I have to agree with Adele. There are so many factors that there is not a blanket answer. I will say that being around other people, teachers or not, seems to be helpful in a way that books and computers can not replicate. However, the ability to do things in chat rooms and the widespread use of video is changing things. I wonder how it will look 100 years from now?
The fact that you are asking this question makes me wonder if anyone has suggested or made you feel "less than" because you are "self taught" or have "just learned from books?" I would say that, for the majority of people, having a helping hand to get started on the right foot is beneficial. I underscore the word most, because it isn't all. I talk to a lot of people from around the country and different parts of the world, and one thing I have heard repeatedly from people who "used to make lace" or "tried to do it" or were "turned off by it" is that bobbin lace makers are quite snooty. This could be good in the sense of us all striving to make the best lace we possibly can.......but the context in which it comes up is not positive. I know SO many truly wonderful people who make bobbin lace that the first few times I heard it I dismissed it. It has come up too frequently to ignore, though, and I think that I can "see" the point of view they are coming from now. Anytime we look down on one another, this happens. Whether this is a tendency of bobbin lace makers or women in general is a whole other debate. But, I mention this because if we really want our art to survive, we need to embrace people learning. If you can learn from a book or from videos and you have the discipline to do it, then more power to you! Kim On Sat, Nov 24, 2018 at 3:41 PM Adele Shaak <[email protected]> wrote: > Your lace may very well be as good as, or even better than, lace made by > someone who has had a teacher. Or not. > > Some people can have the best teachers and still produce bad lace. Some > donât tension well. Some have short attention spans. Some people canât see > as well as they think they can. Many people arenât good at comparing what > theyâre making with the examples theyâre shown. > > There are so many factors at work - are you conscientious, do you take > care to make your lace look like whatâs in the book, do you read > attentively and how well do you understand what youâve read, how well do > you follow the instructions, do you take the trouble to find thread the > right size for the pricking. > > Having a teacher means you get set up nicely with well-matched thread and > pricking and any mistakes or bad habits are pointed out to you. The secrets > a teacher passes on - well, theyâre not really secrets, just lace lore, and > what gets passed on depends on the teacher, the time available, and the > questions that are asked. A lot of learning stems from the other students > in the class - somebody might ask if they can substitute 100/3 for 60/2, > and the teacher might use the situation to talk about thread sizes and > things to think about when switching threads, or the teacher might just > answer yes or no. > > Each teacher has different strengths and weaknesses that may or may not be > a good fit for you. So you canât know for sure that youâd make better lace > if you had a teacher. And if you did have a teacher, you might learn better > from a different one. > > I guess what I want to say is that in-person instruction is a good way to > learn, but in-person instruction from several different teachers is even > better, and one person working off the grid in a cabin in the woods with > the single worst instruction book ever printed may still learn to make good > quality lace. > > Just my 2 cents. > > Adele > West Vancouver, BC > (west coast of Canada) > > > On Nov 24, 2018, at 2:53 PM, Ann Humphreys <[email protected]> > wrote: > > > > Iâve never had a lace teacher. Iâve learned from books and videos. > > Will my lace not be as good as those who have had teachers. What are the > secrets that lace teachers pass onto their pupils? > > Just curious. > > Ann > > - > 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/ > - 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/
