Bucks Handkerchief

Jean Leader

Lacemaker and Textile Enthusiast

Bucks Point Handkerchief

This handkerchief is one of the pieces I submitted for The Lace Guild’s Intermediate Assessment in Bucks Point lace in 1987. This old pattern (ring of honeycomb buds with cloth centre) also came from The Technique of Bobbin Lace by Pamela Nottingham, first edition ISBN 0-7134-3230-6 (I didn’t have very many lace books then) and is on p. 169–170.

I worked it with 80/2 gassed cotton with pearl cotton 8 for a gimp. I found some inaccuracies in the pricking but once these were corrected the pattern worked out well. I also made some alterations to the corner for which I found I needed seven extra pairs and an extra gimp pair (no instructions were given for the corner).

I have to confess that I’m impressed by the way I finished off — I had to use a magnifying glass to find the join which is shown in the enlarged detail below. For both this and the Butterfly handkerchief I made the handkerchiefs to fit the lace.

It is interesting that Eternity Rings, a pattern in An Introduction to Bobbin Lace Patterns by Bridget Cook, ISBN 0-88332-364-8, has a similar edge but with the centre of the ring of honeycomb buds left empty instead of being filled with cloth stitch.