Wednesday, April 02, 2014

Experience

I worked for various Bechtel companies.  Our stock in trade was doing things that had never been done before.  We would build things bigger than anyone else.  We would do things cheaper than anyone else.  We would do things safer than anyone else. And, we would do things better than anyone else.

So, consider hand weaving.  It is not dangerous to the weaver.  There are no public policy issues (e.g., release of hazardous or radioactive materials into densely populated areas). And, there are huge amounts of reference materials on the topic.  There are very few consequence for failure.  There is no reason to be afraid.   On the other hand, many of the practical skills for hand weaving, have been forgotten. People say that I do not have the experience, so I cannot do it. Nobody alive has the experience!  Does that mean it can not be done?   No! what has been done, can be done again. Why is that that people have not tried something spend so much effort telling me what I can't do?

I think it is worthwhile to try and rediscover some of the old weaving skills.  If you think those skills are still out there, then show me a recently made bolt of hand spun, hand woven wool shirting fabric.

Somebody needs the experience. It might as well be me.


3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Nobody alive has the experience? What arrogant, errant nonsense! There are many weavers producing fine handwoven fabrics. The fact that they do not have the time or inclination to travel to see you, if they even know of your existence, which may be doubtful, to prove their skills does not mean they do not exist. You recently claimed to be the world's expert on knitting sheaths, which was funny enough, but now you are claiming to be an expert weaver without having produced a single yard of hand weaving. That's downright hilarious! Good one, Aaron! And I'm the reincarnation of Cleopatra...

Aaron said...

Why do you think I have not produced a yard of hand weaving?

It would seem that you are the one that writes without facts.

Now, who knows more about knitting sheaths? Who understands needle-knitting sheath systems that operate on the basis of needle pitch, needle yaw, needle roll, and needle flex? That is 4 classes of knitting sheath systems each with their own required techniques. And, each can be found in museum collections of knitting sheaths. Each tool system and technique has its specific advantages for different kinds of objects. For example, needles that roll into the stitch are very useful for gloves (e.g., swaving) while needles that flex are excellent for sweaters and hose. A yaw motion with short needles facilitates making garter belts, which at one time were an important commercial product with a multitude of uses prior to elastic. Who else can tell you which technique is best for eastern cross stitch?

Bitsy said...

I knew there had to be a precursor to modern rubber elastic!