Thank you Brenda for your detailed and comprehensive reply. It is very much appreciated.
In my description of what I am looking for, I left out an important detail. I am ignoring the over and under crossing of the threads when looking for symmetry. You can think of it as looking for symmetry in the shadow of the lace ground (a very crisp shadow) or looking at the lace from a little bit of a distance, not with a magnifying glass (or for me when I take off my reading glasses). You are quite correct that at the level of twists and crosses the over and under position of threads in CTC has rotational symmetry. I found this level of detail a bit too restrictive when classifying patterns by symmetry. I want to think of the pattern more from a high level view and the impression of symmetry it gives to a viewer. In this light, I would say the pattern Gauze Shape on page 8 of Cook and Stott's "Book of Bobbin Lace Stitches" has four fold rotation symmetry (pattern can be turned a quarter turn and still look the same). The pattern Braided Leaves 2 on page 125 of C&S has two fold rotation symmetry (can be turned a half turn and still look the same). Another pattern that I would say has with two fold rotation symmetry is A82 from Viele Gute Grunde Volume 1, a very lovely Le Puy pattern. Patterns like Rose Ground 1 on page 65 of C&S I would classify, using this shadow criteria, as having only reflection symmetry. (To be precise, in Rose Ground 1 there are two different places where 4 intersecting mirrors can be placed and one place where two mirrors can intersect.) Many thanks for your help, Veronika - To unsubscribe send email to majord...@arachne.com containing the line: unsubscribe lace y...@address.here. For help, write to arachne.modera...@gmail.com. Photo site: http://www.flickr.com/photos/lacemaker/sets/
