Bone lace bobbins come in many styles and sizes. Much of the fun of lace making today is choosing the bobbins and beads that make your pillow yours alone.
Standard Midlands styles average 4 1/8 inches in length and 1/4 inch diameter or thicker. These bobbins are made of commercially sterilized cow bone and take much longer to turn, due to the hardness of bone and the curvature of the blanks. The difficulty of finding good bone may also produce a slightly shorter bobbin. Once they are turned, they are sterilized again, which also whitens them a bit.
The bobbins are sealed, painted with enamel paints, and when dry sanded and polished with a wax compound which will not harm threads.
Except for the first two on the left, these styles are available in Bucks, or travel sized bobbins, though the design may have to be simplified a little to fit.
And yes, they are drilled for a spangling wire. The drill hole is not large enough to hide the knot; I do not encourage putting the wire knot in the bobbin because that will wear the bone as the spangle swings, and can cause the tail to break.
