To me, a travel pillow is one that is compact and is easy to transport.
A
travel pillow may have a separate case with carrying handle, or fold
up into
it's own carrying case. It may be as simple as a 12" cookie pillow
in a
tote bag, or intricate with a roller or movable blocks and custom-made
bag.
There are special midlands-style smaller bobbins that some people like
to
use with a travel pillow because they take less room than the standard
midlands. However, there are several styles of regular continental
bobbins
that are smaller in size normally, and these are used by some people.
Regular midlands can be used if the 'shelf' of the pillow has enough
room.
The size of bobbins can depend on the number of bobbins needed for
the lace
pattern being made and the size of the pillow. Travel pillows
often have a
small project or a narrow edging to keep the bobbin requirement low.
Word of warning -- if the bobbin size gets too small, it is more difficult
to pick them up and move them efficiently. At least it was with
my fingers.
It is less expensive if you can use bobbins you already own, instead
of
having to buy a whole new set. Unless you're looking for an excuse
to buy
more bobbins!!!
Happy lacing,
Alice in Oregon |
I bought some travelling bobbins early on, just because I fell in love
with those cute baby bobbins, but I don't use them!! I made the mistake
of spangling them same as normal size bobbins, i.e. with 1 big +
decreasing sizes beads, and since you need to use smaller beads to
keep
the scale, the bobbins are too light to hang properly. I am going to
re-spangle them with just one big, very heavy bead, or maybe one big
and 2 small ones.
Travelling bobbins are also no good with thicker threads, and I mean
even DMC 30, unless you are just making small pieces, but IMO,
travelling pillows are good for making long lengths of narrow lace
which you can leave and pick up over a long time, so you need to be
able to put a fair amount of thread on your bobbins.
I'm making a long torchon edging in 50/2 linen at the moment on my
travelling pillow, with about 15-16 pairs (I haven't counted
properly!!) The width of the roller is 5 inches (about 12cms). I used
midlands, then switched to square continental with a really big neck,
so I could put more thread on ( I've done more than 6 metres so far,
how do I apply for membership of the 5 m. club??)
My travelling pillow is one I made at a workshop. It's very neat, with
a rectangular box-like bottom separated in 3 compartment. The roller
pillow is in the middle (material roll stuffed with cushion filling
polyester fibre), with room for extra bobbins, scissors, elastic band,
extra cover cloth... on each side.The box part is linked to a pair
of
long flat sides which fold over (look like a tent), with 2 little
triangular flaps on the sides to close up the short sides of the "tent"
When you make up the material outside, you stitch 2 long handles on
and
these hold the box and the flaps together and also allow uyou to hold
the folded pillow like you would a handbag. very clever and takes less
room than a fully rectangular box. I made a second one longer than
the
first, so I can make bigger edgings on it. You can also use the side
compartments to stuff your bobbins in when you travel, but I usually
leave them spread out on the flap with an elastic band to hold them
in
place, it's quicker than putting them all back in palce every time.
travelling pillows are a great idea!
Helene Gannac from Melbourne, Australia |