[lace] Lace: Making lace before diagrams

[Karen Thompson]

Karen: I have heard that color-coded working diagrams were developed in
Belgium in
the 1930s

> Marianne Stang: may I make a little correction? The color code was invented
in Bruges in 1911/12.
> The lace school had more than 70 students, so it became necessary to solve
this problem. That's why they came to the color code.
Karen: Dear Marianne,
That was exactly what I was hoping for. That somebody would know and correct
the myth. Thank you. I was surprised nobody had answered before.


-Karen
Sent from my iPad

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Re: [lace] Making lace before diagrams

[Sue Babbs]

Oh, yes, I’d forgotten to say that Joepie.  We were given the pricking to
replicate and use – either by drawing it out on graph paper and trueing it
up or by taking a rubbing of it or pricking through it.


Sue

suebabbs...@gmail.com

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[lace] Re: Lace: Making lace before diagrams

[Karen Thompson]

Elena, and other friends,

I have heard that color-coded working diagrams were developed in Belgium in
the 1930s. Before that a numbering system was used by some authors, with
lengthy explanations for each number corresponding to the hole in the
pricking.

Frieda Lipperheide, 1898, Das Spitzenkloppeln

https://www2.cs.arizona.edu/patterns/weaving/books/lf_lace_1.pdf

developed a fascinating grid system of explaining the stitches. Even if you
cannot interpret the Old German Gothic text and writing, the illustrations
are still fascinating. See page 3 of the book (not the pdf) for the
formula, and then scroll further to see it used. Ms. Lipperheide also uses
the tiny numbers by each hole, as was also used by other authors in the
late 1800s and early 1900s, such as Sara Rasmussen in 1884, and the Torchon
Company in the early 1900s. You will find that the Torchon Lace Company
copied most of their material from Sara Rasmussens book Kloppelbuch.

https://www2.cs.arizona.edu/patterns/weaving/books/rs_lace.pdf

The Torchon Lace Company
https://www2.cs.arizona.edu/patterns/weaving/monographs/tor_v1_1.pdf

You can read more about the Torchon Company in my blog written for the
Smithsonian
http://americanhistory.si.edu/blog/torchon-lace-company-fine-line-between-entrepreneurship-and-fraud
I am not using the umlaut and apostrophe on purpose to avoid the strange
symbols that show up in the Arachne posts.

-Karen in sunny Washington DC at the moment

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RE: [lace] Making lace before diagrams

[J-D Hammett]

Hi fellow Arachnids,

Much the same for me as for Sue. We also had to draw out, prick and mark out
our prickings before we were to wind the bobbins. However, it does take longer
and I find that especially younger lacemakers have neither the time nor the
inclination to learn/work this way. I must say that I prefer making lace to
making prickings, but it does teach one to be able to make decision and work
independently.

Happy lace making,

Joepie.

From: Sue Babbs


When I learned in England (1988 onwards), you were given the pricking, the
training to interpret the pricking, and if you were lucky sight of the
finished lace.  The main advantage of this is that you are not dependent on
diagrams (and not constantly looking from lace to diagram) and you learn to
make your own decisions.


Sue

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Re: [lace] Making lace before diagrams

[Ilske Thomsen]

Elena,
as far as I know it’s somewhere in 20th century that diagrams started perhaps 
at the time like color code.
In some regions in former time the lacemaker had little pieces of the original 
lace they had to work.
When you see old prickings thick paper or sometimes leather it’s not easy to 
find out which sort of lace it belonged to. And on some you were able to make 
different sorts of lace. Others are so often used that’s impossible to make any 
proper lace.

Ilske

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Re: [lace] Making lace before diagrams

[Sue Babbs]

The teacher was very flexible and taught many different laces in one group.
She had binders of samples of all sorts of laces which she had made let us
look through till we saw a design that appealed and then we were off.

We were started on Torchon (and I love the variety of stitches available in
Torchon) and encouraged to design our own patterns within the first few
lessons so we understood the structure better.

Then I move on to Bucks (as I loved the floral appearance), Beds and needle
laces.  As the teacher was one of the moderators for City and Guilds, I
decided to sign up for that. So that was a year of design classes with a group
of varied craft makers.  Then the lace element included Torchon, Beds, Bucks,
Honiton, Hollie Point, tambour, braid laces (with pre-made tape and also
Milanese), tatting (and maybe more, but I’d need to get out the folder to
remember!)


Sue

suebabbs...@gmail.com

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Re: [lace] Making lace before diagrams

[Elena Kanagy-Loux]

Thanks for your answer Sue! I'm wondering what kind of lace you were
learning predominantly? I could see this being easier perhaps for certain
laces than others?

Personally I learned while traveling so I studied bobbin lace with multiple
teachers across Europe, which allowed me to cobble together a personal
approach. I agree that I prefer to have the ability to "read" lace patterns
on my own and make decisions, but diagrams are helpful when I get stuck!

Best,
Elena

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Re: [lace] Making lace before diagrams

[Sue Babbs]

When I learned in England (1988 onwards), you were given the pricking, the 
training to interpret the pricking, and if you were lucky sight of the 
finished lace.  The main advantage of this is that you are not dependent on 
diagrams (and not constantly looking from lace to diagram) and you learn to 
make your own decisions.



Sue

suebabbs...@gmail.com

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[lace] Making lace before diagrams

[Elena Kanagy-Loux]

Liz R brings up the point about how historically, lacemakers did not have
the benefit of detailed diagrams and would have had to keep the designs in
their head, even for complex lace like Binche. Devon and I were just
talking about this the other day at the Yale lace event and it was boggling
our minds.

Simpler types of lace like guipure would have been easy enough to figure
out but for a wide piece of something like Binche or Mechlin would be
incredibly difficult!

Does anyone have further insight on following complex patterns without a
diagram? And when we think diagrams evolved? I saw a student's workbook
from the turn of the century on display at the Rococo Lace Manufactory in
Brugge that used color coding so it was at least in practice by then. Would
lacemakers have worked out the pattern by drawing it perhaps? Or was it
really all in their heads? Any primary sources for this?

Stimulating conversation as always!
Best,
Elena

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