Spider and dot ground is a Torchon ground or open part of lace. One unit of spider ground is a spider with the occasional Torchon ground stitch. These keep the legs of the spider apart, unlike spider ground. See pattern 54.
I think I have invented this! It only works with 8 legged spiders.
Pattern representation of spider ground
The diagram below shows several units of spider and dot ground. The diagram below avoids the complexities of the individual stitches by showing each pair of threads as a single line. Work an 8 legged spider or Torchon ground stitch at each pin. The details of of the stitches are not shown in detail below - follow the links in the previous sentence if you are not familiar with them.
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Working: The diagram above is rather confusing, as I have left out the lines which would be on the pattern. Also, this ground has a very jagged edge, so some extra stitches have to be worked after the first spider, to fill in around the side. Generally, work from the top downwards. If a pin has 2 pairs coming into it from above, then work a Torchon ground stitch. If there are 4 pairs coming it, work an 8 legged spider. Make sure that you have all the upper legs of the spider available before starting to work it.
Once into the ground proper, you will work a spider, then a single Torchon ground stitch, then another spider, and so on.
Remember that the leg of a spider is a twisted pair. It is not a plait. We are doing Torchon lace, not English Midland.
I worked out this ground while playing around with spider grounds. Conventional spider ground has the legs next to each other, which looks a little odd to me. You can frame the spiders with Torchon ground stitches to produce a spider and line ground, which is an accepted ground. But I wanted to see if there was any other way to keep the legs apart, and came up with this. I rather like the effect, but it is terrible to design! Not hard to work, though - just sort out which pin is a spider and which a Torchon ground, from the lines drawn on the pattern, and you'll be fine. But I advise that you are completely comfortable with working spiders first.
© Jo Edkins 2016 - return to lace index
