Silkewerk - Lace couerte

Lace couerte

Worked alone, this is A open Lace [4]. A lace double couerte [14] is this braid formed over a pre-made core. Twist the all the loops at regular intervals, and you'll have A lace compound coverte [15].

It's hard to see the point of a braid that completely covers another. One possibility is that it allowed a thick, round braid to be made with a cheaper thread hidden inside.

Seat Your Fellow on Your right side.

Take ten departed loops, and place them on the following fingers:
Outer hands: A B C
Inner hands: B C
Arrange the same color up on all hands. (The color on the bottom will form the outside of the braid.)

Work your own braids:

Inner hands:
A takes through B C inner, the loop of C outer unreversed.
Lower the inner loops.

Outer hands:
A takes through B C outer, the loop of C inner unreversed.
Lower the outer loops.

Exchange loops on your inner hands:

You:
With A, enter B of the same hand from within outward and take Your Fellow's B unreversed.

Your Fellow:
Takes with his A, Your loop B unreversed.

Both:
Lower A to B.

Exchange loops on your outer hands:

Both:
Reverse the A loop "downward".

You:
Put your A loop over and around Your Fellow's A, taking his A back in exchange unreversed.

Both:
Reverse the A loop "upward" (undoing the twist from the previous step).

Repeat from the beginning.

Source: Tollemache 13

Lace couerte:
Take 4 bows departed and set on your hands in the manner of the thick lace bordered [T10] save in this lace the [one] color shall [be] above and the other beneath. And work once with your right hand and once with your left hand in the manner of the open lace of 5 bows [T4]. Then change the over bows of your near hand in the manner if the thin lace bordered [T8]. So then reverse thy bows of A left downward so that the color that was beneath be above. And thy fellow in the wise shall reverse his bow of A right. Then shall you change your over bows of your further hands so that either of you take [the] other bows unreversed. Then reverse thy bow of A left upward so that the color be above that was above at the beginning. And thy fellow shall do in like manner with his further hand. Then shall you begin again as you did before. And when that you shall begin again look that the color be above that was above at the beginning. Then thou shalt have a lace of one color within and a lace of another color without. And then one may be drawn right well out of the other.

Source: Harleian 16

For to make a lace covert:
Take 10 bows departed and set on your hands in the manner of the thick lace bordered [H10] save in this lace the one color shall be above and the other beneath. And work once with your right hands and once with your left hands in the manner of the open lace of 5 bows [H6]. Then change your over bows of your next hands in the manner of the thin lace bordered [H8]. Then reverse thy bow of A left downward so that the color that was beneath be above. And thy fellow in the same manner shall reverse his bow of A right. Then shall you change the over bows of your further hands so that either of you take the other bows unreversed. Then reverse thy bow of A left upward so that the color that was above be above. And thy fellow shall work in the same manner with his further hand. Then shall you begin as you did before. And when you begin again look that the color that was above at the beginning be above then. And then shall you have a lace of one color within and another without.

Source: Serene 9

A lace covert of ten bows:
Take ten bows in the self manner set on thy hands and on thy fellow's, as is said of the lace bordered [S8], save in this lace that one color of all the bows shall be above, and the other beneath, and then either of you work once with the right hand, and once with the left hand, in the manner, as is aforesaid of the open lace [S4], and then shall you change the over bows of your hands next, and the over bows of your further hands, and then begin again as you did before till you have all done, and then shall you have a lace within and other without, and that one of one color, that other of another, and that one shall now be drawn out of that other and therefore it is called a lace covert.

[Notes:
There are relatively few differences between the texts. First, Tollemach curiously calls for 4 loops although this clearly can't be correct. Second, Selene doesn't make reference to the thin lace bordered to provide an explanation for how the loops are to be exchanged on the inner hands because the Selene ms doesn't contain that braid. Interestingly, Selene leaves out the step where the A bows on the further hands are reversed before and after being exchanged. This would normally cause the braid layers to intersect, but there might be something in the method used for connecting the outer edges that eliminated this problem. A possible clue is contained in the following braid [S10] where it is specified that the outer edges are to be connected beneath. This movement is described in the opening paragraph [S1]. Connecting beneath the braid turns the structure inside out - the upper loops form the outside of the braid. The Tollemach and Harleian instructions produce a braid where the color beneath on the loops forms the outside of the braid. One working note - it is very important that both partners pay attention to where Tollemach and Harleian specify to reverse the loop upward or downward, and make their reverses accordingly.]