Gidday all, Someone (I'm sorry I can't remember who as I've ditched the digest concerned!) asked about lace here in Suriname - well there is absolutely zilch. In fact there is nothing much in the way of handicrafts at all. The only thing I've come across so far is a form of cross-stitch on large panels of brightly coloured fabric, where every so many threads one thread is pulled out of the fabric, in both directions, giving a "grid" to work the large crosses on. It is very pretty and apparently was brought to this country by some nuns from East Germany who came to work in a mission type posting and taught some local women their patterns - not sure how long ago though. I've only seen one girl doing this work, and have heard that there is a shop in Paramaribo (the capital city) where you can buy some of it, but so far I haven't been able to find the shop.
Apart from this the crafts done here are mainly woodwork, done by men - hand carved platters, bowls, stools, wall hangings etc. and also some very nice rustic pottery - large pots, vases etc. Within the compound that we live in there is a mixture of expats from Australia, Canada, South Africa, USA and Holland, plus some local Surinamese, so its a real hotch potch of languages, cultures and ideas - which is fantastic. We are all slowing learning how to cook (and identify!) the wonderful local vegetables and fruits, pick up a smattering of Dutch to get by when shopping, and learn to handle the horrendous traffic and very poor quality road system. It is all a lot of fun and I am enjoying very much the feeling of personal safety after living in South Africa, although there are things about South Africa that I really miss as well. I am starting a weekly craft group where those who are interested can bring along whatever they do - there are a couple of girls who do embroidery and patchwork. Some others have expressed interest in coming along just to chat and have a look - so I am hopeful that once this gets going properly we will have a good lot of sharing/teaching each other the things we do - including lace and tatting of course. There are no supplies of anything much available - I've only come across cheap acrylic wool, large cones of poor quality machine sewing thread, and a good range of colours of Butterfly brand Coton Perle 8 - so anyone interested in really taking up some lacemaking or embroidery will have to get online for supplies - but luckily our mailing address is a courier company in Miami, so we only have to pay local shipping costs if we order from the US. I will keep you posted about how our little group develops - it could be just me for the first couple of Mondays - but hey if I am forced to sit by myself all morning making lace well I am not going to complain. Any excuse not to have to clean the house..... Michelle Long an Aussie living in Suriname where it is always hot, and I have just started on my first raised leaf on Miss Channer's Mat Ian & Chelle Long +597 0352505 - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
