Giraffes - A Milanese Lace Challenge -New Giraffes added as they are made.

The online bobbin lace group I enjoy socializing and learning with has chosen this rather sweet pattern of 11 giraffes made in Milanese Lace.  This is a bobbin lace which uses few bobbins, usually a dozen pairs give or take a few.  

The swirls and interlocking ribbons of the designs marry with the precise, geometric patterns to create some of the most fluid and beautiful modern pieces of lace I have ever seen.  I wanted to use Milanese Braids very early on in my lace journey and have only now started to approach them and these little sampler bands working with 11 different Milanese braids are an ideal introduction. 

Giraffe 1

The first little giraffe started fine, a bit of double edging and cloth stitch for the head to get the confidence up, then into a relatively simple, straight edged band of 'Lotus'. So far so good. 

Here is the playlist of the 5 youtube videos I made to help our Bobbin Lace Along facebook zoom group.   

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLtaX_I87zRKWuzSJOWTQ1fhYMYTvV8D6B&si=zhBkAaniGapKNjO2

ttp://www.kantmetklossennl/ http://www.kantmetklossen.nl/

Bonny Van Bergan kindly donated this pattern for free and it is in the 'Files' tab in the 'Bobbin Lace Along' facebook group, her other lovely patterns are available from   h

https://www.kantmetklossen.nl/op-het-land

Giraffe 2

The second giraffe proved a little more difficult.  We had to learn how to make a Milanese scroll to make the head bend at the neck.  The 'Fish number 1' braid was easy enough to make but I made a mistake when drawing out my own, narrower version for making the video.  I have marked on the diagram below, the two twists I missed off my little sample pattern, but on the video I corrected it as I made it.   I made the 20 minute video in one take (I don't do editing), so I just made a note in the comments and carried on. 

The more I learn, the less I feel I know about this delicate and challenging fibre art. 

https://youtu.be/c7v0fdOkWyU?si=ccSf04gb-rCQwyN_

Giraffe 3

To be continued...