When I first started making lace, I was put to work on a series of Torchon pieces. I could hardly wait to move on to Bucks, and the "real" lace. Looking back, I think that I was being influenced by what I had grown up with - which was, of course, machine-made lace of indeterminate design. But we're all products of our environment, and so that was how it played out in my choices for making lace. It wasn't until I attended the 1999 IOLI convention in Bethesda and went to see the collection at the Smithsonian that I became aware of just how exquisite the old laces are.
At some point, the Australian Lace Guild had a wonderful Torchon bookmark on their website, and I downloaded that and began to work it. It was delightful! I worked that bookmark several times, each time improving something over the last one. I learned a tremendous amount about Torchon, and about lace in general, and made enough of those bookmarks to have some nice little gifts at Christmas. I seem to have gravitated to Binche, which takes most of my attention these days. But I've also discovered s'Gravenmoer, which shares so many of Torchon's characteristics and has a few variations of its own. The contemporary designs of s'Gravenmoer which use colors and variegated threads are a delight to work. I've heard people comment (about s'Gravenmoer), "It's just Torchon," and when I hear that, I know that this is a person who doesn't know much about either of these laces. That's too bad... s/he's missing out on some wonderful lacemaking. Clay -- Clay Blackwell Lynchburg, VA USA - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
