Soon after placing yesterday’s post about the Chronology of loom knitting online my attention was called to a significant error in one of the points it made. Socks can be knitted on a peg loom both downward from the cuff and upward from the toe. The knitted tubes made in Egypt beginning around the 5th… Continue reading Bloopography
The chronology of loom knitting
The tools and techniques described in detail in the initial wave of 19th-century publications about diversionary fancywork represent crafts in practice at that time. Although some clues are provided about their histories, little can be deduced about their actual ages and origins. The drawing of purse molds from 1842 that provides this blog’s logo is… Continue reading The chronology of loom knitting
Three years and 100 posts later
When I started this blog I had no idea how much time I would soon be spending in the alternating roles of researcher and wordsmith. I’ve enjoyed pretty much every minute of it. However, the project has been increasingly beset with need for retrospectively harmonizing earlier posts with recent ones and updating references to source… Continue reading Three years and 100 posts later
Diamond mesh
I’ve devoted an inordinate amount of blog space to slip stitch fabric made with a hook, tracing it back along a number of paths to its first appearance in printed sources in the mid-18th century, and discussing objects made in that manner found in museum collections. I’m going to restore some balance with material and… Continue reading Diamond mesh
Ice cream cones in the crochet toolkit
Crochet hooks are used as auxiliary tools in other crafts, either in their original form or adapted to the alternate context. It is, for example, a matter of personal preference whether a knitter uses an ordinary crochet hook to reknit the ladder resulting from a dropped stitch, or a “repair hook” modified specifically for that… Continue reading Ice cream cones in the crochet toolkit
The costs and dividends of blogged loopography
Without originally intending to blog at regular intervals, I’ve long since settled into a fortnightly rhythm. I had every intention of maintaining it with a post this past Sunday despite being at the Textiles from the Nile Valley Conference in Antwerp through the weekend. I had a nearly completed draft of the intended post with… Continue reading The costs and dividends of blogged loopography
More about the double-ended Tunisian crochet hook
One of the recurring topics in the discussion of Tunisian crochet is whether fabric produced with a double-ended hook should be regarded as a variant form of ordinary Tunisian crochet or as an entity of its own. The earliest instructions calling for that tool that I have been able to locate so far are in… Continue reading More about the double-ended Tunisian crochet hook
