Can someone recommend a good beginner book that is on the market right now, for Flanders lace? I have the Mary Niven 'Flanders lace a step by step guide', but I find it rather lacking in instructions. There are a lot of historical notes, but not a lot of 'do this, and then do this' type of instructions. Like there is not really any explanation as to how to do the footside, or how to deal with the gimp on the head side. I have been watching the videos by Sally Schoenberg, but it is a bit of a nuisance to watch what she is doing, stop the dvd, try to do the step, not sure if you remember right, go back watch it again etc. It would be so much easier if I had a book with clear instructions. Like, don't tell me to 'practice the ground stitch' before starting any patterns without explaining exactly how to do the ground stitch and how it relates to the foot and head sides. I was going to start with the Chantilly lace, but found the instructions not that clear there either, so I decided I'd wait till August when I can meet up with Dianne who has taken a course from Lia, and she can help me. So I thought I'd try out Flanders, but seem to be running into the same problem, not enough instruction to learn it by yourself. I taught myself to do Bucks and Honiton from books, and had no trouble figuring out how to do it, but these ones leave me baffled. And it seems that books are disappearing off the market faster than I can afford to buy them. I had bought the first Syllabus of Binche a year or so ago, and wanted to get the next one, only to find that it is out of print, I found that Trillium lace still had the third one listed on their website, so i am hoping she still has a copy. Same goes for the Michael Giusiana ones, only book 3 is still in print. So I am hoping someone can recommend a good beginner book that actually tells you the steps and which stitches to use, and not just tell you to work the edge or work the picot, without even telling you how to get there from the ground stitches...The Niven book doesn't even tell you how many pairs to hang where to start.... In the meantime I guess I'll see if the Valenciennes book by Annick Staes is any good to get started. If not, I guess I'll have to stick to Bucks for the time being....just thought I'd keep my interest going by trying something new, but I don't need the frustration of not understanding what is going on.
*Marianne* Marianne Gallant [email protected] threadsnminis.blogspot.ca - 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/
