When you have finished lace, you can just cut the threads. This is not advised, because the lace can become unravelled. It is better to tie it off. You can use either of two knots, reef knots (square knots) or overhand knots.
Click here for these simple ways of finishing lace.
Click here for how to finish a mat or edging. This requires reef knots (square knots).
Sometimes a lace pattern seems to have its bottom edge the same as a headside (or footside). You work this in a similar way to starting a piece of lace with headsides or footside along the top. Click here to see how to do this. The trick is to figure out the starting line of pins (or it may be marked on the pattern), turn the pillow, work the top, then turn the pillow back again.
The finish is not such a problem to find this line - it is, of course, the last line to be worked as opposed to the first. But you have a different problem. The threads do not drop off the bottom, where they can be tied off neatly as above. Instead, threads come in on both sides of the last, diagonal, line of pins, and you need to tie the threads above the pin to the threads below the pin. In the pattern below, the tie-offs happen at *.
A reef knot or square knot is advised. However, there are pins everywhere, and all the threads catch on the pins, and you cannot see what you are doing! It is best to start at one side, and push in all local pins up to their heads (so they do not get in the way). Leave the pin where the knot is to be tied. Work out which two threads need tying, and do so in the normal way. Remember that you need to tie threads across the join - it is not enough to tie the threads of a single pair together, as that will not join anything. Trim the ends as you've tied the threads, and gradually move along the line, pushing in more pins (or removing them if this will not affect the set of the lace as you tug the threads in making the knot). Hopefully you can make neat knots and a good finish. There are plenty of times that I haven't...
© Jo Edkins 2016 - return to lace index