Devon Your paragraph is marvelous: ""If you like puzzles, you'll love bobbin lace. Have other textile techniques ceased to thrill? Is needlepoint boring? Like Sudoko in thread, bobbin lace is a challenge. Working with four threads simultaneously, you will find out why the laces of the previous centuries exceeded any other textile in beauty and complexity. Bring your thinking cap!"
When I've taught bobbin lace to private students I've found that about half who start, quit before the 4th lesson. I have always thought it was because it took them 2 or 3 lessons to realize that it would take them a lot longer than a few weeks to master enough of it to use it. This is in spite of the fact that I always tell them: You can learn enough in 4 lessons to make a very simple lace, but you probably won't feel really confident enough to start a major project until 4-6 months from now. I've tried to give students as realistic a set of expectations as I can. I tell them a lifetime of studying it isn't enough to master all of it, you never come to the end of it and you'll never be bored again. But until they actually try it they just don't understand what's involved. I tell them it's not as hard as it looks, but there is a huge amount to learn. I guess what I'm saying is that making it sound easy is probably not a good idea, but even trying very hard to give realistic expectations doesn't always work. In the end, it's not the advertizing blurb that matters, but the teacher making the learning experience a satisfying one. And the student also has a responsibility to use well what the teacher gives. They just won't all become bobbin lace fanatics like the rest of us. Some of them will just never pierce the veil and see what we see. Lorelei - To unsubscribe send email to [email protected] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [email protected]. For help, write to [email protected]
