It should not be lost on our Arachne members that there is always going to be something new to learn about lace. You will never run out of new challenges. That is why so many brilliant women have chosen lace as a medium to master. It is important to know exactly which books to buy, in the proper sequence, when you are moving into learning specialties from books like Schwarzarbeit 2. Here I will defer to the people who have been Ulrike Lohr Voelker's students and the experts who sell books, like Holly Van Sciver, the American lace book dealer/lace supplier/teacher. Holly and Ulrike have worked together to bring some books to market. Ulrike is very prolific author of lace books. There are 24 titles by her in my collection. She has written more, but....there are other lace authors, and one must decide each year which other authors deserve shelf space here before spending more money on the ones by Ulrike. I want to share that in my library of over 1,000 lace titles, there is a Schwarzarbeit - or a FIRST book by Ulrike.on this subject! Marianne, your fellow Canadians are providing wise recommendations. Another that has been repeated on Arachne for 20 years is to begin at the beginning and work through a book, because authors arrange the patterns in order of difficulty - starting with the easiest and progressively getting more challenging with the addition of more techniques in each lace that follows. The makers of Chantilly tried for many years to keep their lacemaking secrets from being discovered by lacemakers in neighboring nations (as did the needlelace makers in Alencon). It is only in the last few years that Chantilly has been de-mystified through efforts like Ulrike's. Hopefully, bobbin lace makers will persist. The other "secret" lace was needle-made Alencon. At the 2012 OIDFA Caen Congress we learned there are only a couple professional Alencon makers working in France. It requires a long and demanding apprenticeship. (The operative word here is "professional", as in full-time. This does not refer to teachers and authors.) The French have wanted to keep secret something beautiful that is no longer economically viable as an industry. In the Schwarzarbeit book's history, post-Revolution, it explains that Napoleon I allowed only Alencon and Chantilly laces at court. The history in this book is important to understand, because if you read between the lines what is being hinted, you will understand the whys of problems with techniques. Pusher lace machines were able to make imitations of Chantilly from 1860 onwards. You are making lace some 155 years later. My recommendation for those challenged by high book prices is to join a lace guild that has a lending library. Devon has already written that IOLI sends books to members in Canada. In fact, you should know that International Organization of Lace Inc. has Canadian East and Canadian West representatives! We cannot solve your budget problems, but have done our best to help you. This has been a lot more than was available just a few short years ago. Quite a few of us have been donating our time to making lacemaking more accessible. No commercial enterprise is likely to do this without compensation. Wishing you success, Jeri Ames in Maine USA Lace and Embroidery Resource Center In a message dated 7/26/2015 10:26:29 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time, [email protected] writes:
Does anyone know of any Canadian lace making suppliers other than Trillium lace? ....I thought I knew enough of point ground laces to be able to start learning some other laces....and then I got the Schwartzarbeit 2 book by Ulrike Voelcker.....Right, I started reading some of the instructions, and went "huh? what is she talking about?"... Got the Grammar of Point Ground book out....and am beginning to think I am a total beginner. she has sooo much information on how to improve these laces, and I still end up with questions, so I need to get her other books.... *Marianne* - 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/
