Despite "life's interventions", I'm close to finishing the project I started in Pompi Parry's class in Ithaca (Polychrome de Courseulles) so, naturally, my mind is somewhat freer to roam towards the next one. For one thing, I've been cutting off bobbin pairs *permanently* (without having to plow them back in, immediately, into a needy spot), and idle bobbins are not happy bobbins :)
For the class, I bought, as instructed, Pipers 90 floss to mix and match for gimps and workers. Due to limited colour choice available by the time I reached the vendors room (20 minutes after opening <g>), I've been supplementing the floss with the twice un-plied Kreinik's Serica. It's slightly cheaper than Pipers and it works as well, but it's not as *easy*. With Pipers, you have the single strand, and reel off as much as you want of it -- can even wind several different colours at once (saw Laurie Hughes doing it). With Serica, you have the problem of storing the unwanted plies until they're needed and, if they happen to be barely different (nicer for mixing), it may be difficult to keep track of what's what.
So I thought I'd check out the Pipers website, to see if there was any chance I could order some thread from them directly. For me, there isn't; I was totally lost immediately I opened the first page (colour charts; there doesn't seem to be one -- available for purchase -- of thread samples... With that vast array of shades, how can *anyone* order on line, just from a *screen*??? I know I'm in love with 4 out of the 5 colours I'd bought, and one I'd seen in class, but that's like a crumb out of a loaf)
Anyway (pause, to brush away frustration, and get back on track)... I was *told* (by Pompi Parry and others), that Pipers was supplying silks *primarily* for embroiderers. Lacemakers are small potatoes in comparison, since our needs are -- comparatively -- negligible; once we lay in the basic colour range, we don't need to restock all that often (if at all). So I was no end amused to see that the pages had the two uses *reversed*; whenever use of Pipers silk was mentioned at all, it was always "for lace and embroidery"... We may not contribute all that much to the Pipers' coffers, but we "rate", all the same <g>
And yes, I'm very much aware that English often pairs/lists words not in the order of importance, but in order to please the ear (meter, for example). But "lace and embroidery" and "embroidery and lace" sound equally pleasant, the general rhythm (stressed and un-stressed syllables) is the same, and there's no rhyme pattern to maintain... The only reason for this pairing could be that lace is seen as more "aristocratic" of the two :)
Yours, feeling very superiour to my pre-lace (needlepoint) persona now, ----- Tamara P Duvall Lexington, Virginia, USA Formerly of Warsaw, Poland http://lorien.emufarm.org/~tpd/
- To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
