It was several days before I returned to Arachne, so I thought people had already said everything there was to say about the convention but that's apparently not true. So this is my view of the event. Bottom line, it was a great convention!
The "Tatting Olympics" were hilarious. I'm not much of a tatter, but decided to enter anyway. We gathered on the second floor at the top of the staircase, arranged by state (alphabetically). I got to carry the "California" banner (okay, it was an 8.5" x 11" piece of paper with the state printed on it) while we trooped down the stairs, across the lobby, through the vendor room and back to the lobby to our seats--to the Olympic March played on a boombox. Then Debbie Beaver ran the same route, brandishing a huge shuttle like the Olympic flame, finally placing it in a glass vase at the awards table. Yes there were awards-- gold disks on red, white, and blue ribbons that were draped around the necks of the winners! In addition to the "usual" sorts of events (longest/shortest time tatting, taught the most people to tat) and events (most repeats of a simple pattern), there was a relay race (person #1 starts, hands off to #2 after 2 minutes, who hands off to #3 after another 2 minutes), "Synchronized Tatting" (one person holds the ring while the other moves the shuttle), and the triathlon (assemble a "shuttle" from pieces of toys, wind the shuttle, tat with it). To give an idea of what it was like, the synchronized tatting winner got 8 stitches done! Most of us laughed till we hurt. The vendor room was heaven and hell--the former because there were so many wonderful things to see and buy, the latter because it took no time at all to empty my purse and there was still so much I wanted to get. Happens every time! There were 20-25 vendors there from North America and Europe. As others have said, there were several tasty meals provided, with a great assortment of favors at each one. There were also a bunch of general raffle items offered at each meal (a general pot of tickets), a series of "special" raffles (put your ticket only into the pot of the item you want to try for), and a single-ticket raffle at the general meeting. My thanks to all the generous people and groups who contributed things for us! I took three classes: copper wire BL flowers, tatted beaded bag, and Ecuadorean knotted fringe. I've wanted to try wire BL for a while but wasn't willing to just jump in, so I had a great time in the wire class. We laughed and joked a lot, and got "smiley face" stickers for helpful hints and funny statements. The tatting class was to try to finally become a tatter or prove to myself it was hopeless. I'm afraid it's the latter, no fault of the teacher. She did help me learn stuff, but it was still a lot more work than fun, for a poor-quality product. BL is so much easier and more fun than tatting, I'll stay with it. On Saturday I learned about the intricate patterns knotted into the ikat shawls made in southern Ecuador. They use a single kind of knot but create neat patterns of birds, cats, flowers, and geometrics. I'm always looking for new things to learn, and this was inspiring--I want to try to figure out some of the fancier designs now that I've learned the bas ics! Instead of the usual Wednesday field trips, there were a series of lectures and demonstrations to attend--everything from a slide show on lace in paintings, to telling machine from hand-made lace, to a presentation about the IOLI certification program. This was a very interesting alternative to consider for future conventions. The teachers' showcase was a great event again, although I wish it was on Sunday night before classes start. The lace challenge was a hard one. I couldn't think of anything to do for "Lace in the Sky", but about a dozen creative people did. The first prize went to (Bart Elwell's?) Irish crochet interpretation of Van Gogh's "Starry Night". I think second was for a lovely yellow tatted sun (don't remember the lacemaker's name). Third was Carolyn Regnier's tatted snowflakes hung from a descending spiral. I don't know who won the popular vote, but I was torn between the color-BL version of "Starry Night" (great minds think alike?) and the picture of a lightning-flash over a city done in metallic threads. There was also a kite in BL and a lovely needle lace blooming sprig of eucalyptus against the sky. One very innovative piece was, unfortunately, disqualified because it was sealed inside a plexiglass box (against the rules). It was 3 hot air balloons floating over a "patchwork" countryside, all in bobbin lace. Please, if you enter a lace challenge (or a state fair, or any othe r contest), be very careful to obey the rules! It's a terrible shame if a beautiful work gets disqualified for a technicality. I came home exhausted (staying up too late and getting up too early) and broke (too many cool lace toys from the vendor room), but very, very satisfied. Thank you, Oklahoma guild--I still think you were crazy to volunteer to do that again after so few years, but you did a great job both times! Robin P. Los Angeles, California, USA (formerly Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) [EMAIL PROTECTED] - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
