A few years ago, my dear friend Pat (who sadly has since died) and I went on a waterways tour of Russia. We started off at Moscow and then boarded a boat that sailed up the canals that join together the lakes and rivers, eventually ending up in the north at St. Petersburg. On the way we stopped at many places. On one occasion, we walked off the boat and to my delight, lace-makers were sitting at their bolster pillows, busy with their bobbins.
Although it was really cold, they were sitting outside in the open air and were happy to show us the lace, hoping that the boat passengers would buy some of their lovely designs. Butterflies and Angels, birds and cockerels were favourites as well as flowers and intricate star designs, all made in continuous tape, joined together by sewings with the un-spangled bobbins. The labels told us that this was the real Vologda lace, made in the Vologda area. I bought several pieces, and if I remember aright, I scanned them and Lori put them on her web-site. There was no problem with our going to see the lace-makers, tourists were naturally very welcome. Further on was a village with shops, all selling the lace. My new book, Textiles of Southeast Asia, has now gone off to the printers and I am looking forward to receiving my first copy, hopefully before Christmas. As soon as I have sent a list of reviewers and stockits to the publishers, I shall be able to breathe again, at least for a little while. Even while I have been working, this last 18 months, I have always enjoyed reading the Arachne letters. This is a great group. Regards to all, Angela Thompson -- I am using the free version of SPAMfighter for private users. It has removed 2644 spam emails to date. Paying users do not have this message in their emails. Get the free SPAMfighter here: http://www.spamfighter.com/len - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
