Silkewerk - Bend of his bowis

Bend of his bowis

Tollemache and Harleian both call this braid a "bend", the heraldic term for a diagonal line.

In this doubled version, each person plays the role of one eight fingered hand, with one person working a very large Lace bend of 8 [25] "on his bows" (on the second person's hands).

This is one braid in a set of braids based on exchanging loops between fingers. The Lace maskell [27] and the Cheyne braid [28] are also worked by exchanging loops, but in an entirely different sequence.

Seat Your Fellow on Your right side.

Take sixteen loops in two colors, and place them on the following fingers:
Color 1: A B C D of both Your hands
Color 2: A B C D of both Your Fellow's hands

With Your outer hand, exchange loops with Your Fellow's outer hand:
(Work over Your inner hand, and under Your Fellow's inner hand.)

Your A exchanges with his D reversed. (Put the A right loop over and around D left, taking D left reversed.)
Your B exchanges with his C reversed.
Your C exchanges with his B reversed.
Your D exchanges with his A reversed.

[You're working down the fingers of Your left hand while working up the fingers of Your Fellows right hand.]

With Your inner hand, exchange loops with Your Fellow's inner hand:
(There's no clever way to do this. Use your other hand to help.)

Your A exchanges with his D reversed.
Your B exchanges with his C reversed.
Your C exchanges with his B reversed.
Your D exchanges with his A reversed.

[You're working down the fingers of Your right hand while working up the fingers of Your Fellows left hand.]

Repeat from the beginning.

Source: Tollemache 26

Bend of 15 [his] bows.
Take the bows of 2 colors and set the one color of thy hands and the other color of thy fellows hands then shall A of thy right hand go over thy left hand and take the bow D of his left hand through his bows reversed and in the same manner thy bow B right shall take his bow C left and thy C right his B left and thy D right his A left then shall A of thy left hand take the bow D of thy fellows right hand backward through his bow reversed and in the same manner thy B left shall take his D [should be C] right and thy C left his B right and thy D left his A right and begin & etc.

Source: Harleian 27

A las bend on hys bowys.
Take 8 bows of one color and set on thine hands and take 8 bows of another color and set on thy fellows hands. Then shall A left go over thy right hand and under thy fellows left hand, and take the bow D of his right hand reversed through his bow; and in the same manner thy bow B left shall take his bow C right, and thy C left his B right, and thy D left his A right. Then shall A of thy right hand take backwards of thy fellows hand the bow D left through his bow reversed, and in the same manner thy B right shall take his C left, and thy C right his B left, and thy D right his A left.

[Note:
Tollemache assumes Your Fellow is seated on Your left side for this braid. Harliean keeps Your Fellow on the right as is customary. Otherwise the instructions are the same.]