Bobbin lace

Treble Key pattern and resizing guide

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treble-keyWell, digitized and tested. Seems to be OK. Let me know if any errors occur, I’ll try to fix as soon as I can. You can download whichever file suits you best:

JPG file is the original one, pdf contains the original pattern for ~21 wraps/cm thread suitable for printing on A4 paper (unscaled).
The widest part of the lace requires ~14 – 15 pairs of bobbins.
Resizing even more
If you need to adjust the pattern for another size of thread you’ll need to do some simple math and a bit playing with your document editing software (MS Word, OpenOffice etc.).
The original pattern contains a “1 cm” guideline. When printed, it should be:

  • 1 cm length for the original pattern
  • shorter if your thread is thinner than 21 w/cm
  • longer if your thread is thicker than 21 w/cm (I don’t believe it could be the case, but who knows..)

Here comes the math. Let’s mark:

  • A – size of the original thread in w/cm (in my case – 21)
  • B – size of the new thread in w/cm (in my case – 34, was using Finca Bolillos No.50 for testing)
  • C – length the guideline should be when printed if pattern resized correctly

We calculate C:

  • C = A / B ( in my case – 21 / 34 = 0,62 – rounded to nearest decimal part 0,6)

Works for most laces (can’t say “all”, so many untested yet… So much yarn, so little time…).
Now you just need it to print right. That’s the tricky part. I use a simple ruler and measure… computer monitor :D I’ve found out, that 1 cm line prints exactly 1 cm when I measure it as 1 cm line when MS Word page is zoomed to 130%. You need to play with this –- depends on your monitor and printer.
—————- Long math ——–
For those interested why “A / B” – long explanation (you don’t need to read this to use the result):
1 cm is either 21 wraps, or 34 wraps of thread. 1 cm is 100% of what we are measuring.

  • 21 wraps – 100%
  • 34 wraps – X%

We find “X” = 34 * 100 / 21. It’s 162%. This is amount of our thinner thread that should be used to cover 1 cm in the original pattern. We know the pattern should be smaller as thread is thinner. How much?

  • 1 cm – 162%
  • C cm – 100 %

We find this “C” = 1 * 100 / 162.
If we put those equations into one and do everything as our math teachers taught us :), we get the “C = A / B” above:

  • C = 100 / X = 100 / (34 * 100 / 21)
  • C  = 100 / (B * 100 / A) = 100 * (A / B * 100) = A / B

————- End of Long math

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