It's fascinating to read how lace appeals to people and how they came to it.
I learnt to sew and knit when I was about 5, from Mum, and I still have my first little sewing basket (that I still use for a few little bits of ribbon embroidery for when the mood strikes :-) ), and I struggled through needlework for 2 years in HS (and I mean - struggle. It's was tears and frustrations with teachers), and whilst I'm not the needlewoman my mother or late Grandmother is/was (my Grandmother was a tailoress by trade), I can sew enough that gets me by. I made my wedding dress, and I've made most of my kids' Halloween costumes and costumes for grade level programmes in elementary school. I came to lace when I was 12, when mum retaught herself from Margaret Hamer's little booklets, and also the Catherine Channer book (little grey one, not the 'In the cause..." book). I would sit at my pillow and wait while she figured out something, and then she would show me what she'd figured out. After she'd re-learnt the basics, she found a class at a community centre nearby, and took classes with Margaret Cardinaletti, who is an amazing woman. I kept making a little lace through HS and college and just learnt as I needed to, and once I started working, I was able to afford to take a class or 2 with other teachers. I've done some Torchon, tape, bucks point (great class with Freda Stevenson), had a go at Valenciennes in a class with Michael Guisiana, and I concentrate on Beds. I can tat a little and do a little NL, but they're not my favourites. Like Alex, I enjoy the puzzle of the pattern (but not in a mathematical way for me), and how the various pieces of the pattern come together and are linked. I kind of see it a bit like a scrabble board or crossword - an interlocking of elements, perhaps? I also enjoy studying old beds lace - it's fascinating to see how they worked the elements and what the thinking behind a particular solution might have been (keeping in mind the purpose of making the lace was most likely different to my purpose today). One of the other things that I really like about lace is the people you meet through lace - either other lacemakers or people your path crosses when you're demonstrating or just sitting and making lace in a waiting room for example. I've met some interesting people along the way, and have made some very good friends in the lace world, who not only share my fascination for lace, but also bring other interests and dimensions to our friendship/acquaintance. Hope my American friends had a wonderful Thanksgiving. Cheers, Helen, Duvall, WA, where the sun is trying to break through this afternoon, after a dreary morning. - To unsubscribe send email to [email protected] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [email protected]. For help, write to [email protected]. Photo site: http://community.webshots.com/user/arachne2003
