The machines which sought to imitate bobbin lace date back to the early 1800s and I think the one I saw in Nottingham some years ago was mid-late 1800s.
The frame knitting machines, one of which I saw demonstrated at G H Hurt in Nottingham, do date back to the 1600s, they were designed to knit stockings rather than make lace. For anyone interested in the history of machine lace I thoroughly recommend the Pat Earnshaw books. Brenda > > > Yes, a number of Arachne members saw the Nottingham stockinette machines > from the 17th or 18th C (I'm not sure if the ones we saw went back to the > 1600's -- I find that hard to believe in hindsight), including ones still > working. I have a really lovely shawl knit on one of those machines; quite > a few other Arachnids bought knitted items. Brenda Paternoster [email protected] www.brendapaternoster.co.uk - 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/
