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Pattern 284 - Cretan maze walls (gimp)

Picture of lace

This is a reproduction of the walls of a Cretan unicursal maze (maze without branches). Click here for more maze patterns. Click here for more on mazes.

Pattern:
   Pattern of lace

Bobbins: 12 pairs and 8 gimps

Style: Torchon

Stitches:
   half stitch
   cloth stitch
   cloth stitch and twist
   gimp (pink)
   slip knot

Details:
   Torchon ground (grey)
   twisted footside (grey)
   circular mat
   how to finish

Description:

Follow the links above for explanation of how to work the different parts of the lace. This looks superficially like a circular mat. However, the Cretan maze is not just a collection of concentric circles, so this design is made up of five parts. Four are quarters of circular mats (but of different sizes!) and the fifth part is the start of the maze (where you enter the maze, and also the start of working the lace). This start is odd as threads go vertical and horizontal. So the start is along two sides of the strip, with pairs of bobbins starting both across the width, and along the edge. Below, I give the numbers of pairs at each pin, plus the extra false pins to hang the bobbins.

Pattern of lace

The diagram above also has arrows, to show which direction the threads travel at the start, and also how they leave the initial part (before the first turn of the pillow, to work the next part). 9 pairs enter the first quarter circle, while 3 pairs wait to join the second quarter circle. This happens because the first quarter circle is smaller than the second.

Click here for how to finish an edge.

This pattern uses gimps to show the walls of the maze. Click here for a description of gimps, including starting and finishing. The diagram below shows where the gimps have to start and finish. Most of the gimps can be hung as pairs. Some gimps start by themselves, and so must be hung using a skip knot.

Pattern of lace