After completing Ethereal, I knew I wanted to push the design further. Gossamer uses the same pattern but introduces new variations in density and stitch choices, creating a lace piece that feels both connected to and distinct from its sister piece.

Like Ethereal, Gossamer is just 1.25 inches across, yet it is packed with complexity. The name Gossamer perfectly reflects its qualities—thin, delicate, and reminiscent of spider silk, like the spider stitches featured in the pattern.

Reworking a Pattern with New Complexity

Rather than designing an entirely new pattern, I took the pin-holes of Ethereal and reworked the stitches in a different way to explore how the lace could be transformed.

• Ethereal features a half-stitch trail, while Gossamer’s cloth-stitch trail makes the lace more dense.
• The five spiders in Ethereal were replaced with new spider stitch variations in Gossamer.
• The center spider is unique—it is split into half cloth stitch and half open half stitch, creating a contrasting visual effect within the same motif.
• To balance this, I made the top and bottom spiders in half stitch, while the two side spiders use cloth stitch.

I love playing with spider stitches, since they bring all the threads together in a web-like structure. I often use large, open spiders in my extra-large lace pieces, so working with them at a micro scale was an exciting challenge.

A Different Approach to Construction

Having already completed Ethereal three times before getting it exactly right, creating Gossamer felt more natural. However, I decided to take a different approach on lace construction:

• Ethereal was made row by row, gradually adding and removing bobbins.
• Gossamer began with all bobbins added at once, working from the outer edges inward.

This shift made my method for adding bobbins more streamline, letting me move on to focus solely on the pattern inside the diamond shape.

Viewing Gossamer and Ethereal Together

These pieces are meant to be viewed as a pair, each offering a slightly different take on micro lace structure and stitchwork.

With no reference for scale, someone looking at Gossamer would never guess it is only 1.25 inches wide. The sheer amount of design detail packed into this small space challenges expectations of what lace can be.

Pushing the Boundaries of Lace

Both Ethereal and Gossamer explore lace at a micro scale, proving that even the smallest lace can be intricate, complex, and awe-inspiring.

If you’d like to follow my process and see how these tiny lace pieces come together, be sure to check out my Instagram (@BobbinLaceNet) and TikTok (@CajahYupMe) for behind-the-scenes looks at my work.