This is a traditional English Midland headside, made into a simple pattern.
Pattern:
Bobbins: 8 pairs
Style: English Midland
Stitches:
plait
lazy join
picot (red)
join - 2 pair + 1 pair
cloth stitch and twist
Details:
simple headside (pink and blue)
twisted footside (green)
Description:
In English Midland lace, it is important to sort out which line on the pattern is a plait, and which is a single pair, twisted. In this pattern, the footside (green) has single pairs, while the headside is made of plaits. The headside has two plaits constantly crossing each other, to make the pattern.
The cross-over is done with a lazy join (sometimes called a windmill). The pinholes along the left edge, apparently outside the headside, are for the picots. The pins are there to give the headside its shape, with the points and the curves, and the picots add a decorative flourish.
This headside may be often used in English Midland lace to give a flourish at the edge of a complicated pattern. As you can see, the bobbins stay in the headside, and join the rest of the lace at a pin, before returning to the headside.
Here is a larger scale photo, to see the working:
© Jo Edkins 2024 - return to lace index