I'm a Maths graduate (Leeds, 1987), I taught myself Torchon in the early 1980s while still at school. I think the connection isn't Maths as such but some of the things Maths, Science, Computing, psychology teaches you namely logic, analytic thought, sequences, patterns and coding/representation. But to be a good lacemaker you also need creativity. I remember struggling reconciling the academic and creative sides of me when I was younger but later reconciled this as what I called "logical creativity". The laces I now choose to work are the complex Belgian laces such as Binche and Flanders that use coloured technical drawings (essentially a form of coding but a form that anyone who understands the coding can understand regardless of their spoken language). One really interesting thing we have done in classes in Brugge (particularly as a lacemaking teacher for my understanding of how others understand lace structures) is to take an enlarged copy of an old lace and try to w! ork out how it has been worked. It is fascinating to watch others working on the task, while most people are quite happy with cloth stitch and can quite happily think of two horizonal lines being a worker it is fascinating watching them with half stitch and struggling with the working path (in Binche the working path could be either horizontal, diagonal or a combination of the two).
In terms of Kathleen's question about laces that appeal, for me it is the laces which have grids in/behind them, and I class the Belgian laces and Honiton as geometric because of the grounds. Kind Regards Susan Website: www.susanroberts.info e-mail address: [email protected] YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCTWfnh8ulGj3pS1V0f6O1jQ -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] <[email protected]> On Behalf Of Kathleen Harris Sent: 20 May 2018 07:56 To: [email protected] Subject: [lace] Lace and maths I wonder if it is simply that bobbin lace appeals particularly to scientists and especially mathematicians. Moving on from this, is it the more “regular” laces which appeal, I.e. Torchon, Bucks and Flanders, rather than Bedfordshire for instance? Sent from my iPad - To unsubscribe send email to [email protected] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [email protected]. For help, write to [email protected]. Photo site: http://www.flickr.com/photos/lacemaker/sets/ - To unsubscribe send email to [email protected] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [email protected]. For help, write to [email protected]. Photo site: http://www.flickr.com/photos/lacemaker/sets/
