Half An Inch Wide

Day 132: It takes a lot of cordwood to make a little half-inch wide lace! Yes, twenty-five bobbins go into the manufacture of "Little Hearts," my favorite handkerchief edging from "100 Traditional Bobbin Lace Patterns" by Geraldine Stott and Bridget Cook.

This image shows a different type of bolster referred to as a "cookie pillow." Mine is not quite as big as I'd like (16" diameter) and when I get close to a corner, the bobbins are difficult to manipulate because they hang off the edge. The stuffing for the pillow must be packed until it is very firm in order to stabilize the pins which hold the lace in shape. Many lacemakers use finely cut straw for the filling as I have done here, pounding it with a rolling pin or a mallet until it is compacted. The pattern is pricked in hard-card and the design is inked onto it as a guide. The edges of the card are pinned down and the pinheads covered with ribbon or cloth to prevent snagging of the lace-making threads. You do not want knots in bobbin lace, so you must take measures to keep delicate threads from being broken. At the end of each session at the pillow, the lace-maker stretches one or more pieces of elastic across the bobbins to prevent them from becoming tangled.

The sound of hardwoods clinking against each other is quite musical, reminiscent of a bamboo windchime, and a good ear can tell one wood from another by the tone. Ebony has a sharp, high note, zebrawood a softer and more muted sound. Some of these bobbins are ones I turned myself, based on the style of the others which were purchased from a private source. One special bobbin appears here as well, a gift from one of my wonderful internet friends! Thank you, Di!