Great point, Adele, and I do have to agree (even though I know I said it was a conundrum of quantity v quality) - speed doesn't necessarily have to equate to lower quality.
For some it does, and some it doesn't. I love watching Cake Boss - the cakes are just beautiful and when they are frosting cupcakes or piping cakes (like the buttercream roses), they work fast and sure and the results are gorgeous. Other things like the Drop lines take a little slower hand, but experience rules the hand and the results are precise. It's the same with lacemakers. Some things come faster, and if you're in the zone, they come easily and neatly, especially with experience and practice. I for one, have days when I'm in the zone, and make neat lace, and there are days when I'm not, and 'haste makes waste', with either errors or messy tallies that need to be undone and reworked. On those days, when it's not working, I pack it in for the day, and come back to it another day. My fingers aren't anywhere near as swift as other lacemakers (and yes, I'll look at other lacemakers and marvel at their speed of work), even though I'm not old (at least, I don't consider myself as old :-) ), but I do have many years of experience. So manipulating the bobbins is kind of an automatic thing for me, and I'm sure when I'm at a demo, people watching me think I work fast. But, I do slow down my rate of progress with an unfamiliar pattern or stitch or when I have to think about how to complete an element. I might still be manipulating my bobbins at the same speed while working my cloth, half and double half stitches or legs and picots, but my progress (ie how much I actually make) will be slower at times. I'm OK with that - it's how I work. And yes, like Clay, I've had some projects that look enticing at first, but then lose something along the way and I'm just ready to chop it off or be done with it (haven't we all?). I finished one project earlier this year that took me 9 1/2 years to complete. It took 7 years to do the first 1/4 of the piece because it wasn't as straightforward as it looked, and it was as frustrating as all get out. It nearly got chopped off more times than I can count. But I got to a point where I decided I was going to win, and a couple of epiphanies later, it's done. It's on display in a glass top table, but it's funny how the numerous remotes hide it and I kind of forget about it at times. Hmmmmm :-) And we come back to horses for courses. For some, there will be a need for speed, and for some, a chance to smell the roses, and for others a combination of both at times. There's nothing wrong with working fast, and there's nothing wrong with slow. It's what works for the lacemaker, and there are so many wonderfully different ways that we all work. Cheers, Helen, Duvall, WA - To unsubscribe send email to [email protected] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [email protected]. For help, write to [email protected]. Photo site: http://community.webshots.com/user/arachne2003
