Two things. First, I have come up with an idea for demonstrating. It may be personal only to me, but it may be useful for someone else to build on. When we were in Sweden, 2004, I chanced upon Vadstena, sort of between Stockholm and Goteborg. Two stationary lace supplies stores. One store is the national association store, and they sell prickings. I mean, how cool is that. (they are also online) One of the things they sell is prickings suitable for church use. So I bought one. At the time, it looked difficult, now, 7 years later, it doesnât look that bad. Heck, Iâm now learning Binche, so a 6 foot or so edging in 40/2 linen, with Torchon ground is not going to be insurmountable. Just need to take measurements of the altar. This is an Episcopal church, and that always means coffee hour. Making the lace that goes on the altar during coffee hour on Sundays should certainly go a long ways toward at least raising the consciousness of the church concerning lace making. Who knows, it may result in a place for lacemaking meetings! You have to remember, you non-Americans, that most people do not know what bobbin lace is, they have never seen it done, and they usually donât know anyone who does it. They have no grandmother or great aunt who did it. Most have never even seen, consciously, hand made lace of any sort in person. Recruiting from that lot is a long row to hoe. The lady in England who had seen lace demonstrated several times before she gathered the admirable courage to have a go is not a common circumstance in the US.
Second, On those few times I have demonstrated, I have handed out a half sheet of 8 1/2 x 11 paper with lists of the local IOLI chartered groups, IOLI url, a few suppliersâ websites, a beginner book I like. I direct them to the next step. It thus behooves ALL chapters to have a website, if at all humanly possible, as that is the most likely way to make contact, AND to keep the website current. Knowing what was going on 2 years ago does not inspire confidence in the existence of a lively, vibrant group. I believe it is much easier to email to a link with a question, than to make a phone call. And the more information you put on the website about the availability of meetings, lessons, demonstrations, along with pictures of membersâ completed works, the more likely you are to attract new people. Lyn in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, US, where I can finally air out my sleeping bag and the good down comforter that kept me so warm in my tent in Ithaca, New York last weekend, where one morning it was 34F, 1C. But I had much more money for books. - 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