On Jun 10, 2006, at 23:29, Beth Mccasland wrote:
Tamara,
Looks like we'll be in class together!
Yipeee! Margot (Walker), you, me... We're waiting for Jacquie Tinch (in
UK) to hear about her assignment but, with luck, it'll be at least 4
Arachneans! With a "normal" class size being 12 students, that's a
third of the "population"! It's a good thing the teacher's young (at
least, she _looks_ young in the photo) and sturdy, 'cause we're gonna
have a Spider Riot in that workshop :)
I've managed to figure out that Alger's silk is a french brand of silk
embroidery floss.
Yeah, both (Alger and Ovale) are, I think, made by the same firm: Au
ver a soie (yeah, I do know that all it means is "true silk", or
something like that. It also seems to be a name of the producer -- I
have some other thicknesses etc made by them. The logo is a leaf with a
silk worm. Quite disgusting <g>).
As to availability in this country, I have feelers out for it.
Apparently, the basic thread (Alger) is available in the US via the
Nordic Needle:
http://www.nordicneedle.com/
I haven't checked my hard-copy catalogue (preferable to all things
"web") to see if they carry Ovale also.
And I've been told that, in US, Kreinik is the distributor. The last I
checked, Kreinik was quite snotty about selling piddling amounts to
individuals -- they prefer to deal with wholesalers -- so that's not an
option for me. But, if you have any needle stores up-and-running in the
New Orleans area (how *is* the area recovery doing, BTW? the papers
aren't worth much when not covering politics), you might actually be
able to buy the stuff *directly*, "sight seen"
As to your other questions, I had the same ones, but since I'm
pretty much a self-taught lacer, I was too embarrassed to ask.
Ah, bah (almost the extent of my French, BTW <g>); you don't ask, you
remain in the dark. I'm self-taught too, and full of knowledge holes
but, luckily, I not only know that, I also have a rhinoceros-thick skin
:)
I figured once I had the skeins of floss in
hand, split the thread out to singles, I'd take a stab as to how much
to
wind on the bobbins.
Looks to me as if the "basic" thread (Algers) is what does the plaits
and picots; 2-3 times the length of the project should, probably, be
enough. I'll probably wind 10" per bobbin, just to be on the safest
side (belt and suspenders principle). And, if I run out, I'll practice
my "patch up" techniques :) The Ovale -- which I assume will act as the
workers for the tallies -- we're to wind in class, so we'll be told how
much to wind (and whether it's gonna be plied/doubled before winding).
I know nothing of the teacher, but am wondering if she doesn't realize
that
materials that are easy for her to get in France, doesn't mean the
same for
us.
If that's what works best for that lace, that's what we need to use, I
think, no matter how easy/hard it might be to get. The Polychrome
Blonde courses taught (in this country) by Pompi Parry and Ulrike
Voelcker (nee Löhr) require Pipers silk, sold in England only (Holly
Van Sciver carries a bit of the line, but mostly in kit format -- the
sizes and colours chosen by the teacher), and nobody complains (or not
much <g>), even though it takes *weeks* to get here.
Second thought, my french lessons will be put to the test.
I'll count on you (and everyone else) to help me out :)
My second year at the U, my French teacher said on the third day:
"iiifff yourrr thing yourrr horrrrible gerrrMAN acCENT will help you
make a carrreer in Frrrench, yourrr MIStaken. Yourr neVERRR learrrn
Frrrench as it should be". The course was compulsory, not my choice,
and I felt that _both of us_ were equally aggrieved by the situation.
So, after that class, we came to a private agreement (I'm always
willing to come to a bi-partisan solution if the opposite side shows
any sign of reason <g>): I wouldn't show up for any more classes (and
get his dander up) and he, on his part, would overlook my loong "cheat
sheet", when I showed up for the final exam...
Thus, my French is limited to a few recently-acquired lace-related
words (in the written format; no idea how they're pronounced) and a few
(learnt in my mis-spent teens) "everyday" ones. An Arachne "friend in
Paris" assures me that one of the "everyday" ones -- merde -- ought to
cover most situations I'm likely to encounter. Provided, of course,
that I pronounce it corrrrectly :)
Yours, getting veRRRI excited about the Montreal adventure and
practicing my heaviest Southern American ("the better to pull your leg,
m'dear") accent...
in cloudy and muggy (but still no rain) Virginia,
--
Tamara P Duvall http://t-n-lace.net/
Lexington, Virginia, USA (Formerly of Warsaw, Poland)
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