It is nice to hear that others are sending in entries.
Indeed it is; the more, the merrier. If you lose, there's the consolation that you weren't the only one; if you win, the pleasure is so much "plumper"... :) But, most important of all, with a lot of entries (especially the original ones), Debra Jenny (the Bulletin's Editor), won't have to worry about material for the next issues -- she shouldn't be short of either patterns or colour photos; shortage of original material is always a problem to an editor of a lace publication (and I've worked with several now)
Which brings me to my pet bee-in-the-bonnet...
IOLI claims the first right to publication for competition entries -- I think that's the reason they request that the pattern and instructions be included with the lace. To me, the request suggests that those are *a part of the entry*; you send a piece of lace into the Original Design category, the whole thing ought to be ready to be published -- pattern and full instructions for reproducing the piece are part and parcel of the entry.
Naturally, as a recipient of the Bulletin, I'm most interested in seeing, published, patterns for the laces which had won the competition -- at least the first 3 and the public's choice (and, with luck, they'll each be in a different technique, thus providing a broader interest base for all readers). These are the best, aren't they?
Yet, that's not *always* the case; sometimes, the first prize only gets a photo, and the published patterns are for pieces which hadn't even placed, and which -- or so I should think -- would be used only as a "second line of defence", when the Editor is scraping the bottom of the barrel for material.
What's the reason for that???
If the instructions are too complex/long to be printed in full, then, perhaps, the author would be willing to supply them to individuals on request, with a notice to that effect published with it (that's what happened with my '91 butterfly; it got 1st, but the instructions were pages and pages long. And the current entry is not likely to be much shorter, what with 3 diagrams and 10 *different* braids <g>). Alternatively, a limit can be set on how long the instructions *can* be...
If the instructions are not "fit for print" -- ie so abbreviated (or non-existent) that it's not really a *pattern* which can be reproduced by another lacemaker, then the entry has not met the requirements. However spectacular the *lace*, it's not really a legitimate competition *entry*; at least not as the requirements are now stated. It should either be relegated to the non-competitive "display" where everyone can still enjoy looking at it, or else have "points" taken off for the "gap". Under no circumstances should it be able to win one of the first 3 ribbons...
Either that, or the requirement for including the pricking/instructions should be removed from the entry form; we provide the lace (for the photo-op) *only*, and don't sweat over the rest.
The above is not addressed to this year's (or any particular year's) IOLI Convention organisers; it's aimed more at the current "powers that be" (I know at least one is on this list): can anyone enlighten me on the *precise* criteria for judging an entry? Or even on what *constitutes* an entry? If a *publisheable* pattern (ie with all necessary instructions) is a part of it, then the lack of that part should also be "judged". If it's not, then why require it at all?
I admit to having a personal interest in the whole thing; illustrating (diagramming) patterns and writing the text is *the* most time-and-effort-consuming part of producing a "piece", and the one I like the least; if the requirement were dropped, I probably wouldn't bother. OTOH, if I *do* bother (because it's required), then I'd like to compete against others who suffered to the same extent...
----- Tamara P Duvall mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Lexington, Virginia, USA Formerly of Warsaw, Poland - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED]
