Nita You will probably hear several quite different points of view on your question, but here is mine. The first problem is that you nearly always don't get as far as you want to in a first class. So the major problem is to choose something that students can actually finish. And the class must be long enough for real progress to happen. I would say a 3 hour class is really necessary. The group you are teaching may not want that long a class and may insist that 2 hours is all you can have. You may have to accept that. But anything less than 2 hours is absolutely useless, if the students actually expect to learn anything.
Torchon is often the lace chosen as the first kind, but if the first lace strip has too much variety of stitches, the students won't be able to master it. They will simply leave with massive confusion. You have heard people here speak of "The Snake" pattern (by Springett, I think) being used for demonstrations. That might be a good choice. Another possibility, since you mention plaiting, is to pick a simple plaited lace as a bookmark: just plaits/braids, windmill crossing, picots. That can definitely be learned in one class and the students will have something to take home and show their families. (Pick a pattern like the really simple ones in LePompe and you can even avoid teaching the footside. Save the footside for later.) I often start students with simple Beds or Cluny laces. Another problem is that students will probably arrive without having their bobbins wound. That can easily take an hour just in itself. So you will need to think about how to deal with that problem. And even if you give a pattern out in advance, only a minority will have it pricked. So plan for that, too. Teaching is great fun. But all the problems I've mentioned here have occurred both in classes I've taught for other guilds, and with small groups of private students. It took me a while to adjust my "first class" strategy to fit the realities. Lorelei - 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
