Introduction to Bucks

Jean Leader

Lacemaker and Textile Enthusiast

An Introduction to Bucks Point Lace

Three bookmarks designed to introduce starting a motif, finishing a motif without a tassel, right-hand picots, tallies in honeycomb and half stitch as a filling

While I was chairing the Lace Guild’s Education Subcommittee we had several requests for a basic Bucks Point instruction book similar to the ones the Lace Guild already had for Torchon and Bedfordshire lace. We thought that producing such a book would be a good idea and discussed what techniques should be included. Committee members agreed to make samples and provide prickings and instructions for them, and when they were all ready, I would assemble everything into a book. However, we’d only got as far as making the samples when I became Vice Chairman and then Chairman of the Lace Guild, so the time I had available for writing the book was limited. I managed to start writing a Beginners’ Bucks course for Lace, but it wasn’t until I retired as Chairman in April 2001 that I was able to start putting everything into book form.

The book includes all the techniques required for the Lace Guild’s Bucks Point Assessment at Elementary and Intermediate level in a series of graded patterns which both introduce new techniques and provide further practice in techniques already learnt. Some of the patterns are traditional but others, such as the three bookmarks shown, were especially designed to illustrate specific techniques.

Book details

An Introduction to Bucks Point Lace
Jean Leader
2001, 2004 and 2017 (with additional patterns).
56 pp, A5 size
UK Price: £7.50 plus postage
ISBN 1 901372 11 1
Published by and available from The Lace Guild
All profits from the sale of this book go to The Lace Guild.
Sample pages can be downloaded in pdf format.

Errata (2001 edition)

1. In step 2 on page 8 it is better to not release the pair that worked the first ‘catch-pin’ at C immediately. Instead, hang another pair on X and work pin D, then release both pairs from X.

2. The pricking for the Star motif 2 on page 27 has an extra pin-hole at the outer end of each turning line which should be ignored. Follow the working diagram on page 28, which is correct.

3. Change ‘p 30’ to ‘p 34’ in the second line of the first paragraph.
These were corrected and some minor changes made in the 2004 reprint.

Errata (2001 and 2004 editions)

1. On page 39 change ‘p 29’ to ‘p 33’ in the second line of the first paragraph.

2. The first variation for Pattern 13 on page 42 needs 4 gimp pairs (not 3).

3. In the diagram on page 45 the inner pairs leaving the last honeycomb ring on each side work at separate pins (not at the same pin as in the previous ring at each side). The correct diagram is shown below.