Gidday all, I've just come back from a month in Australia, and had a wonderful time catching up with kids, parents, friends etc. I've also brought back lots of new books/projects/ideas to work on, so once again this year will be full of lacemaking, embroidery etc. and no doubt the odd UFO or two. Not enough hours in the day.
One of my most exciting things was going to the Victorian branch of the ALG's bi-monthly lace day, for the first time in 20 months - every previous trip over my dates haven't coincided with one of theirs, so it was great to be able to catch up with lacemakers and have a spendup at the suppliers tables. Instead of a guest speaker, the committee put on a lace trivia quiz so we all divided into our table groups and the winning group got lots of prizes. Hillary did a great job (she's a teacher so she was good at keeping us under control and being bossy!), and was very well prepared for contention amongst the troups, so had all her books and sources in front of her to confirm in case we argued the point. My table came second last I think! One of the most interesting (and hardest) question was the very last one, which was asking the value of a famous piece of lace (I think it was Queen Vic's wedding dress, but if that's wrong someone else that was there will correct me, and Hillary will probably give me detention for not paying attention in class!), as at 1980-something when it had been valued at x number of pounds. We were all expecting the answer to be humungous, and it turned out to have been only 1000 pounds. I know it was twenty odd years ago but even so it was much much less than you would have thought. Any idea what it is valued at now? Apart from spending too much money, a highlight was that we met Debbie Hilton from Mozambique. My local lace group was on kitchen duty, and I served her a cup of tea without having a clue who she was, so it was quite late in the day when she finally realised who I was and came to speak with me. She is a lovely girl, and it is really great to meet fellow Arachneans, especially those from other countries, so if you get the chance, do it. I am still miles behind with lace digests, but the convention stuff is really interesting. The sheer scale of numbers and budget that the IOLI have is mindboggling compared to our Australian one (hey but we have quality if not quantity!) - you are so lucky that you have the opportunity to go to such a big event. I personally want every bit of value for the money I spend on workshops/accomm etc. so I am one of those who gets up hours early to do more work before a workshop, has a very quick drink/loo break and lunch break and does more work back in my room in the evening - don't like to waste a minute of the chance to learn more lacemaking skills. And Jean, if you're still collecting preferences, I vote for full size cut in half prickings please. Can you please tell us the details when the book is available too? Liz - I'm sure your boyfriend is correct in theory about taking a lace pillow through Adelaide airport, but in reality I can tell you that I have passed through Perth, Sydney, Adelaide, Gold Coast and Melbourne airports, both domestic and international terminals, approx 15 times in the last 18 months (most of them since Sep 11), and every single time I have had sewing needles with me. Not once have they been taken off me. I have not risked taking a travel pillow as hand luggage because I am sure if there were hundreds of pins that would get commented on and I would not want to risk losing my pillow to the security rubbish bin! I cannot go travelling without some kind of hand work to do, so I always have embroidery or tatting with me. I use plstic shuttles with the pointed tip so that I don't need a crochet hook, and I have at least 2 sewing needles on me. I use a Clover cutter instead of scissors, and have never had a problem. The basic rule is, don't take anything as hand luggage that you are not prepared to lose. A few needles or a Clover cutter are not things of great value if taken off you, but your travel pillow is. A belated Happy New Year to you all as well, may it be safe and healthy and full of lots of lacemaking. Michelle Long an Aussie living in Richards Bay, South Africa Ian & Chelle Long +27 35 788 0777 - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
