Due to the weather, I have time to spare, so have got out the book, and carefully noted your points. Basically, it depends on the number of pairs you have in the headside, and the effect you require. What will work for a narrow edge won't give such a pleasing appearance for a wider headside. I teach this as: your headside passive pairs are a 'reservoir' of threads (i.e.if you break one, this is where you throw out/replace), and you want its appearance to be as smooth as you can - so you leave the inner and outside pairs to be as vertical as you can, and do all exchanges between these two. Thats why you work the ones that have made the picot through 2 pairs in. (And take out for the picot the third pair in) Its all to do with how your eye sees the threads - a bundle is seen as that, so long as the two outer edges are smooth. But if you have a deep/wide valley, you will end up with the passives pulling away from the gimp/main work. So in the deep valley you take the innermost pair and take this into the work as the first pair after the valley, as it turns out. And the last output similarly/reflectively will become the new innermost one in the headside trail. If the valley is wide/deep, you can do this 'swopping' action also with the next innermost pairs. This gives you a nice triangular effect in the valley. One of the best aspects of Bucks is knowing many techniques, and applying the one which will give the desired effect in the situation. When you get to 'Floral Bucks', no two pins are the same, and you have to use your discretion all the time. Re your query regarding which is 'right' - remember, when these patterns were worked for a living, the worker would use the quickest technique - she needed to do yardage to get the most money, and so would devise her own ways - frequently many different ways even within say a yard - the lacemakers were not so highly educated, or questioning , as we are now, and there was little comparison between workers - their patterns were secret, known to them only (or their village/ lace school) - if a young girl got married and moved away, she had to burn the patterns, so that she couldn't take them with her, or carry on making them - this was competition. Hope this helps you - and that you are enjoying Bucks -there are some beautiful patterns when you are more experienced. Cheers, Milada In a wet and windy Somerset. with lots of floods everywhere.
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