The only bobbin lacemakers in Iowa that I know are all in the eastern part of the state.
It's too bad we didn't know about you sooner, because we just held our annual retreat weekend, here in Cedar Rapids. As a special treat we invited Susan Wenzel to teach. Most of us enjoyed learning s' Gravensmoerse lace, but 2 of our newer member were learning the basics. We now have one member in Waterloo, but she was one of the newbies, this being the first time she had tried her hand at lace! Our guild meets every other month in a member's home or other facility. Thus, the meetings are spread around eastern Iowa. Our next meeting will be the first weekend of December in Moline, Illinois. I usually try to keep our website current http://www.orgsites.com/ia/dslg/ However, our 2012 calendar is not finalized yet. In February we will be meeting at the Dubuque Art Museum and also demonstrating there for the first time. A few of our members are in Cedar Rapids, and a few in Dubuque, with a sprinkle of one here and there in Clinton, Quad cities, Coralville, etc. I haven't had a chance to thoroughly read the discussion on diagrams. I thought it was originally about the Belgium color coded working diagrams which show detailed thread paths. I wouldn't think a beginner, new to bobbin lace, would be attempting these advanced laces. These are not the same diagrams that are usually found in beginning books. Beginners often start with Torchon which usually isn't documented with a thread diagram. The pricking is a sea of dots (for Torchon ground), or sometimes connected with zig zag lines to indicate the path of a worker in a cloth stitch area. However, this worker may also work half stitch or CTCT stitches as well. With new lacemakers I try to emphasize the importance of looking at the picture of the finished lace and recognizing the different stitches. If you see a diamond shape that looks like it is made out of woven cloth, then you need to use CTC to create that. So make your beginning sampler strip of cloth stitch, then some CTCT and also some CT (half stitch). Study the results. Make some Torchon ground. Look at it. Then look at a bookmark or edging (depending on what is next in your beginner book), what elements do you see and recognize? Remember how you made them in your samples? Don't become dependent on step by step instructions! Use the steps to help you make those samples, but then take time to stop and look at the results. Anita Hansen Cedar Rapids, Iowa Doris Southard Lace Guild - To unsubscribe send email to [email protected] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [email protected]. For help, write to [email protected]. Photo site: http://community.webshots.com/user/arachne2003
