Dear Clay et al, How dreadful to have such an inconsiderate, clueless illiterate foisted on the class. But that was not necessarily a function of learning from books. This person also had reading comprehension problems, as books clearly explain how to wind bobbins and the nature of cross and twist. My first class was Flanders, and my second was Honiton, where I was complimented on my lacemaking. Many lacemakers begin from a book and do just fine. It is probably a function of how one learns, the ability to visualize. Different methods of learning work better or worse with various skills and information. Where tensioning is tricky, a teacher can give immediate feedback, which is so much easier than trying to invent the wheel on your own. But where there is no teacher, either because it's the Dark Time Before the Internet, lack of time or lack of funds, well-written books must do, and while it is not always easy to figure it out, it is doable.
However one is learning, one builds on two pairs and cross and twist. How high one builds from that point depends on all sorts of factors, including inclination. Lyn in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, USA, where it's been snowing all afternoon. Clay Blackwell wrote: >And sometimes those self-taught people can be in for a rude awakening when >they finally find a teacher! Brimming with confidence, they arrive ready to >tackle an intermediate piece only to discover that they have wound their >bobbins wrong, confused the cross with the twist, have no idea how to keep >their bobbins under control, etc., etc... The brave ones begin all over >again, but I have seen at least one who just gave up when she realized she had >done it all wrong... It was too hard for her to remember which was correct >and which wasn't. "My email sends out an automatic message. Arachne members, please ignore it. I read your emails." - 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/
