On 14 Oct 2011, at 08:07, Jean Nathan wrote: > Then there's the question are there sufficient young people taking up the > craft and buying the supplies to replace those of us in our dotage who will > eventually give up because we can no longer cope or go to join other > lacemakers on a cloud.
Personally I think that that is the main issue, and I think that it's probably true world wide and not just here in UK, or US where this discussion began. The older ones stay with the craft until they are either unable to continue but there are very few new, younger lacemakers taking their places. Back in the 70s when I started learning BL we were glad to get hold of any sort of bobbins or thread and there were very few books published. Then the boom years came in the 80s and 90s with suppliers and bobbin makers galore, but gradually many of them decided they had had enough. Some of the businesses were sold as going concerns but but usually when that happened the new owners were not able to carry so much stock, and so the choices became more limited. Also the traders, like their customers, are ageing. I know that there are several UK suppliers who are near, if not past, pensionable age. With the current economic woes of the world and the fact that getting up early, driving for a couple of hours, shifting a van load of wares into a hall, greeting customers and then shifting most of it back to the van and driving home again knowing that the stock all has to be put away again for mail orders to be dealt with is physically demanding, and it wouldn't surprise me if the UK were to loose some of the long established lacemaking supplies business in the next year or so. I don't know what the answer to this is, although it is true that adult education has also declined significantly over the last few years which means that it is harder for a beginner to find the tuition they need and so goes on to learn some other craft that is more accessible. My only regret after the years I spent teaching in adult education is that not a single one of my students went on to become lace teachers themselves. Brenda in Allhallows www.brendapaternoster.co.uk - 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
