Category: Bridget Cook

11/3/2021 0 Comments

Le Pompe, 1559 by Santina M Levey and Patricia C Payne

Publisher : Ruth Bean Publishers; First Edition (1 Sept. 1983)
ISBN-10 : 0903585162
ISBN-13 : 978-0903585163

Le Pompe, 1559 by Santina M Levey and Patricia C Payne
Subtitle - Patterns for Venetian bobbin lace
Across the lace world, the book Le Pompe is mentioned in hushed, reverential tones. This books seen as one of the historical root publications of lacemaking and was referenced by a number of writers at the turn of the 19th / 20th centure.

The patterns have a heavy look to them, as though they were drawn using marker pen, but this due to the book being printed using woodblock. Whilst to today's lacemaker, Venetian bobbin lace looks and feels like a cross between Milanese and Bedfordshire with a hint of Idrija and Russian.

This book is split into sections:

Facsimile of the 1559 book with an introduction by Santina M Levey
Facsimile of a selection of pages from the 1560 edition
Technical Section by Patricia Payne
Glossary
How to make your own prickings.

What works well?

The text is clear and the black and white illustrations (by Bridget M Cook) / photo work well.

Anything that we need to take into consideration?

A number of the patterns need to be enlarged; the percentage for doing this is clearly stated on the prickings.
This book is currently out of print, however, occasionally second hand copies do appear. Check closely though, at the price being asked.

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3/2/2021 0 Comments

100 Traditional Bobbin Lace Patterns - Geraldine Stott & Bridget Cook

Publisher : Batsford Ltd (29 Sept. 1982)
ISBN-10 : 0713439262
ISBN-13 : 978-0713439267

100 Traditional Bobbin Lace Patterns by Geraldine Stott & Bridget Cook
In the early 1980s, Bridget Cook and Geraldine Stott published a number of books that changed how we looked at lace pattern books. They introduced three colours in the diagrams;

Red for cloth stitch (CTC)
Blue for half stitch (CT)
Black for weaving and gimp threads)

In addition to using the colours in the diagrams, each of the patterns has clear instructions on how to work them.

I would say that this is more aimed at the adventurous beginner who has mastered the basic stitches and is confident in reading a pattern.

I would probably recommend Geraldine Stott's Visual Introduction to Bucks Point as more of a beginners' book to learn from.

What works well?

The use of multi-coloured diagrams really help in learning the techniques

Anything that we need to take into consideration?

This book is out of print, but readily available on online book sellers, eBay and through lace suppliers

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2/2/2021 0 Comments

Russian Lace Patterns - Anna Korableva & Bridget M Cook

Publisher : Batsford Ltd (5 July 1996)
ISBN-10 : 0713467924
ISBN-13 : 978-0713467925

Russian Lace Patterns by Anna Korableva & Bridget M Cook
This one of the holy grails of lace books and is extremely difficult to find at a reasonable price.

This book contains a number of outstanding pictorial pieces designed by Ann Korableva including her rocking horse along with other patterns such as the lacemakers.

The four pieces, shown on the front cover, are in the book.

What works well?

The black and white photos are often far bigger than the actual lace patterns so these compliment the prickings adding visual information to the patterns.

Anything that we need to take into consideration?

This is a book of patterns and a knowledge of Russian and / or tape lace is assumed.
This book is out of print. It is very rare and commands exceptionally high prices when available second hand

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1/2/2021 0 Comments

Introduction to Bobbin Lace Patterns - Bridget M Cook

Publisher : Batsford Ltd; New edition (1 Sept. 1990)
Language : English
Paperback : 120 pages
ISBN-10 : 0713445149
ISBN-13 : 978-0713445145

Introduction to Bobbin Lace Patterns by Bridget M Cook
When this book came out in 1985 it was considered a game changer as it used three colours in the diagrams;

Red for cloth stitch (CTC)
Blue for half stitch (CT)
Black for weaving and gimp threads)

In addition to using the colours in the diagrams, each of the patterns has clear instructions on how to work them.

Although positioned as an introductory book, I would say that this is more aimed at the adventurous beginner who has mastered the basic stitches and is confident in reading a pattern.

I would probably recommend Geraldine Stott's Visual Introduction to Bucks Point as more of a beginners' book to learn from.

What works well?

The use of multi-coloured diagrams really help in learning the techniques

Anything that we need to take into consideration?

This book is out of print, but readily available on online book sellers, eBay and through lace suppliers

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21/1/2021 0 Comments

Building Torchon Lace Patterns - Bridget M Cook

Publisher : Batsford Ltd; 1st Edition (1992)
ISBN : 9780713486231

Building Torchon Lace Patterns by Bridget M Cook
One of the first multilingual books on lacemaking published in the UK.
I originally bought this book thinking it would teach design like Jane Atkinson's Pattern Design for Torchon Lace however this book focuses more on adapting the given patterns using suggestions in the book

What works well?

The diagrams are full colour and well drawn

Anything that we need to take into consideration?

This book is out of print, but frequently comes up on online sellers and eBay.

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10/1/2021 0 Comments

The Torchon Lace Workbook - Bridget Cook

Publisher : Batsford Ltd; New Edition (5 May 1988)
ISBN-10 : 0713457406
ISBN-13 : 978-0713457407

The Torchon Lace Workbook by Bridget M Cook
This book by Bridget M Cook takes you through the basics of Torchon Lace building up to making one of the holy grails of lacemaking ... a table cloth.

What works well?

When this book came out it set a standard for instructional books as it was one of the first books published with colour diagrams which Bridget Cook championed.

Anything that we need to take into consideration?

This book has a wonderful modular table cloth in it which is a great project to work towards
This book is out of print, but frequently comes up on eBay.

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10/1/2021 0 Comments

The Book of Bobbin Lace Stitches - Bridget Cook & Geraldine Stott

Publisher : Batsford Ltd; 2nd Revised edition (24 Feb. 1982)
ISBN-10 : 0713438835
ISBN-13 : 978-0713438833

A great reference book for nearly every British Stitch (and some continental ones) that you will need in your day to day lacemaking.

What works well?

Clear photos of each stitch
Clear instructions
Grid to show set up
Organised by main stitch, then the variants

Anything that we need to take into consideration?

This book was published before diagrams were commonly used
This book is out of print, but is available on kindle and frequently comes up on eBay.
The kindle version has formatting issues with individual stitches appearing over multiple pages

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9/1/2021 0 Comments

Practical Skills in Bobbin Lace - Bridget M Cook

Publisher : Batsford Ltd; First Edition (9 Oct. 1987)
ISBN-10 : 0713443669
ISBN-13 : 978-0713443660

This is my go to book for techqniues when I'm stuck.

Yes, there are lots of videos on the web to help you these days, but the line drawings in this book are fantastic and it's always my first choice to find out an answer when I can't remember how to do something or if I find a term in another book but don't recognise it, I turn to Bridget M Cook for help.

This book is available on the kindle

What works well?

Great line drawings and text explanations
As this is out of print, second hand copies do appear occasionally on eBay, however the kindle version works well

Anything that we need to take into consideration?

In order to find the information you want, you need to know the term, which can be a road block if you don't know what the bit you are doing is called.

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The Book Blog

Le Pompe, 1559 by Santina M Levey and Patricia C Payne

100 Traditional Bobbin Lace Patterns - Geraldine Stott & Bridget Cook

Russian Lace Patterns - Anna Korableva & Bridget M Cook

Introduction to Bobbin Lace Patterns - Bridget M Cook

Building Torchon Lace Patterns - Bridget M Cook

The Torchon Lace Workbook - Bridget Cook

The Book of Bobbin Lace Stitches - Bridget Cook & Geraldine Stott

Practical Skills in Bobbin Lace - Bridget M Cook

I'm the lace bee and these are my books

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