Hi Arachnids, Yes, I had a student some years ago who had suffered a stroke and had hardly any use of her left side. She learned to make lace, but could only work very slowly. I have also tried to teach a young woman who had lost one arm, and the hand on the other side in a terrible fire. She had an artificial hand and had a really good try. She could manipulate the bobbins, but placing the pins was beyond the ability of the artificial hand. So one of us sat with her to place the pins for her. However, as she was a very independent lady she found this was not what she wanted and she went on to try out other crafts in the hope of finding something she could do on her own. She had been an accomplished needlewoman before the fire.
Joepie in East Sussex, UK. From: Earl & Ruth Johnson The stories about how people were introduced to lace are interesting, and here is mine. I first saw bobbin lace at "Fortress Louisbourg", a reconstructed French fortified town on the east side of Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia, Canada. >......... .........< One lady visited for a long time and talked about doing various crafts but she had never seen bobbin lace being worked. She asked lots of questions and seemed extremely interested in learning. It wasn't until she was leaving that I noticed she only had one arm. I have often wondered if she followed up and investigated lacemaking further. It is always amazing what "handicapped" (I hope that is a politically-correct term) people can do and I am wondering if other Arachnians have seen or worked with lacemakers with one arm or, as in the case of Ilske's aunt, an arm that is paralyzed. Ruth Johnson - To unsubscribe send email to majord...@arachne.com containing the line: unsubscribe lace y...@address.here. For help, write to arachne.modera...@gmail.com. Photo site: http://www.flickr.com/photos/lacemaker/sets/
