Hi All, I was demonstrating on Friday evening, after a horrendous trip back to Suffolk from Wales on Thursday, so probably not at my best but ....
There I was, showing some youngsters on the 'Have-a-Go' pillows how to make lace, and explaining as they went along. Imagine my surprise to be tapped on the shoulder by a lady I had not seen standing behind me, who asked why the workers on the snake were black. (I had just told the child that the workers were the ones which did the work, and they went back and forth down the pricking.) I told the lady in question they were black because I wanted a different colour for the workers, and the bobbins on that pillow were ordinary wood, but if she looked at the other 'Have-a-Go' pillow, the workers were medium coloured wood. and the passives were ebony. She pursed her lips, and 'hmmm-ed' a bit, and when I asked her why she wanted to know, she said that she had hoped that the workers were not black because the slaves were black and did all the work. I am still not sure whether she was taking political correctness to extremes, whether she was being humorous (?), or whether she really did feel that making lace had racist undertones - but she did stop me in my tracks, and made me wonder if I ought to think carefully about what colour and shape my worker and passive bobbins are in future. Carol - in Suffolk UK. To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace-chat [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
