Robin said something like it's the work, not the finished thing that is the satisfaction.
Me too. That's why I'd like to be able to work more quickly, so I can get a bigger fix of solving the problems, which is the pleasure of lacemaking ahead of other arts and crafts for me. That's also probably why I enjoy teaching so much; that is problem solving all the time. Either sorting out why people have gone wrong, helping them make the corrections and not make the mistakes again or working out the best ways to help each person to understand what they will be doing next; it's pure pleasure. When I have a row of cloth stitch to do before I need to select the optimum place to do a sewing, or several rows before I start a braid stitch, if I can do the same quality of work more quickly why wouldn't I want to. It's the sewing, or the perfect start in the perfect place which is where the challenge is, and that's where I get most satisfaction. The lace I make is used purely for teaching purposes; I have none on display. My addiction is in the doing, and I also have many cut-off unfinished pieces kept as samples where I have learnt all I am going to and I'm neither enjoying the work or the prospect of the finished item. Another aspect of speed which hasn't been mentioned is the difficulties which teachers experience trying to design a piece of lace for a class. We often work a sample several times (and inflict it on our 'tame' students) trying to get some idea how long it might take 'average' lacemaker to do the piece. It is one of the most difficult design tasks trying to estimate how many of the necessary techniques will they have time to do in the day, the weekend or worst of all, the 3 hours of a Lace Guild Convention workshop, and thus decide how complex a piece can be. How many of those tricky moves can I get near the start, so everyone can do them in class. How straightforward can I make the last third because that's the bit that will sort 'average' from 'a bit faster'. How detailed do I need to make the accompanying notes so everyone has a chance of finishing at home? But my heart sinks when I have one of the Lacemakers described by Helen(?) who tension and tweak every thread at every stitch as I know I will go home frustrated at how little they were able to achieve even if they don't They may be quite content in their work, so I have to respect that, but surely they'd get even more pleasure (as well as value for money!) if they could work just a tiddy bit faster. Jacquie in Lincolshire Sent from my iPhone - 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://community.webshots.com/user/arachne2003
