Spider and line ground is a Torchon ground or open part of lace. One unit of spider ground is a spider surrounded by Torchon ground. The framing lines of ground keep the legs of the spider apart, unlike spider ground. If this is an 8 legged spider, then it needs four pairs on bobbins, two on each side, plus either one or two pairs for the framing lines. See pattern 51.
The French for this type of ground is (I think) fond d'orge - orge means barley, so this would be 'barley ground'.
Pattern representation of spider ground
The diagram below shows several units of spider and line ground. The diagram below avoids the complexities of the individual stitches by showing each pair of threads as a single line. Work a spider or Torchon ground stitch at each pin. The details of of the stitches are not shown in detail below - follow the links in the previous sentence if you are not familiar with them.
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Working: Work the top spider. Then work the Torchon ground underneath, to frame the spider, and separate the legs. Do this for each spider.
Note that, as with all framing effects, the line of Torchon ground may be done at the start, and is then done once between each spider. So the bottom framing line of one spider is also the top framing line of the next. There is not two lines of Torchon ground between the spiders!
Remember that the leg of a spider is a twisted pair. It is not a plait. We are doing Torchon lace, not English Midland.
This page shows 8 legged spiders. You could, of course, have 12 legged spiders or even 16 legged spiders instead. It depends on the pattern. Count the legs!
This produces a more sensible effect than spider ground, but it is fairly similar visually to Torchon ground - see photo above. This is because this example has 8 legged spiders. It would be more effective with 12 or 16 legged spiders. But then it starts taking up a lot of room. Sometimes a Torchon pattern will have a single 8 legged spider surrounded by Torchon ground - see pattern 8. This takes up the same amount of room as a 16 legged spider.
© Jo Edkins 2016 - return to lace index
