On Sep 15, 2004, at 6:56, Valerie Stewart wrote:
I signed up for an Ipswich Lace class in October but I have a problem having someone watch me when I do anything.
Yes, being in a workshop/having a teacher can have its pitfalls as well as its bright sides :)
My question is : is there some instructions and patterns for a beginner on the net somewhere.
Not as far as I'm aware. The single book in existence (The Laces of Ipswich, by Marta Cotterell Raffel) has only 6 patterns (some of which are improperly diagrammed, at that <g>), being, mostly, a book on the history of the lace business in Ipswich. There aren't all that many extant samples of that lace, *to* reproduce.
But there's a ray of sunshine in there too :) Ipswich lace is - mostly - Point Ground lace, made in black, and in a Continental manner (footside on the left). The motifs are both in cloth stitch and half stitch, but mostly in half stitch - to lighten up the whole, since the thread is black (we've had Leonard's excellent posting on that subject recently). In keeping with that (ie black thread), the ground is more open also - usually by using Paris ground (kat stitch?), though also via CTT.CTT and CTCT.CTCT.
Sooooo... If you can lay your hands on almost any PG book/beginner patterns of Continental origin (Bayeux and Chantilly especially, but not necessarily), you ought to be able to make your baby steps at home, without the teacher's gimlet eye on you, and toddle along just fine, once in class.
Have fun in the class.
--- Tamara P Duvall http://lorien.emufarm.org/~tpd Lexington, Virginia, USA (Formerly of Warsaw, Poland) Healthy US through The No-CARB Diet: no C-heney, no A-shcroft, no R-umsfeld, no B-ush.
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