One person has suggested off list that the woman is a lefty, or injured her hand in an accident. But I think that a lefty would put the pins in with the left hand, because that is arguably the thing that requires the most precision. When I was trying to make lace as fast as possible, and it was Bucks, not Beds as this appears to be, I found myself using both my hands as much as possible so that I was twisting with both hands simultaneously. Perhaps it depends on the lace. Also, it is frustrating that the close-ups of the lace don't allow you to see how she is making the feature. For instance the tally. I think you need two hands at a minimum for a talley. Devon
On Tue, Jul 17, 2018 at 12:42 PM, Adele Shaak <ash...@shaw.ca> wrote: > I think if you made lace for a living, you went as fast as you could, and > certainly making lace with one hand and putting in pins with the other is a > big step up in speed. Probably different lacemakers had different solutions > to the problem of “how can I make this faster”. > > I know when I was making my first 5-metre piece, which was Torchon, I got to > know the pattern so well that I didn’t have to think about it, and I used to > see how fast I could make various parts. I could make a crown during the > time it took my teakettle to boil. (the tea was a treat for me because I > hated making the crowns). I found a lot of time-saving movements began to > happen without thinking, and knowing the pattern so well, and having to > repeat it about 275 times, I saw different patterns and different, faster > ways to work the bobbins. > > I got to stop after 5 metres; I don’t mean to sound facetious, but try > making your Bucks Point pattern as fast as possible for 8-10 hours a day for > a decade or so, and see how fast you get! > > Having said that, of course quality suffers when you go for speed, and we > hobby lacemakers can take our time and try to make perfect lace. Watching > the video, I was certainly struck by how, um, really not very good, the lace > was that she was making. > > Adele > > > > This youtube is interesting in that the woman is using her left hand > > way more than I use mine. In some cases, it seems like she does all > the movements with her left hand and uses the right, principally for > pin placement. Is this an aberration between two lacemakers, or do we > think that this is historically correct? > > - 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/
