Publications

The Loopholes Blog was established by Cary Karp in 2017 as a platform for material gathered during a study of the early history of crochet that was intended for publication but extended beyond the envisioned scope of the article. This was followed by a number of publications in the area of textile studies, each paralleled by supplementary texts appearing as blog posts. The journal and periodical articles are presented below beginning with the most recent. The second one on the list marks a return to the author’s initial field of research — the history of musical instruments and performance practice — which has also been the primary focus of recent posts. An extensive list of his earlier publications is provided here and offprints of selected texts are occasionally added to this page.

Knitting with Hooked Needles — PieceWork, Winter 2023, pp. 67–69.
This article reviews historical evidence for the use of knitting needles with hooked, rather than plain tips. Such needles are currently employed in several regional styles and were more widespread in Europe in the 18th and early-19th centuries. Indirect indications of their early use span from the oldest known knitting in yarn, from the Nile Valley in the mid-fifth century CE, to northern European wirework beginning in the early ninth century CE.

• The issue where the article appears can be obtained digitally and in print from the publisher of PieceWork.
• The final author’s version of the article will be added to the document repository at a later date. It includes essentially all the material in the published version but extends the substantive and contextual discussion.

Northern European Contributions to the Development of the Autoharp — The Galpin Society Journal, Volume 76, 2023, pp. 178–197 & 218–219.
This article presents details about the development of the autoharp taken from patents and trade publications. The extent of such material that appeared in European venues is greater than has generally been recognized and enhances the understanding of the instrument’s emergence.

• The volume where the article appears has been distributed to the members of the Galpin Society and will become generally accessible in digital form at a later date via JSTOR.
• With the kind permission of the journal’s Editor, Dr. Lance Whitehead, the document repository on this blog includes an offprint of the article.
• There are also addenda with corrections and supplementary material. This is appended to the offprint but absent from the published article.
• A dedicated page provides additional information.

Three objects catalogued as vantsöm in the collections of the Museum der Kulturen in Basel, Switzerland — Archaeological Textiles Review, No. 64, 2022, pp. 55–63.
This article was co-authored with Anne Marie Decker and reports the authors’ findings during a joint visit to the museum. Objects there with stitch structures normally associated with crochet had previously been described as nalbinding of “Coptic Egyptian” origin. This study discusses their structural detail and candidate production techniques in a broader historiographic context. Pending the scientific dating of two of those objects, slip stitch crochet may prove to be older than can otherwise be attested. Here are links to:

• The Archaeological Textiles Review, No. 64, 2022.
• An offprint of the article.

Knotting and Tatting — Journal of Dress History, Volume 5, Issue 2, Early Summer 2021, pp. 8–47.
This article is based on a draft research report about early tatting instructions that was previously in limited circulation. A completely revised and expanded successor text was published in the Summer 2021 issue of The Journal of Dress History with the full title “Knotting and Tatting: The Dual Role of the Shuttle as a Fashion Accessory and Instrument of Decoration.” Here are links to:

• The Early Summer 2021 issue of the Journal of Dress History.
• An offprint of the article.

Evolution in Early Crochet — PieceWork, Winter 2020, pp. 47–51.
This is a second study that addresses a facet of the history of crochet from the perspective of the tool used for it. The article has the full title “Evolution in Early Crochet: From Flat-Hook Knitting to Slip-Stitch Crochet.” It supplants several posts on this blog that dealt with focused aspects of the topic and were taken offline when the article was being prepared for submission. Details in those posts that are not covered in the article have been merged and extended in a subsequent post. Here are links to:

• The Winter 2020 issue of PieceWork.
• The final author’s version of the article, which is substantively identical to the published version.

The Princess Frederick William Stitch — Journal of Dress History, Volume 4, Issue 2, Summer 2020, pp. 75–113.
An article about Tunisian crochet (corresponding to the one presented immediately above) appears in the Summer 2020 issue of The Journal of Dress History, with the full title “The Princess Frederick William Stitch: The Parallel Emergence of Long–Hook Crochet in Prussia and England in 1858.” It is based on an unpublished presentation made at the Knitting History Forum conference in London in November 2018. Here are links to:

• The Summer 2020 issue of the Journal of Dress History.
• An offprint of the article.
• Errata and addenda (included with the offprint).

Defining Crochet — Textile History, Volume 29, Issue 2, 2018, pp. 209–223.
This is the article referred to in the introduction to this page. It has its roots in a seminar held at the Antonio Ratti Textile Center of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, in May 2016. Its topic was the differentiation of crocheted fabric structures from other forms of looping, as a facet of the documentation of museum collections. The author presented a background paper at this seminar, titled “Defining Crochet,” which was then expanded and submitted to the journal Textile History, where it was published online on 11 December 2018, and in print in late March 2019. Here are links to:

• The Version of Record.
• A postprint of the article.
• Addenda (included in the postprint).

Selected pre-blog publications

The Inharmonicity of Strung Keyboard Instruments — Acustica, Volume 60, Number 4, 1986, pp. 295–299.
This is a research report detailing measurements made on instruments in the collections of the Music Museum in Stockholm (now the Swedish Museum of Performing Arts). They show that the inelastic behavior of strings is not the sole determinant of inharmonicity in the sound produced by a plucked or struck stringed instrument. The movement of the bridge on a flexible support contributes significantly to the spacing of the partial frequencies of vibration and effectively offsets the stiffness of the strings. The influence this has on tuning decisions is modulated further by the perceived identity of instrument.

• Here is an offprint of the article.

A Matrix Technique for Analyzing Musical Tuning Systems — Acustica, Volume 54, Number 2, 1984, pp. 209–216.
This article is the upshot of a conversation between the author and his friend, the late Bob Marvin, who had conceived a novel approach to the analysis of musical tuning systems. He regarded it as a curiosity rather than having practical application but welcomed its further development.

• Here is an offprint of the article with an added errata sheet.

Calculating Atmospheric Humidity — Studies in Conservation, Volume 28, Number 1, Feb. 1983, pp. 24–28.
This reviews the measurable properties of air that permit the calculation of its relative humidity. At the time of its writing this required reference to psychrometric tables. One purpose of the article was to suggest the alternate use of programmable pocket calculators. An appendix discusses the extreme conditions encountered in pressurized airplane cabins at high altitude.

• Here is an offprint of the article.

Storage Climates for Musical Instruments — Early Music, Volume 10, Number 4, Oct. 1982, pp. 469–476.
This article was part of an editorially envisioned lengthier series to be prepared by musical instrument conservators at museums. It discusses basic principles of museum climatology with regard to their applicability in a domestic environment. The monitoring procedures are dated but the underlying considerations remain unchanged.

• Here is an offprint of the article.