Last Saturday I went to the Mid Downs Lace meeting. It was a unseasonal hot and sunny day and I was amazed how many members turned up. Our speaker was Rosina Robinson and her talk was 'Lace through the ages'. She gave us a lovely short history about making lace, unfortunately she ran out of time.
One of our suppliers on the day was one of our members, Janet France. Not only does she make lace, but also makes beautiful pictures with machine embroidery. I bought these two booklets with her handmade covers. They will be lovely presents.
I didn't make any lace on the day, but wound bobbins for my next project. The duchesse piece is almost finished.
I have spend two lovely weeks in The Netherlands. The weather was perfect.
Lace was a big feature this holiday, I could finally pick up some lace equipment I took over last year. And I was able to go to the AGM of the LOKK, this is the Dutch lace society.
With the lace equipment came an almost finished piece of Torchon in linen thread. It was such a nice design that I had to finish it. I haven't worked with linen thread for a long time and this was a good reminder why I not. Linen thread doesn't slide into place like cotton and silk. You have to pull every thread seperately.
I decided to send the mat to the lady,who made it, and I hope she enjoys her mat.
The AGM of the LOKK was a lovely day. In the morning we had the actual AGM followed by a powerpoint presentation of lace hankerchiefs owned by the LOKK. These hankerchiefs were also on display. In the afternoon we were given a simple pattern for a handkerchief corner. Unfortunately I hadn't brought the right thread, so my attempt looks a bit thin.
19th March 2011
Weald Lace fair
At Collyer's sixth form college
Hurst Road, Horsham, West-Sussex, RH12 2EJ
At the moment I am working on a pattern out of the book Duchesse-kant, Kant voor Hertoginnen, by R. Delescen-van Rijsewijk. It is a practice piece to improve my techniques. In the leave I am working, you can see pins in the middle of the clothwork. This is where extra pairs were added. In Duchesse you normally add pairs at the edge stitch, but It is less obvious when you do it in the middle.
One of our suppliers on the day was one of our members, Janet France. Not only does she make lace, but also makes beautiful pictures with machine embroidery. I bought these two booklets with her handmade covers. They will be lovely presents. 
