Happy Christmas, New Year and Holiday to all. At last I have a brief space of time to write about some of the wonderful thigs I saw on my recent Myanmar (Burma) Textile study tour. The main crafts were weaving, mainly in workshops with large floor looms, and smaller ones in the villages. We also saw spinning of cotton and other threads I will deal with another time.
We had gone a long way on rather rough roads to see an amazing cave in a hill-side which was absolutely full of statues of golden Buddahs. I was not feeling well that day and found the cave very hot and stuffy, so came out earlier than the others in the group. A modern lift had been built on the outside of the hill-side, with glass windows giving a lovely panoramic view of the beautiful countryside. At the bottom was a Temple where we had to take of our shoes and socks. After a while I got used to walking with bare feet. On the approach to the Temple a lot of stalls had been set up, with carved wood, statuettes of the Buddha and many other things. Suddenly I caught sight of some TATTING. What was tatting doing here?? I asked the price of a small mat, and was told $20. No way! I put it back on the stall and as I walked away, the stall-keeper shouted $2. So I turned back and bought it. I wish I had not been feeling ill, as there were many other tatted items. The group met up again and we got back in the coach and were taken to another workshop where they made paper out of Mulberry bark and paper Parasols for tourists and for the Monks. Still feeling unwell, I sat and watched the man making the parasol parts out of bamboo- he turned on a foot-lathe with great efficiency. It was not until we were back on the coach that one of our group said she had seen some strange lace made with a pointed bobbin in another part of the workshop. Her description tied up with the tatting. I was very disappointed that I had not seen the young boy who was working. I asked the Guide how it was that tatting had come here, but he was more into the history of the Temples than thread crafts. He said it might have come across the border from China. I wondered if Missionaries had brought the art. There was no evidence of any other type of lace, bobbin or otherwise anywhere in the country. More tomorrow. Angela in damp and chilly Worcestershire UK [EMAIL PROTECTED] - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
