All the filling stitches are done! So now I get to outline the whole thing in buttonhole stitch. I really don't like those heavy padded edges exxcept in very simple pieces. I think that's why I like Romanian Point Lace better. Once you're done with the fillings, you're done. It's just a matter of clipping it off the pattern piece and cleaning it up. The crochet braid is flatter too than buttonhole stitch. But we'll see. I might fool myself.

The second bar is made by doing a buttonhole stitch, first the normal way and then reversed, so it ends up looking like a tatted double stitch. You leave a little space between the stitch sets and do the same thing on the opposite side.

The triangle cones were new for me too. You do the simple Russian stitch (the narrow bar above this one) and then weave back and forth making triangles or cones. The tricky part is that when you are halfway, you have to whip the thread up to the next point to work the cone from point to width. It tends to pull and lump a bit so I need to practice that one more.

I'm wanting to make a few RPL pieces for our lace exhibit but I'll probably do a few more needlelace samples first. I want to make the simple leaf, even simpler than the one I've already couched down, and then I want to do the petals for a simple flower I've seen. The trace threads are couched down with a thin wire to help form the petals when you are done.

I dyed some threads over the weekend too and hope to use some of them in my next piece.