Finding the right thread for a lace project has been a problem ever since I started lacemaking more than a quarter of a century ago. Then, my problem concerned finding the right thread for Bucks – I’d eves-drop on knowledgeable conversations and search for the currently-recommended thread; then it would be discontinued.

But when one learns of the enormous quantity a firm would need to spin of a particular thread, and the relatively tiny market we represent, one cannot blame spinners for discontinuing anything which does not have a ready sale.
Life has certainly been more interesting since I took the opposite approach, and sought to find what one could do with threads which are produced other textiles, in the hope they would turn out useful lace, too.

Relatively few yarns stay in production year-in, year-out, but one which does is the Finnish linen-tow yarn produced by Vuorelma, which can be obtained from Riitta Sinkkonen-Davies, a Finnish weaver living in Wales.  The flax they use is grown without fertilisers and insecticides, making it eco-friendly, and most of their colours are also dyed with ecological dyes.
I discovered it during my bursary work – Riitta imports it from her native land, and sells it mainly to her students, but a small ad in the Weavers Journal was passed to me by a relative, and it was with a certain amount of disbelief that I discovered what a wonderful range it was.

Postcard: Through the Snow by Riitta Sinkkonen Davies.

If I were only allowed one kind of fibre I would choose linen, but I know there are those who hate it, because of its uneveness. So they can switch to another article now, as the coloured yarn from Vuorelman has a character all of its own – tow is the short fibre which gets removed when smooth wet-spun linen is being produced, and its presence gives yarn a hairy and wiry nature.

The linen tow yarns are also a single strand, which can unravel and part if one is not careful.  So why use it for lacemaking?  Because it has life and lustre, and comes in a wonderful range of colours, both bright and subtle; two sizes of skein, including a 50 metre mini-skein ideal if one only wants a small quantity of a number of colours; and two thicknesses, one of which, no. 4, is the thickest linen yarn I have come across, and ideal for heavyweight work.

Riitta spins and dyes her own flax, so why does she bother with Vuorelma? “It is difficult to find such a good colour range in most yarns available.  The tow yarns are more interesting because they are slightly uneven.  I have used them for over 30 years, and seen their quality to improve and improve.

“I use them for all my table linens because they also have a very good wash fastness.  For my pictures and wall hangings I use a combination of Vuorelma yarns and my handspun linen yarns – I use commercial yarns where I can and spin only the ones I can’t buy; the thicker and highly textured ones, and the kind that change colour along the way.”

My helpful relative Jaquie Teal (who not only tats but is also a first class spinner, weaver, knitter, lacemaker, bobbin maker …) suggested that it would be a good idea to open out the commercial skein and wash it before use.  I skein it onto a second skeiner, soak it for half an hour in hand-hot Fairy Liquid, which also frees up loose fibres and slightly pre-shrinks it, rinse it and ball it when dry. By then it is much softer and the more it is washed and worn, the more beautiful it becomes.

Postcard: Waterfall, 92 x 128cm, woven in linen, wool and lurex by Riitta Sinkkonen Davies.

Postcard: December Twilight woven in linen and wool by Riitta Sinkkonen Davies.

Riitta’s reputation gained her a wonderful commission a few years ago. Devotees of Shakespeare may know that his birthplace in Stratford has been the subject of a renovation project which turned back the clock to show the life he would have lead.  Furniture and furnishings were re-created in as authentic a way as possible – and for the linen bedspread, Riitta spun the yarn.

“The bedspread was woven by Simon Cooper with a Jaquard loom, which isn’t very authentic because Jaquard looms were not invented during Shakespeare’s time. They couldn’t find anybody at the time who would have had a draw loom, which would have been the loom for the original bedspread. I have since then had one through the Theo Moorman Trust Award – I would have loved to have woven it myself.”

The current Vuorelma shade card

I use the no 4 yarn as a supporting network for other yarns which do not have the body needed to hold the shape of the lace once the pins come out. As those who have seen my scarves and cushions will know, I use a huge range of threads (double-knitting and Aran weight with the no 4) chosen for colour and texture; why use one mauve when 10 will do?

Although I have never used the no 4 on its own, a rummage for illustrations for this article reminded me that I do have a project waiting for the right moment to use it. I designed a curtain back in about 1984, on a large grid, but knew of no suitable yarn other than a thick cotton rug warp, and couldn’t afford bigger bobbins (it is designed in strips, and a friend and I were going to make it together, only we got pregnant instead!).

I made a test strip a couple of years ago in no 4, but realised that the project was still going to take more time than I had available, so put it away.  I think I can enlarge the grid even further when I finally come to make it.

The no 8 is finer (more like a 16/2 linen) and more highly twisted – that was used for the Compuswirl 1 panel which won me a trophy in the Lace Guild’s Reflections exhibition, which I had made mainly as a test-bed; I needed to see how viable the yarn was in a large project.  I had very little trouble with it, although I did have to re-twist some threads (I use Continental bobbins) to stop them coming apart half-way down.  It mixes well with embroidery threads such as perle 8 and stranded cotton.

Compuswirl 1 bobbin lace on a sensitive grid by Jane Atkinson in Vuorelma no 8

Bockens linen tow is also sold by William Hall of Cheadle Hulme in Cheshire, but since he can supply a wide range of other yarns, too, I shall tackle him text time.  Vuorelman also sell finer wet-spun linens in natural and bleached (one also in red and black) but I have not tried these out, although they look very good.

Grid guide: no 4 – 14mm (straight); no 8 – 10mm

Riitta Sinkonnen-Davies may be contacted at Mathom House, Moorland Road, Freystrop, Haverfordwest, Pembrokeshire SA82 4LE; tel: 01437 890712; e-mail: ritta@rasdavies.co.uk Shade cards cost £2.50, and mini-skeins of no. 4 cost £1.90 and of no. 8 cost £1.40.