On the morning of Tuesday 20th July, 23 very happy ladies arrived at Heriot Watt University for the 2021 Edinburgh Lace Course.
Due to the rules and restrictions imposed by Covid-19, the University was not able to offer their full range of accommodation and social distancing meant that the number of people allowed in the rooms was reduced. This didn’t deter us! We proposed a smaller course and were able to work with the University to make it happen – thank you Charlotte for all your hard work.
Rather than a five-day residential course with four tutors, we ran a two-day course with two tutors. We didn’t want to arrange a large course and only have a few local lacemakers able to come. How wrong we were – the course was filled within a week, and we had lacemakers from Hertfordshire, Essex, Northumbria, Lancashire, and Northern Scotland in addition to those who were closer to home.
We had arranged the room to comply with the regulations – everyone had their own space, there were one-way systems and sanitising stations, and we all wore face coverings when we were moving around or when talking with the tutors.
There was plenty of chatting but also plenty of lace made. Because it was a shorter course, everyone wanted to make the most of it. Have a look the photos in the gallery to see some of the beautiful work made or started at the course.
At the end of the course, Sarah and I decided that our highlight was seeing the faces as everyone arrived – even with a face mask, they couldn’t hide how happy they were to be back at the course.
Thank you to everyone who came – we had a great time. Roll on 2022……
Carole Smith
