Fingerloop: a few braids

Here are a few of my recent attempts at fingerloop, all in cotton (as it's cheap and I have lots):


From left to right:

1. A brode lace of v bowes
• I attempted to learn more about the structure of this braid and how the moves produce the braid by using as many different coloured bowes as possible, so that I could see which move created which pattern. As I only had 4 colours of thread at the time, there are 2 brown bowes.
2. A brode lace of v bowes
• More of the same, to attempt to understand how the pattern is made. This braid uses 3 blue bowes and 2 brown bowes. The right hand acted as instructed, but the left hand picked up bowes unreversed instead of reversed. The result? The tension in the braid is uneven, resulting in the entire braid spiraling somewhat annoyingly.
3. A brode lace of v bowes
• Yet more of the same. This braid uses 3 light blue bowes and 2 brown bowes. I did a section as instructed, then did an overhand knot to mark the change, then did the remainder with both hands picking up bowes unreversed. The result? Picking up unreversed makes the same braid but upsidedown - what was the upper, visible face when braiding now is the lower, invisible face.
4. A lace common round
• Using 3 green bowes and 2 dark blue bowes.
5. A lace maskel (Harley 2320 version)
• Using 4 pale blue and 4 pink bowes. This lace spirals somewhat and the holes are not visible unless it is purposely stretched out. The lace compacts a lot when held under tension vertically, rendering the pattern less visible.
6. A lace maskell (conjectural Serene version)
• Cindy Myers suggests the lace maskel instructions in the Tollemache and Harley manuscripts are incorrect and suggests a conjectural version based on the Serene MS instructions and the name ('maskell' apparently means 'a voided lozenge')
• This produces a nice lace-like braid, though it too has a tendency to spiral and requires purposeful stretching to look its best. The lace-like pattern collapses when held under tension vertically.
• My braid has a fair few mistakes (that may or may not be visible in the photo). I kept forgetting where I was and how many repeats of the horizontal exchanges I had done. However, the principle of the pattern is there.
7. Lace cowe de race
• I kept trying but could not make this look like Cindy Myers' example. The problem is with the instruction "A goes through B right from within outward, under all the loops of both hands, and takes the over side of A left reversed". I am unsure quite what is meant by the underlined section.
• I tried several contortions to attempt to "take the over side of A left reversed" but neither were satisfactory: one resulted in the 'vertical' threads changing colour (see between the second and third set of 'stitches'), the other resulted in the 'stitch' threads pushing up through the 'vertical' threads (see below the fourth set of 'stitches')
• It is clear that, however this move works, the same colour should remain on the top half of the bow - if this doesn't happen, the 'vertical' threads will change colour

So, those are all of my experimental braids so far. I did do some others at a show I was at last week, but those are just more 'brode lace of v bowes' and 'lace common round of v bowes' that were to keep myself from boredom and to have something to talk about.

I also taught a friend's daughter the 'brode lace of v bowes'. She was quite content to only learn that pattern, but was amazing at creating colour combinations (including several I'd never even considered) - she kept fishing in my thread bag and drawing out amazing combinations, with colours I didn't even know I had. Unfortunately, I am no where near as talented at the colour selection as she is!