This is another piece of lace with two footsides. It introduces diamonds, a common Torchon solid cloth design. There are no new stitches, if you have done the previous patterns, but you need to combine the different elements, and there are more bobbins.
The photo below is normal size. There is a close-up at the bottom of this page giving more detail.
| Pattern: |  |
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Bobbins: 10 pairs
Style: Torchon
Stitches:
half stitch
cloth stitch and twist
cloth stitch
Details:
Torchon ground (grey)
twisted footside (grey)
diamond (red)
solid cloth stitch
Description:
You start with Torchon ground and twisted footside. Work all the pin holes above the diamond, but don't use the pinholes actually on the edge of the diamond (you'll need those to actually work the diamond).
The diamond is made of cloth stitch, but not quite the same as the block of cloth stitch in the cloth sampler. The rows gradually increase in length, as pairs get added from the right and left, until you get to the widest point. Then they gradually decrease in length until by the end of the diamond, there are only 2 pairs again.
You start with 2 pairs. Then every row has one more pair. The longest row has five passive pairs (plus the worker pair). Then every row has one less pair, until you end up with 2 pairs at the final point (or you don't, which means you've made a mistake! You'll need to undo the lace until you've found where the mistake is. Or get someone else to do it.) Remember - in a diamond, for every row, you either add a pair, or drop off a pair.
There are various pairs leaving the diamond, heading for the next bit of Torchon ground. Twist all these pairs before starting the Torchon ground. (If you prefer, you can twist each pair as it leaves the fan. If you do this, check at this point that you remembered to twist them!) The reason for these twists is that the threads in a pair tend to separate if not twisted. Most lace stitches end in a twist, but cloth stitch doesn't. So when pairs leave cloth stitch, they should be twisted before the next stitch.
Click here to see how to do the diamond. Click here to see how to do solid cloth stitch.
Close up of the lace, so you can see the working in more detail
© Jo Edkins 2019 - return to lace index