Dear Spiders, Since I returned home and started to read the books I had bought in Pakistan, I found one item of interest that does qualify for includion in Lace.
At first I was reluctant to buy a book on Karakorum Stitchery as it was written in German and I only know a very little German. However, the illustrations and photos were good. I am glad I did buy it, for one of the photos showed two women making finger braids (we had this as a discussion subject a short time ago) or rather, one was plaiting while at the other end, another woman was sewing the resultant braid round the crown of a hat, while it was being plaited. Immediately my mind went back to Morocco, a couple of years ago, where two men were making the identical braid which was plaited and at the same time sewn onto the seams of the caftan. The result was firm, beautiful and an integral part of the seam. Then I remembered I had seen a similar illustration in a book about ChineseTextile techniques. Morocco, Pakistan and China are far apart. One could say that ideas were spread via the Silk Road as far as the Middle East and that Arab traders took the technique to Morocco, but I can't help wondering if finger braiding is not such a basic technique, that it could have been invented in more than one World area at the same time, like weaving. My next thought was, is finger braiding the fore-runner of plaited, i.e. bobbin-lace? There may have come a time when there were simply not enough fingers for the number of threads needed, or weighted bobbins may have been easier to work than finger loops. Well - its a thought, what do you think? Angela Thompson [EMAIL PROTECTED] - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED]
