I'd been trying to gets to grips with computer pattern drafting for some time. I'd had the demo of Lace 2000, but didn't really get on with it, then Viv Dewar, Ann Day and Jo Ann Eurell (she sent me her teaching notes) all very kindly tried to get me going with CorelDraw, but I still didn't get on with it. Then Ruth Budge sent me some of her instructions on Lace 2000 and I was away!
I'm going to submit a portfolio for the UK Lace Guild Advanced Torchon Assessment (it'll be next year rather than this), where everything has to be original designs and is the only level where computer drafting is acceptable. I started the symptoms of shingles on the way home from the Southern Counties Lacemakers' Fair at Havant on 20th November, but didn't realise it or that the few spots across my right forearm was the shingles rash and not insect bites. So I didn't get any treatment until 10 days later when the pain running from my neck down through my righ hand was unbearable. As a result of the delay in starting treatment my GP says it could be months before the nerves heal and I get proper feeling back in my thumb, first and second fingers. So I can't make lace - can't handle the pins. Tried left-handed, but that didn't work. So I'm designing the elements for the assessment (I'll find out if they work when I can handle pins again) on computer - can't use a pen or pencil properly either. So far I've (hopefully) got the extended corner, pictorial piece and rectangular mat starting at the top and finishing at the bottom drafted. It's so useful to be able to copy and paste elements, work in locked layers so that you can experiment on one element and change that as many times as you like without having to redraw the lot or interfere with the bits that you're satisfied with, and print out on a suitable scale for a chosen thread (you can choose the dot pitch if you prefer). If what I've designed so far don't work, I'll easily be able to make the necessary changes. I'd be going round the bend doing nothing if it wasn't for Lace 2000. Thanks to Ruth for getting me started on it, and her book "Click and Drag...Snap to Grid" is excellent and essential to really make sense of the program. Jean in Poole - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
