Hello Jacqui, Ann and all Arachneans. Being a Spanish lacer I would like to make some comments about our lace meetings here in Spain, as I feel that it is not much known abroad.
Lace has been made in Spain for centuries, but depending on the part of the country you go to, you will see many different types. You have visited the South, and there, same as in most Spain, they work with thick thread (number 50 or 40.. even thicker in some cases) especially when they are making edgings for tablecloths or sheets... The lace most women make is for home use, for practical use, so the thread cannot be fine, as the lace would get spoiled in the first wash. We also use the long vertical pillow, and big wooden bobbins, which have the perfect weight to keep the thick thread. But if you go further North, for example to Barcelona and that area, you will see a lot of blonde and other laces made with hundreds of bobbins and very fine thread. And also finer bobbins, but wooden too, and no spangles at all. When you talk about the lack of coloured threads to be sold: traditionally we have always been working just with white and ecru, or black in some cases. We are starting to introduce some colour because of the influences of abroad. We see colour in magazines and books... but we are accepting colour slowly. I suppose this is the reason that sellers don't sell much coloured threads.. because we don't buy it normally. The noise you noticed in the meeting is just a characteristic of how the Spaniards are: we are much noisier than any other European people... Go to a restaurant for example, and you will feel this too. Or in the streets, we talk loud, and can hear perfectly the conversation of others who are near us. In fact, when we go to other parts of Europe, we feel inhibited in a restaurant or in the underground... because nobody speaks. Just different cultures! I also want to add that from May to December (aprox.) you will be able to attend a lace meeting in Spain if you visit us, as there are many, in most cities now. Many greetings to all Arachneans... Antje González, in Guadalajara, Spain http://antje.gonzalez.iespana.es/ - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
