Bedfordshire Edge 2

I have been continuing on with the samples in Pamela Nottingham's "Bedfordshire Lace Making" as per my challenge 3 for 2009 which I lised here. Pattern No.2 is a continuation of the first, revising the footside, the plaits & the picots, as well as introducing the "leaf" or "petal" shaped tally. It has been quite some years since I have worked tallies, and then only a few of the square ones, so these leaf shaped ones are new to me. I was brave, and had a go all by myself. All I can say is that they definately take practice, practice, practice & still more practice. I wasn't too happy with them on the pillow, but now the lace is off the pillow I feel much happier with them, and they definately got better the more I did.

The pic above is the beginning of the sample, where I had absolutely no idea as to what I was doing. Girls on one of my on-line lace groups have given encouraging comments such as "all leaves are different in nature" & " it takes about 1000 tallies to get them right". One lady asked if my tallies looked like silverfish........................ ah, yes, at least the first couple do. I soon learnt to widen them.

This next pic is the center section of the sample and they are definately fatter than silverfish.

I read as many books as I could find, and got suggestions from a few people on-line. In the end I worked out my own method and was reasonally happy with what I ended up with. I just had trouble with them twisting. I think this might be a tension thing but I am not sure.

The last pic is the final end of the sample, definately much better than the beginning. I am not sure if I am connecting them correctly to the footside, and the outside edge of the tallies are not as smooth as I would like. So I have booked myself in for a lesson with a reputable lace teacher who only lives five minutes drive from me. So this sample is going to be repeated, maybe in a different thread.

All in all I think I did OK for a first effort by myself. My picots have definately got better as well, that is if I don't miss one. Any comments on how to improve these tallies will be greatfully recieved.