On 9/1/08, Julie Tamura <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Greetings > > I have always heard that tatting didn't come into use before the 1700s and > so haven't been doing it for Tudor/Elizabethan. Yesterday I was told by a > lady that needle tatting can be documented to quite early and she said it's > mentioned several times in the Canterbury Tales. She also mentioned that > it's related to making fishing nets. > > I'm wondering if any of you knowledgeable folks out there can help me. I'm > having a problem with her data for a couple of reasons. > 1) If tatting shows up in the Canterbury Tales, I know word meanings change > over hundreds of years. Do we know that tatting then is what we call > tatting? > 2) It's quite a reach from fishing nets to the tiny rings and picots of > tatting. I believe they're related but I don't consider net making proof of > tatting. > > Any help would be appreciated. > TIA > Julie >
I think that you are correct in your reasoning. The only "proof" of tatting being earlier is the knotting shuttles that were used since they have the same basic shape (but you would need huge hands to use them for tatting as they are so large). Personally I would ask for specifics. Where in the Canterbury Tales is it mentioned? How is it related to making fishing nets? I've found that usually they can't give any real answer so I just ignore them. But sometimes they have good info and learn something new, but this is sadly rare. Onaree -- Proud List Mom of Irish_Crochet_Lovers http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Irish_Crochet_Lovers/ _______________________________________________ h-costume mailing list h-costume@mail.indra.com http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume
