I was lucky enough to demonstrate with my local group at a recent 'county' event. One of the group brought a 'have a go' pillow along and we asked anyone passing if they would like to try lacemaking.
Adults and children alike tried the pillow. The adults would do a row and stop but the children wanted to keep going and had to be politely pulled away by their parents. There is something in lacemaking that children and young adults seem to be able to pick up quickly. I believe that no person who shows an interest in lacemaking should be turned away but I passionate believe that unless we can start lessons and clubs for children and young adults we will see this craft die in the next 10 to 20 years. Focusing on those who are retiring early, as was suggested to me because they have time and disposable income, is pointless in the UK as early retirement is becoming harder and harder. So this group is diminishing too. We must find a way to not merely super young Lacemakers but to actively increase them. I'm working with my local fibre store to run Saturday workshops for young adults. It gives us a ready made venue which is public and safe and not school nights easier to attend. I'm happy if we get new Lacemakers under the age of 25 and as we are a university town we have a big population in that demographic that we can pull on Kind Regards Liz Baker On 7 Jul 2013, at 06:51, <[email protected]> wrote: > Hi Lyn > > Re: Subject: [lace] Ancillary to Teaching Lace to Children > > Teaching lace to children is part of the survival of lacemaking. I have > always thought that lacemaking, especially geometric Torchon, has the ability > to help the mind work mathematically...... - To unsubscribe send email to [email protected] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [email protected]. For help, write to [email protected]. Photo site: http://www.flickr.com/photos/lacemaker/sets/
