I am surprised to see that this list is almost 20! Some years back, one of the members had a list that was the oldest one we could find of Arachne members, and I was on it. Not sure when I joined, but it was not long after we had access to America Online (remember? when you paid by the minute that you were online?)
I have been out of the lace world for awhile now, and am anxious to get started back. I finally realized if I wait for perfect timing...the things I have put off will never happen. So, there is a local lace group and I am about to start going to their meetings, I have signed up for the bookmark exchange, and I am posting on Arachne again...whew. I learned to make lace in 1983 while living in England and went to classes at the local Tech college every week for over 18 months. I started with lessons from a sweet lacemaker who had inherited most of her tools from an older lacemaker who lived with her. My first lace day in England saw the purchase of a Hornsby lace pillow bag, and Newnham pillow, a glass bobbin and an antique mother-and-babe with twins... I enjoy cross stitching, crocheting (only granny squares), hand-sewing, smocking and spinning (that is until I found out I was allergic to sheep's wool...) Once I started lacemaking, there was enough new things to learn to keep my mind occupied for the rest of my life! In England, I learned to make Torchon, Bedfordshire, Bucks Point and Honiton. My favorite by far is Bucks Point. When I was starting out, my children were little, and loved to have a go at my lace pillow. My daughter used to attend demonstrations with me, and I would set her up with her own pillow. At about 8, she abandoned it. That is until just recently when after being away from it for about 20+ years, she sat down and made a beautiful bookmark in Torchon with minimal help from me!! Also, my daughter-in-law has asked me to help her learn. Right now, I have a fine Torchon edging on one of my pillows and a church on the other one. I think i will get back to work on this church and finish it...it has been much too long!! Glad to be back...all the discussions on lurking are probably what pulled me back in again...thank you! Debbie in Jacksonville mouzo...@gmail.com - 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/