Simple lace cane - 30th April 2011

Here are the notes for the second cane for some workshops, you may have tried this in the session, or we may have talked about it, if you have any questions at all please get in touch, I'm always more than happy to help.

First choose two contrasting colours

Use half a block of each colour but you could use the whole of each for a larger finished cane.

Roll one colour into a log shape, keeping it short and chunky.

Roll the contrasting colour out until it is long enough and wide enough to cover the log completely, either with a pasta machine on its thickest setting, or by hand.

Wrap the log in the contrasting colour, taking care to join carefully and smooth the joint. This is now a bullseye cane.

Roll out your bullseye cane until it is long enough to cut into seven sections (you could reserve some at this stage too to make contrasting bulleye cane beads)

Cut your long sausage into seven pieces and put them together in the 'flower' pattern, one in the centre and the other six around it.

When assembled, pinch gently in the middle to begin to expel any air, and then roll the new cane out until it is again long enough to cut into seven sections.

Cut the sections again, and reassemble in the 'flower' pattern once more. Pinch and roll as before, this process is called reducing your cane. Remember that this is the last roll, and will determine the size of the pattern in the middle.

Have fun!