In a message dated 12/12/2007 10:27:04 A.M. Eastern Standard Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes:
Now, weaver's knots are traditional, and, yeah, hand-made, too; I've seen the fan, and you have to really hunt around to find a knot, so they're nearly invisible as well. What was the problem? Who knows, really? This judge had clearly been taught/ decided that knots were somehow sloppy workmanship, so sloppy that they outweighed just about every other consideration displayed in that contest's entries. And there was no way of knowing ahead of time that this tiny technique would weigh so heavily. It really makes you wonder. And maybe not try again (although my friend figured all this out and entered -- and won -- frequently after that). Well, here is another problem with America... In certain traditions of lace, ie. Tonder, making knots is traditional. We have some old Tonder in the museum, and there are definitely knots in it. However, in other lace traditions, one would run a thread along, instead. So, in the US, at least, we are comparing apples and oranges, a lot. The point system that I usually use, would relegate the amount of points that could be subtracted for knots to a small portion, which is the strength of the point system. But a failing of the point system is that, for instance, in allocating points for mounting, some things don't require mounting, so do you add all the points to the unmounted piece, or subtract them from the total? How do you neutralize? Even within the point system, there is a category for "overall visual impact" which puts the judge in the position of "grossing up" the points of something they just really like, regardless of the more objective criteria. Sometimes, too, you may have a local teacher who feels very strongly about something, and the entrants are all following her instructional rules, but the judge, while recognizing that the entrant has absorbed the rules of the local teacher very well, may not think the local teacher's opinion is correct. Do you accord the highest credit to the student who has best followed the local teacher's rules, thus making them your own criteria, even when you disagree? Does one run the risk of making the local entrants neurotic and depressed by according more credit to those entrants who have taken classes outside the local area who have learned different, and in your opinion, better ways of doing things? Devon **************************************See AOL's top rated recipes (http://food.aol.com/top-rated-recipes?NCID=aoltop00030000000004) - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
