Silkewerk - Compouner couert

Compouner couert

Worked alone, this would make a six loop open lace. It is made just like the 10 loop A lace compound coverte [15] but with one additional loop for each worker.

As with the earlier 10 loop compound braid, A lace compound couerte [15], the option of bringing concealed colors or patterns to the outside of the braid is briefly explored. The Serene ms has a wide variety of this type of 12 loop braid, in many different color patterns.

"Compony" or "compone" is a heraldic term describing a single row of squares in alternating colors - an apt description for this braid. (See: Compon [H18], Compound [T15], Compouner and Componer [T60 - below].)

Serene uses the term "cowpen" which is a Middle English variation of "coupen", which is in turn derived from the French heraldic "coupe", meaning "cut." Again, an appropriate description for this type of braid.

Seat Your Fellow on Your right side.

Take twelve departed loops, and place them on the following fingers:
Outer hands: B C D
Inner hands: B C D
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 D inner, the loop of D outer unreversed.

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

Both:
Lower the inner 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).
Lower the outer loops.

Repeat from the beginning.

As Desired:
Bring the inner color to the surface of the braid by twisting every loop so the color on the bottom is now on the top, and continue working as before.

Source: Tollemache 60

Compouner couert of 12 bows.
Take 12 bows departed as in the lace bordered [T59 = T10] and set 3 on B C D on both thy hands and on thy fellows hands and look that all bows on thy hands and thy fellows be one color above and another beneath than A left shall take your [through] B C D left the bow A right unreversed then high thy right bows and D right shall take the bow D left then low thy left bows in the same manner shall thy fellow then change your outer bows of your next handes and of your further hands and begin again till you have a componer so long as you will then reverse all your bows so that the other color be above and work in the same manner till you have another componer.

[Note:
I questioned grouping this with Serene's 12-loop covert braids [S11 below], because the structure is different - different to the point that the Tollemache instructions do not produce a tube-in-tube braid. I'm reluctant to declare them a mistake too quickly, but the braid produced here doesn't fit in anywhere. Only the Serene instructions produce the intent of the Tollemache braid.]

Source: Serene 11

A Lace cowpen covert.
Make it of twelve bows be the half of one color, the other of another color, and be three bows upon B, C, D of both thy hands, and of thy fellows also, and be all the one color above of both your hands, then take with A right through all thy bows of the self hand, the bow D left, and also do with thy left hand, and thy fellow do also and work in the same manner, as in the double covert of ten bows [S10] till thou hast all done.

[Note:
The "Double Covert of 10 bows" [S10] is formed over a core, but I suspect the reference is only for connecting the layers into tubes. This is definately a "covered" lace, but the instructions don't indicate that the loops should be reversed to form a "cowpen". Perhaps it is to be assumed from the title. The following braid [S12] is a color variation of this braid, and specifies "that the bows of this lace shall never be reversed" which confirms the assumption that the loops in this lace are intended to be reversed as desired. This braid is worked the same as the open lace of 5 loops [S5], but with an extra loop on the one hand. It can also be seen as a 6-loop (and therefore less awkward to work) version of the flat lace dawns/piole [S15] but with all the loops taken unreversed to form two braids rather than one joined in the center. Covert braids rely on forming two separate braids into tubes, so this works quite well. In that sense, any open lace can be adapted to make a covert braid.]