the venue, and we made our minimum registration.  The retreat will take the place of our Fifth Saturday meeting.  If you can’t spend the weekend, you can still spend the day.

Our September meeting will focus on expanding membership and participation in our guild.  We’ll have treats, door prizes, and some fun activities.  Plus, there will be a presentation on using the Internet to expand your crochet skills.  If you have any friends who crochet (or know someone who’d like to learn how), plan on inviting them to join us for this special meeting.

Gail attended the CGOA conference in New Hampshire.  She took along samples of our business cards, brochures and other materials for the chapter get-together.  Gail said the Lion Brand rep was impressed with our stuff, which we were all glad to hear.  Gail showed off swatches from all the classes she attended, the most interesting being a two-color illusion technique; from one angle, you just see stripes, but tilt the fabric and an image appears.  The best news of all was that once again, she won the chapter challenge and a monetary prize.  Congratulations, Gail!

Maxine taught us the basics of hairpin lace.  The most difficult part is getting the first loop on the left leg of the hairpin loom and setting the slip knot in the center.  Most books and tutorials today call for starting with a single loop, but decades ago, the braid was started with loops around both legs of the loom.  Some hints for working with hairpin lace:

  • Use a hook several sizes smaller than the yarn calls for.
  • Always turn your loom in the same direction.
  • If working a long strip and you need to remove loops from the loom, use guidelines to keep the loops from twisting.
  • If your stitches tend to waiver down the braid, use your thumbnail to push your stitches in the proper direction; this will tidy them up and straighten the stitches.
  • For some good tips and excellent tutorials, check out http://www.stitchdiva.com/.

Our next meeting will be August 11th, when Jodi will take us through the basics of crocheting with wire.