I just received an email from Jo Firth (an English supplier) which I thought I would pass along. I know most of you will not be ordering from the UK, but the information about the DMC merger/takeover is worth sharing, as is the note about Anchor Lace thread being discontinued.

"We are having trouble with certain DMC threads. DMC in the UK at least, have been taken over by a company called Blue Gem, who have merged DMC, Sirdar Wools and Wool And The Gang into one "DMC Group" and have moved operations to  the Sirdar warehouse in Wakefield. This is about 30 mins away from me by car but parcels are taking longer than they did from France!  (Getting better as difficulties are ironed out) However in their wisdom, they have decided not to stock certain DMC products. The ones which concern lacemaking/tatting/crochet etc are the Perle 12 in colours and Special Dentelles 80 in colours. They are only stocking white, black and ecru in these. They are not stocking Broder machine 50/2 or Variations Perle 5 in hanks. Having argued the cause for lacemaking until I am blue in the face, it has been decided that we (UK suppliers) will be able to still order these items from France, WHEN they have sorted out a method by which to do so. So please be patient and do not believe certain suppliers who are telling people that DMC have stopped production! In the meantime, I keep removing colours from the web, so even if you see the colour on the photograph, it might not be in the "available" list.

To make matters more complicated Anchor have stopped making Anchor Lace thread. So only available while stocks last."

Jill