Gentle spiders,
(I apologize if this has been noted already?I don?t always manage to
keep up with the digests?but I haven?t noticed it?s being mentioned,
and thought some of you might be interested.)
My son is just now catching up with his Cricket magazine issues,
having been in Nepal for the past three months (Cricket is a
children?s literary magazine, but he?s kept his subscription even as
an adult for its excellent children?s literature). He brought to my
attention a serial story, begun in the December issue. Saorise?s
Story, by Melissa Shaw-Smith, tells of a young Irish girl who watches
an old woman (who may be a fairy) making bobbin lace, and is inspired
to make some of her own design in imitation?which she then sells at
the fair. The story continues in the January issue, and I suspect in
the February issue she will lift her family out of poverty with this
skill. From the way she describes it, and from the illustration, I?m
suspecting that both the author and illustrator (Daniel Powers) have
seen bobbin lace made but didn?t really understand the process: ??the
gnarled hands of the old woman took up each bone in turn and wound the
thread attached to it around the thorns.? (The ?cushion? is made of
moss, and the pins are thorns?but as I said, I think this old woman is
a fairy.) The artist has captured the way the hands hold the bobbins.
Anyway, this story is giving more young people an idea about how lace
may be made, even if it?s a little shaky on detail.
Those of you who are curious are likely to be able to find a copy of
this magazine in the children?s section of your local library. It also
seems to be widely available overseas, although possibly only by
subscription.
--Julie E. in Seattle
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