On Oct 2, 2005, at 15:59, Famill Hengen (Alix) wrote:
Now a second problem for the linnen threads is that the chinese buy a lot of it in europe, I know a firm in Italy who made a very fine fabric in linnen, he had to stop the production as he could no longer find the flax he needed because all had be sold to China.
The side effects of globalisation are truly mind-boggling. Within the past year or so, I've heard that the finer (handkerchief) grades of Irish linen are woven of flax grown in Poland... In the past, both countries grew excellent (though not fine-lace quality) flax, with Ireland growing the better, finer stuff, and processing it better too. With Irish economy having taken off at a rocket-speed, there are fewer people who have the inclination or necessity to do all the hand-work involved in the process.
-- Tamara P Duvall http://t-n-lace.net/ Lexington, Virginia, USA (Formerly of Warsaw, Poland) - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
