Dear Bev I take seriously the idea of thinking about lace design or pattern as a non-linguistic writing system. If you accept this idea, then the lacemakers who may not be able to read are not illiterate if they can read and follow a pattern.
What's thrilling about your idea, Bev, is the notion of a kind of reading that *requires* reading all over, rather than from right to left. On Sun, May 20, 2018 at 5:46 PM, Bev Walker <walker.b...@gmail.com> wrote: > Hello everyone and Jane who wrote: > > > I've never been taught Binche but I've made a few small pieces from > working diagrams and their construction makes absolutely no sense > whatsoever. > > Exactly what I thought when I decided 'how hard can it be' and made a small > piece from its diagram. I am mostly self-taught from books, following a > diagram was easy enough. And then I was able to see up close an old example > of Binche; I marvelled at the mind and hands that created it. Fine, tightly > woven threads seemingly went everywhere, but here, too, was a pattern > repeat! Was there ever a diagram? Probably not. I got an idea, what if the > lacemaker didn't read; they weren't illiterate, they were skilled in other > ways. If they were unhampered by having to look at a page from left to > right, and by extension anything else - could they see in all directions > at once? Maybe they learned their craft by watching someone else, as one > might when learning dance steps? > > I still reflect on that, with no conclusion, but getting back to making > lace in the present, I like the new floral designs by Fumi Kanai and her > students, and all I do is follow the lace's diagram using lots of movable > sticky arrows to help keep track. Find the topmost element that needs doing > first and move on from there. It is usual for several sections across the > design to need attention before advancing. The direction of work is in a > general downward manner even though it seems like one is jumping all over > the place. Weaver pairs become passives and vice versa as required to fill > in a given space. > > IMO working a Binche lace is puzzle-solving at its finest, whether > designing or dependent on the diagram. > > -- > Bev in Shirley BC, near Sooke on beautiful Vancouver Island, west coast of > Canada > > - > To unsubscribe send email to majord...@arachne.com containing the line: > unsubscribe lace y...@address.here. For help, write to > arachne.modera...@gmail.com. Photo site: > http://www.flickr.com/photos/lacemaker/sets/ > - To unsubscribe send email to majord...@arachne.com containing the line: unsubscribe lace y...@address.here. For help, write to arachne.modera...@gmail.com. Photo site: http://www.flickr.com/photos/lacemaker/sets/
