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| One
of the greatest pleasures in making lace is that you can use beautiful
things as you are doing it. Beginners usually start with plain wooden
or plastic bobbins which are good in their own way but they lack the
feel and character of individually hand-crafted bobbins. |
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circle of beads on the end of each bobbin is known as a spangle and
is characteristic of Midlands (or Continental) bobbins. Besides having
a very practical purpose in that they add weight to the thread, helping
to keep the tension of the lace as it is worked, they can be glorious
in their own right. Some of the spangles on this pillow contain painted
beads, semi-precious stones and faceted crystals which reflect the
light. |
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| If
you look at some of the close-ups
of the bobbins on the pillow, you will get a better idea of the individual
bobbins and their spangles. All these are the work of Eric and
Jacqui Southworth. Their range has developed since I acquired
my collection and they are now concentrating on hand-painted boxwood
bobbins as well as aluminium bobbins, a beautiful selection of which
can be seen on Jacqui's
web pages. |
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have used only two of Jacqui's hand-painted bobbins on my pillow.
It is traditional for lacemakers to have bobbins to commemorate particular
events or with names or sayings on them. Mine read: Time is Flying
and Forget not God. I took them from inscriptions
on Church clocks, each letter marking the hour. |
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