Dear Lacemakers, The other day I received a copy of correspondence from the New England Lace Guild (to which I belong) from a mother who had taken her child to a recent meeting for beginning instruction. She was asking for book references to help her daughter progress as a lacemaker.
On The Lace Guild's site there are free patterns for Young Lacemakers, so I sent her the following message: "The Lace Guild of England has a page on their website for Young Lacemakers that (child's name) may enjoy. At the moment, there are lace shapes that can be made into a variety of items, in a variety of sizes, and a variety of colors ....etc. Go to: http://www.laceguild.org Click on Young Lacemakers selection, which is on the blue band across the top of the page." ---------------- As I (Jeri) thought about this, it occurred to me that we have adults on Arachne who would love some of the content on this Young Lacemakers page - it offers ideas for rather easily-made gifts, and the Holidays are fast approaching! So, at midnight last night, I sent a letter off to Jean Leader requesting clarification of a couple questions. Below is that correspondence, and I hope it will be of value to many of you! -------------------- >I looked at the Young Lacemakers site yesterday and saw the new >projects. Did you design this whole collection of options for >making the same shapes into so many different end products??? I >recognized you in the picture! > >I will write about it to Arachne once I hear from you - it is >suitable for lacemakers of all ages! --------------------- By magic, Jean's reply came within 6 hours: "The new young lacemakers pages have actually been around since July - we did announce it on Arachne but that was probably when you (and other people) were away so we'd be happy if you wrote about it. I had intended to put up a new pattern by now but it will have to wait. One of the patterns with the Advent Calendar will be for young lacemakers in particular. "There are three shapes in the current pattern - a crescent, a wiggle and a flame. The first two are in picture 1 - a 'flower' designed for a beginners workshop that never happened (that's why each petal has different stitches). The flame shape in the other pictures was originally designed for a Young Lacemaker magazine issue which had 'light' as the theme. I reckoned it had lots of potential and gave it to members of Glasgow Lace Group who worked it at all sorts of sizes with all sorts of threads and colours. We put them together on display boards and pictures 2 and 3 are a couple of these (the first one is now in the Lace Guild collection). The Lace Guild had the pattern for sale (see 'Lace' 95 July 1999) and several other lace groups have used it for projects - picture 4 of Millie the Hedgehog was made by the Millfield Lacemakers in London (se ''Lace' 98, April 2000). I made the orange ear-rings and small flames for the black top to wear at the LG Convention dinner in 1999 - my first as Chairman. "When I was in Montreal someone told me they liked the new young lacemaker pages and asked if it was ok for anyone to use the patterns - the answer is definitely yes! And the more people who see and try them, the better." ----------------------- I (Jeri) recommend interested Arachnes print out the pages before new ones are put on this site. It seems to me they might be almost as successful as the famous snake at lace days, where a pillow is set up for guests to try making lace. Certainly, the concept is more artistic than the traditional "bandage". Please let Jean know if these patterns inspire other interesting end products. I would like to thank The Lace Guild for the determined and loving efforts being made in England to develop Young Lacemakers via the web site space and special magazine just for them. Jeri Ames in Maine USA Lace and Embroidery Resource Center - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
