Dear Spiders I was out giving a lecture last night (Golden Domes and Samovars - a Russian adventure but with only a bit of Vologda lace) so could not reply on crossing braids.
Miriam does not come until Friday, so I have time. I have been sorting out pieces of Romanian lace to illustrate the talk I am to give on the Romnian Lace book to our Mercian lace Association on Saturday. Several of the lace items from Romania have crossed braids. This is more likely on the larger pieces, so that the depth of the crossing does not appear to be so great. One mat has the braid looped round the outer border, just like Battneburg. It is the one illustrated in my book on pages 134 and 135. There is no reason why a Battenburg pattern should not be adapted by making the braids just touch instead of the loops crossing. When Kathleen made her cushion, she included a central area made up of an interwoven lattice of the braid, following an idea from a Romanian mat. A mat I bought in Poland has a large lattice area in the middle, but the border loops are not crossed I think this is a personal choice whether to cross the braids or not. It is not easy for a beginner to joing ends neatly. I well remeber the Romanian lace class at my home that Steph referred to. The young Romanian girl was good at making lace, but with no real teaching experience had started us on a pattern that had dozens of joins. Far better to have a continuous design line wherever possibe. It is Mercian Lace 25th anniversary on Saturday and I am really looking forward to the day and having Miriam with me. I have already packed up for the day as we will be doing much talking. Kathleen, who collaborated on the book with me and my lace friend Pauline are coming tomorrow for lunch, so I had better get some cooking done. Angela in still rather chilly spirngtime Worcestershire UK. [EMAIL PROTECTED] - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
