Alex Stillwell has stated that the reason for the demise of the really fine lace thread is that the spinning machines can't accept the long filaments the way handspinners could. I went to the Texture museum in Kortrijk yesterday, (in my opinion not as interesting as the old museum in the country) and with linen on the rise, (have you tried linen sheets? amazing) fine thread may reappear and we can jump on the bandwagon. The idea that the fine thread plants died out, I heard in WWI when Belgium was starved makes no sense to me. The texture museum said the filaments can be as long as 120 cm, and that sounds long enough to make a fine thread by hand, certainly.
Lyn from Lancaster, Pennsylvania, USA, presently in Brussels, where it's cool, sort of cloudy. Looking forward to going home on Labor Day, Sept 3. "My email sends out an automatic message. Arachne members, please ignore it. I read your emails." - 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://www.flickr.com/photos/lacemaker/sets/
