Shortly after Tess made her video, David Collyer, an Australian Arachne member (and a very fine lacemaker and musician), published his video on leaf tallies.
David’s Tønder lace is amazing. Below is a photo of an edging in progress. I think it’s also pinned to his lace pillow in the video.
Here’s another video in Italian by Francesca, a Cantu lacemaker.
Now about those hundreds of bobbins — although it looks very intimidating when the bobbins are fanned out, the lacemaker is not working with all of them simultaneously! The hands only handle two pairs (four bobbins) at a time, crossing and twisting the pairs. The rest are kept in waiting, often coralled with stitch holders or homemade bobbin holders. Beginners usually start with a simple pattern like cloth stitch, worked with 6 or 8 pairs, then progress to a bookmark or narrow edging.
