tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21068675.post3130380049204700070..comments2024-03-11T11:38:56.028-07:00Comments on A Fisherman Knits: The decline and fall of the knitting empireAaronhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05150805906414546377noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21068675.post-73477032678422021292013-03-14T10:28:33.879-07:002013-03-14T10:28:33.879-07:00Remember the ridiculous stuff you used to write on...Remember the ridiculous stuff you used to write on Ravelry before you read Amos? Remember how sure of yourself and dismissive of everyone else you were? Yeah, I remember. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21068675.post-56705655338765735662013-02-19T17:38:44.346-08:002013-02-19T17:38:44.346-08:00Dear Anonymous,
You seem to think Orenburg is the...Dear Anonymous,<br /><br />You seem to think Orenburg is the finest possible lace. It is not.<br /><br />Modern gossamer yarn is in the under 22,300 ypp range for cashmere/ silk mixes. The best hand spun that I see around is about 30,000 ypp. I (hand) spin 2-ply wool of that grist. I consider that the beginning of spinning competence. <br /><br />Silk, cashmere, camel, alpaca, linen, cotton and other fibers can be spun much finer. <br /><br />Fine lace starts with fine spinning. And, if one is going to spin fine, one does need good light. Alden and Stephenie talked about what is required to spin fine one afternoon, as I sat with them in their rather excellent library.<br /><br />I was not criticizing Shetland or Orenburg knitting in any way. They knit for their market, in a very unfair environment. I was only saying that if the environment had been more fair, they could have had better work space and better tools, and thereby produced a better product. I was saying that the Victorian attitude toward knitting reduced the quality of the available knitting. <br /><br />A knitting pouch is a good tool for knitting the kind of lace that was knit in Shetland. However, if they had a market for much finer lace, then they needed other tools. <br /><br />I think your problem is that you have never used a very good knitting sheath. <br />Aaronhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05150805906414546377noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21068675.post-23910955373185586352013-02-18T00:05:12.265-08:002013-02-18T00:05:12.265-08:00"Leather knitting pouches are are good tools ..."Leather knitting pouches are are good tools for lace done on needles down to about 1.5 mm. I have talked about them extensively, and I recommend them to my students for some projects."<br /><br />Well then it's even more surprising that you didn't mention Shetland knitting belts in your original blog post - to have left them out, but be criticising the quality of Shetland lace citing lack of knitting sheaths as a reason strikes me as bizarre. One could almost query if this is deliberately ignoring those historical realities that do not support a self-selected presentation of opinion presented as immutable facts.Jane https://www.blogger.com/profile/11331497398603177491noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21068675.post-80642680810398046532013-02-17T18:42:27.618-08:002013-02-17T18:42:27.618-08:00Do some research on Orenburg lace - you really hav...Do some research on Orenburg lace - you really have no idea what you're talking about here. It's almost as ridiculous as your assertion that spinners need huge windows and good light to produce gossamer yarn. No, Aaron, they don't. Look it up. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21068675.post-78387648491134594292013-02-17T14:56:55.903-08:002013-02-17T14:56:55.903-08:00Leather knitting pouches are are good tools for la...Leather knitting pouches are are good tools for lace done on needles down to about 1.5 mm. I have talked about them extensively, and I recommend them to my students for some projects. However, when you are knitting on 0.75 mm needles, you will be using a knitting sheath. Knitting sheaths really do work better with the finer needles.<br /><br />In Brugge, my wife talked us into a private viewing of a collection of lace. The family had been selling lace at that location for 300 years. This was their reference collection. Most of what they sold was Belgian linen bobbin lace. However, their reference collection was catholic.<br /><br />Orenburg lace is/has been produced in many grades. Let me just say that modern Orenburg lace is made to be robust enough to be worn by somebody that does not have a ladies maid. Other styles of lace are made so delicate that they can only be displayed in protected environments. These must also be blocked in protected environments.Aaronhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05150805906414546377noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21068675.post-17813515448768741082013-02-15T22:03:13.881-08:002013-02-15T22:03:13.881-08:00Are you saying you saw a collection of knitted lac...Are you saying you saw a collection of <i>knitted</i> lace in Bruges? I would be interested to know about it, since needlelace and its crocheted imitations are the traditional laces of Belgium. Or are you trying to make some kind of point about older methods being better in general? Are you aware that Orenburg lace shawls (which are actually knitted) have been blocked both indoors and outdoors for centuries? <br /><br />For heaven's sake, stop already. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21068675.post-9008601443533690582013-02-13T05:31:50.663-08:002013-02-13T05:31:50.663-08:00This comment has been removed by the author.Jane https://www.blogger.com/profile/11331497398603177491noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21068675.post-19454407520165827212013-02-13T05:28:09.858-08:002013-02-13T05:28:09.858-08:00I'm puzzled about your description of Shetland...I'm puzzled about your description of Shetland Lace Knitting. They have Shetland Knitting belts that they use on the islands - if they wish, we don't have 'knitting police' here in the UK.<br /><br />So why aren't you mentioning these leather, horsehair filled, knitting belts that you can still buy on Shetland and can be seen in the Lerwick Museum and the Museum on Unst?Jane https://www.blogger.com/profile/11331497398603177491noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21068675.post-42671338810116698542013-02-13T02:08:37.747-08:002013-02-13T02:08:37.747-08:00Herman Melville tells of his own miserable experie...Herman Melville tells of his own miserable experience of being a sailor too poor to buy good clothing, in his autobiographically based book "White Jacket" (I think that's the title, it's been a while since I read it.)=Tamarnoreply@blogger.com