Weronika I often use Bockens 35/2 linen and similar, so I have a lot of experience with this. My personal feeling is that standard Belgian bobbins of the style usually called "torchon" are perfect for that weight. So are Swedish bobbins and even modern Danish bobbins (which are a little more delicate). I use modern Danish bobbins for just about everything, but I rarely work finer than 100/2 linen. If you look at a website like Lacemaking Circle you will see a wide array of continental bobbins presented in actual size. You can see just by looking at them that some are more slender with a shallower neck area for thread storage than Danish. These finer kinds are for traditional continental laces and would work well with Madeira Tanne 50 or similar. English spangled bobbins are used with Madeira Tanne 30, 50 or finer. Personally I think Danish bobbins are perfect for tatting cotton #70 down to Madeira Tanne 50. For 50 and finer I would also use the kind called Mechlin or Dutch.
The bobbin has 3 purposes: it weights the thread to help give good tension, it stores thread, and it serves as a handle to manipulate the thread without touching it. The size of the neck area, how shallow or deep it is, greatly affects how much thread you can store there. And that area of the bobbin is a good clue to what size thread it is commonly used for. You couldn't get much Bockens 35/2 linen on an English bobbin, nor on a Binche or Bayeux bobbin. So those types are not appropriate, nor would they give sufficient weight. Lorelei - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
