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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Northern Lights Lodge, post: 9806664, member: 13464&quot;]Hi Aquitaine, </p><p>Believe it or not; it is actually pretty easy to keep track! The blue and black line drawing beneath is her pattern (and behind her you can see a large black and white line drawing) which is her &quot;technical drawing&quot;... that is used if you get &quot;lost&quot;. Once the pattern is laid, and the bobbins strung from wherever is deemed the &quot;starting point&quot;; everything is fairly orderly. </p><p><br /></p><p>Think of it in terms of &quot;off loom&quot; weaving. Typical weaving is where your warp threads are anchored top and bottom and you typically only have a few weft threads which are manipulated across the row with a shuttle.</p><p><br /></p><p>With any form of bobbin lace, the warp threads are &quot;open ended&quot;, meaning they are pinned (anchored) to the top of your work and the other ends are attached to bobbins. Then the weft threads are also attached to bobbins. </p><p><br /></p><p>In essence, the warp threads &quot;sort of&quot; all stay in the same place while the weft threads twist and cross over and under the warp threads. That would make a simple woven piece of cloth. </p><p><br /></p><p>The trick with bobbin lace making is that the weft threads may go through some of the warp threads but at some point interchange (or dance - if you will) with warp threads, and that creates the pattern ... and makes the holes/openings/voids in the weaving, which makes it lace like. </p><p><br /></p><p>I assure you, she&#039;s been working lace a long time which does make it eye boggling. But an experienced lacemaker can identify her threads and stitches VERY quickly and so although it seems very random... it&#039;s really not!&nbsp; </p><p><br /></p><p>The other thing I tell people that when they are watching someone work. They need to see it from the lacemaker&#039;s point of view. It ALWAYS makes more sense from her side of the pillow. When watching as a spectator from the other side of the pillow - it is terribly confusing, as you are watching upsidedown and backwards. I always had people come stand behind me so that they could see it from my side.</p><p><br /></p><p>I hope that little explanation helps. BUT, it does give some perspective to how long it took/takes to make a piece of &quot;fine handmade bobbin lace&quot; and why in the 17-1800&#039;s it was SO expensive. It _IS_ labor intensive!</p><p><br /></p><p>Cheerio, </p><p>Leslie[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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