On Questions on Bobbin Lace Making:

I have gotten some questions on my bobbin lace. So, I’ll answer them today here so anyone else that thought about asking but didn’t get around to commenting can get the answers too.

1. It looks so complicated, how do you keep it all straight?



























As you can see in the picture, the threads meet at the pins and all you need do is follow the thread down to the bobbins to know which ones to pick up and work with at a time.

If you keep your bobbins in order (Meaning the threads are all lined up from the work down to the bobbins.) and you are working from a pattern, the count is always from left to right and the left most pair is always one, the second always two and so on.

The pattern may say ‘5-6 linen stitch’ and you know to pick up the fifth and sixth pair and do the linen stitch with them.

2. What happens if you make a wrong stitch somewhere?

I go back and fix it. I take out the work done after the mistake and redo it. I must say, I do try not to make many mistakes.

3. How long does it take?

To learn? As long as it takes to get your hands to remember what to do. There are only five basic stitches to start with. The rest of the time is in practice and concentration.

To make one repeat of the pattern I‘m using in the picture? About fifteen minutes. I’m slower then I used to be and there is a lot of stopping and starting to exchange working bobbins and place pins.

4. What’s up with the pillows?


I have five different kinds of pillows: a cookie or flat round disk on a board for flat pieces like doilies,(like my picture here) a ball pillow for things like lace baby caps, a Victorian cylinder or roller in a pillow for edging, the cone for making corners for handkerchiefs and collars, and the bolster for edgings or wider pieces. All are hard packed with stuffing to hold the pins steady in place and I made all my pillows myself. But there are places you can buy them.

5. What kind of Bobbins do you have?

I get them from a lot of different places. I have wood, plastic, and a few glass. Some are fancy, others plain. Different ones for different size and type of thread. Some are heavier, others lighter. Some are old, others new.

I learned using push pins for hanging laundry to dry as my first bobbins and kite string.

I’ll be happy to help you find answers to any other questions about bobbin lace. It really is easier then it looks. But, I must say it is not for the impatient unless you are looking for a tutorial on patients. It takes a long time to have a good piece of hand made lace.

On Basket Care:

A number of people commented on my basket blog yesterday so here goes.

Although I do not use all my 126 baskets in my house at one time, I do use them. Only a few are just for show. Some of my baskets are over thirty years old. My house is decorated in a ‘catch as catch can’ style. What pulls it all together is the birds and baskets in all the rooms.

The baskets you get with flowers or fruit are often the ones that have a shellac or color on them that comes off when you try to wash them. These I usually just get rid of because I don’t want it coming off on any food or projects that I might keep in it.

Baskets are washable to some extent. ‘Do Not soak in a tub of hot water!’ I use a spray hose in the bathtub and warm water. I spray them hard for a few seconds to get the worst of the dust off and shake them to get the excess water off. And of course I wash each basket with suds before I use it for food.

The trick is to get them dried before they loose shape. I do a more thorough cleaning in the summer when I can spread them out on the grass to dry in the sun. It’s then that I have a soft scrub brush in a bucket of disinfectant sudsy water at one end of the bathtub to get the grime off. Then I rinse with the spray. Out to dry in the sun shine which also kills germs and after fifteen minutes or so I turn them in the sun to be sure they are dried completely before I put then back in place.

I do have some willow baskets that have sprouted pussy willow heads on some of the whips a few days after cleaning. But you can’t count on that happening.

I have boiled the baskets made for holding paper plates to clean them after a garden party or picnic. You just have to hold them flat with a plate that has something heavy on it to keep it from curling into a bowl shape as it dries.

That is really all there is to it. It’s the fact that I have so many that makes it a chore.

PS: Don’t tell the dolls in the doll house. I only clean their little baskets once a year.

On Answering Questions 12-21-08

Happy Solstice to everyone. A new season starts and change is coming as the earth changes it's orientation to the sun. Have fun with the day no matter what you have to do. We will take some time to play board and card games.

And happy first day of Hanukkah to my friends, family and acquaintances celebrating the holiday today. My dreidel is warmed up and I have a bowl of chocolate coins ready for the visits.

On to other things:

Just so you know there are friends and family of mine that read my blog and never use the built in comment function. I find emails days later in my personal email box asking questions or commenting on what I’ve written.

It is nice that they read it but it would be a little easier on me if they would just comment here like everyone else. You know, kind of keep it all together. I know they don’t like the ‘Deathwatch’ thing. I love them anyway.

Anyway I’m answering some of the questions I got from them about the blog here because they are in fact blog questions.


















Yes, I did make the lace and quilted hearth on the mantle. Thanks for asking.















No, I’m not trying to kill myself knitting mittens at breakneck speed. I’m trying to get as many pairs of mittens done now so I have free time to visit and enjoy the holidays while still fulfilling my commitment to the Kevin‘s Mittens Project. I'm still tucking tails and tagging the finished ones for this week.

Yes, I’m still watching my weight. I am holding steady for the holidays. I’d be crazy to pass up all the treats just to loose a pound or two when I can enjoy a little and keep on track. Now you ask? I’m filling up with air popped pop corn and water before I leave the house. I’m do not have the will power to pass it all up so I don’t leave the room for much in the first place. It makes it easier to stop at just one.

I hope everyone is and will have a happy and healthy holiday season.

Sincerely, Lady Euphoria

On Getting It Straight:

My blog yesterday sounded like Mountain Man and I spent the day in different rooms for the Thanksgiving Holiday. Not the case. We ate together and played cards, Gin Rummy, and we each won an equal amount of games I’m glad to say. We also hung out together while taking turns during the day controlling the TV.

On to answering some questions I‘ve gotten about the Kevin Mittens.















1. What pattern are you using for your mittens?
After going over a lot of different patterns I took a little bit of this and a little bit of that from all the other patterns I had. I’m currently typing up the pattern with all the sizes and I’ll post it here when I’m done. So far I’ve been using #4 worsted weight yarns and size 4 US doub pt needles.















2. What are those colored marks on your knitting needles in the pictures?
Since I make some of my own knitting needles and I don’t have a branding iron to mark the size on them, I paint a band on them in different colors so I can tell the sizes apart at a glance.

3. What size mittens are you making?
I’m making all different sizes, from baby’s to men’s extra large. Although I’m making more larger sizes because too big is better than to small. I’ll make more of the smaller ones as the yarn in the stash gets lower too.

4. How are you going to keep yourself from getting bored with the mitten project?
I have what I call an honor project going at the same time. This time it’s a sweater for myself that I only get to knit one row after each mitten is finished. And since I’m giving away the mittens each week it helps keep track of my progress. By New Year’s Day I’ll have thirty-eight or more rows done.

So far for my goal of knitting one mitten a day until New Years Eve is going well. I have been knitting the mittens for four days and have six mittens or three pair done.

On My Own Kind of Blogging:

I was just sitting here thinking about life, the universe and everything, and thought about how someone asked me why I hadn’t commented on any of the recent disasters or politics in the world on my blog?

I would like to publish some of the comments that get emailed to me about my blog but I can’t break my family and friends of emailing me at my privet email address that is not connected to the blog. So I am sometimes forced to jump over their heads and write a blind blog about a subject not in the comments boxes.

Anyway, in answer to that, I know that there are many blogs out there that do talk about those things. I see no need to rehash those things here at this time. I try hard to limit my blog entries so as not to over load anyone with time consuming diatribes or rants. And I believe anyone who wants to know how I feel about a subject can of course email me and ask. ladydeathwatch@gmail.com

I like to think of us as friends talking over tea and don’t want to abuse my friendships by getting into all the destruction and stupidity out there. I am an up side, cup half full kind of person. Yes, I can get down at times, I’m human. But I do try to see the good side of things most of the time.

For example I have short term memory troubles from the chemo I had a few years ago for breast cancer. I spend my days roaming the house looking to see if I had in fact remembered to do this or that job that needed doing around here. I more often then not I surprise myself with finding a job done. I don’t get mad at the time wasted getting up and looking. Instead I revel in the surprise. ‘Look the laundry is done and I don’t have to do it a second time today. Surprise!’

There are plenty of depressing Goth’s that are looking to spread their brand of doom and gloom. I’m just not one of them. I’d rather think of the possibilities.

On My Being Goth:

I have been asked about being goth and I’m having a hard time explaining my gothness. For me it is about my feelings about what I am and my perception of my surroundings. I don’t need the clothing and makeup to be who I am. Not that I don’t love to dress up, because I do.

I miss my piercings. They all closed when my body over reacted to the chemo. I haven’t gotten them again yet. Mostly because of all the after care. It reminds me of the surgeries and treatments. The questions here is, ‘If you are goth why did you bother do something to stop the cancer from taking your life? Don’t you people want to die?’ Well, I really did have to think that one through before having treatments. And it came down to my family begged me to and that I wasn’t done doing a few things around here. I may be middle aged but I still have goals and desires. And thought death fascinates me, I could wait a bit longer before taking that particular plunge.

I look at a colorful world and see it in black and white. Not that I’m color blind, because I’m not. I see colors just fine. But I also see beyond them. The nuances of light and shadow. I see beauty in the broken, twisted, or maimed. I love the silhouette of plants in the winter. My twisted honeysuckle or spiky trumpet vine, dark against the gray winter sky holds so much more poetry then when in bloom.

One of my life’s credo’s is ‘When in doubt, Go for the shock value.’ Along with ‘Anything is possible, It’s the probability factor that gets in your way.‘ This of course mortifies and exasperates my mother, even now. She still tells me not to say or do things that embarrass her. Not for herself, she wants me to fit in. But I just can’t. I’ve tried. I don’t fit. Well not anywhere in the ‘normal‘ world.

For me being goth is part of my soul. And how do ‘you’ explain that to anyone else. Goth is just a part of me. A special part, but not all that I am. And for me that is a happy place. (Note the lack of smiley face here. But I‘d take a black rose.)