01-05-2006, 04:30 AM
Hi, Doc,
Isn't it interesting that even after all of the boundary-bending changes in gender roles 'Western' civilization has gone through over the past 50+ years, some things haven't changed much, if at all?
It still makes the news if some football player admits to taking a home ec course or knowing how to knit. [ -- smart kid, I wish I had taken a "home ec" class; I also wish I had taken "Shop" class, but - hey, I was going to college! Why would I need 'shop' skills? Stupid, stupid, stupid!). At least I was perceptive enough to take typing, which my dad (very atypically, actually) thought would be a waste of time.
It's still news if some football coach has his players take ballet lessons to improve their agility and footwork.
And, in some people's minds, a man working with textiles is tantamount to admitting they're gay. :unsure:
Yet, men have dominated other fields requiring similar sorts of skills. In most cultures, most or all goldsmiths/jewelers have been men. Most machinists have been men. Diamond cutters (& diamond buyers for that matter) are, I think, still almost all men.
For that matter, "fine tailors" of men's clothes (suits, etc.) have been fellow men, mostly without that stigma.
Strange, strange. :huh:
Well, I don't knit or crochet, but I've thought about learning at least one specialized aspect of one of those - working with wire.
I don't think I've ever mentioned it on the LL (though I did allude to it on the back pages of a couple of DSF threads), but I have an interest in jewelry-making. It started with an interest in lapidary, after visiting an amethyst mine near Thunder Bay, Ontario back in '92. Over time, the interest broadened, and it turned out to be easier to get started silversmithing.
However... after a couple of years of playing around in my apartment, I put the hands-on aspect of the hobby on hold for what I thought would be a year or two. Well, for various reasons, that hiatus has stretched into about 10 years...
But one of these days I AM going to get my old work area (unsatisfactory as it was) cleared out and get back to playing around...
I've been a member of the local Lapidary and Mineral society for about 12 years now, and one of the senior members got into knitting wire with a spool a few years ago. I've seen him give a couple of demonstrations, and although I'm not sure I have the patience or a deft enough touch to be able to do a good job at this, it is tempting to try.
Hmmm, I thought I would do a search and show what I was talking about, but found very little like what I was thinking of. Puzzling. I found a few pieces made using the technique, but integrating so many beads you can't see the wire pattern!
These are the closest I've found to plain, simple wire work:
http://jewelrymaking.about.combrary/weekly/aa072101.htm
http://www.wigjig.com/jewelry-tools/WJU/te...chains/pg03.htm (especially the top picture on "Page 4," and the bottom picture on "Page 5" - but imagine that made with plain silver wire).
You can use different numbers of pins on your spools, I think maybe the ones I've seen our club 'pro' make used more pins than the examples I found on-line, and thus the resultant chains are denser.
Although not quite what I was thinking of, here's some other kinds of things made of knitted wire:
http://www.wigjig.com/jewelry-tools/WJU/je...ists/index.html
http://www.beadextravaganza.com/html/spo..._wire.html
http://www.diynetwork.com/diy/na_knitting/...4177158,00.html
http://www.angelfire.com/home/avital/wireknitting.html
http://www.rosiesyarncellar.com/classes.htm
Again, although not what I was thinking of, here's some examples of what can be made by crocheting wire:
http://www.hgtv.com/hgtv/cr_accessories_je...4128917,00.html
http://www.seafore.com/wire/wireheart.html
http://www.jenanne.com/mt-static/archives/000444.html
http://members.aol.com/patmcaudel/2index.html
Back in 1975, Arline M. Fisch wrote "Textile Techniques in Metal" in which she surveyed ways to apply textile techniques such as weaving, knitting, knotting, braiding, basketry, etc., to metal. I've checked it out of my local university library, and although some of the techniques don't appeal to my personal sense of aesthetics, some do very much. I believe she came out with a new edition a few years back, updated with color photos and developments since the first book. You might be able to find it at Barnes & Noble, etc. Worth browsing through at least, if you're at all interested in the subject.
Aah, here's a brief review of the new edition, with a couple of pix:
http://www.needleartsbookshop.com/needlear...s_in_Metal.html
I am also interested in trying some of the traditional hand-made chain techniques, and maybe jewelry made with chain-link techniques.
Now that I think of it, considering your comments on wire-jewelry a few months back, maybe you've already done this kind of work? Seems like it would be a natural...
Regards,
Dako-ta
"The instruction we find in books is like fire. We fetch it from our neighbours, kindle it at home, communicate it to others, and it becomes the property of all."
-- Voltaire
Doc,Jan 3 2006, 12:56 PM Wrote:It's ok.
Some men are not secure enough in their masculinity to do things like wear kilts... Or knit or crochet.
[right][snapback]98571[/snapback][/right]
Isn't it interesting that even after all of the boundary-bending changes in gender roles 'Western' civilization has gone through over the past 50+ years, some things haven't changed much, if at all?
It still makes the news if some football player admits to taking a home ec course or knowing how to knit. [ -- smart kid, I wish I had taken a "home ec" class; I also wish I had taken "Shop" class, but - hey, I was going to college! Why would I need 'shop' skills? Stupid, stupid, stupid!). At least I was perceptive enough to take typing, which my dad (very atypically, actually) thought would be a waste of time.
It's still news if some football coach has his players take ballet lessons to improve their agility and footwork.
And, in some people's minds, a man working with textiles is tantamount to admitting they're gay. :unsure:
Yet, men have dominated other fields requiring similar sorts of skills. In most cultures, most or all goldsmiths/jewelers have been men. Most machinists have been men. Diamond cutters (& diamond buyers for that matter) are, I think, still almost all men.
For that matter, "fine tailors" of men's clothes (suits, etc.) have been fellow men, mostly without that stigma.
Strange, strange. :huh:
Well, I don't knit or crochet, but I've thought about learning at least one specialized aspect of one of those - working with wire.
I don't think I've ever mentioned it on the LL (though I did allude to it on the back pages of a couple of DSF threads), but I have an interest in jewelry-making. It started with an interest in lapidary, after visiting an amethyst mine near Thunder Bay, Ontario back in '92. Over time, the interest broadened, and it turned out to be easier to get started silversmithing.
However... after a couple of years of playing around in my apartment, I put the hands-on aspect of the hobby on hold for what I thought would be a year or two. Well, for various reasons, that hiatus has stretched into about 10 years...
But one of these days I AM going to get my old work area (unsatisfactory as it was) cleared out and get back to playing around...
I've been a member of the local Lapidary and Mineral society for about 12 years now, and one of the senior members got into knitting wire with a spool a few years ago. I've seen him give a couple of demonstrations, and although I'm not sure I have the patience or a deft enough touch to be able to do a good job at this, it is tempting to try.
Hmmm, I thought I would do a search and show what I was talking about, but found very little like what I was thinking of. Puzzling. I found a few pieces made using the technique, but integrating so many beads you can't see the wire pattern!
These are the closest I've found to plain, simple wire work:
http://jewelrymaking.about.combrary/weekly/aa072101.htm
http://www.wigjig.com/jewelry-tools/WJU/te...chains/pg03.htm (especially the top picture on "Page 4," and the bottom picture on "Page 5" - but imagine that made with plain silver wire).
You can use different numbers of pins on your spools, I think maybe the ones I've seen our club 'pro' make used more pins than the examples I found on-line, and thus the resultant chains are denser.
Although not quite what I was thinking of, here's some other kinds of things made of knitted wire:
http://www.wigjig.com/jewelry-tools/WJU/je...ists/index.html
http://www.beadextravaganza.com/html/spo..._wire.html
http://www.diynetwork.com/diy/na_knitting/...4177158,00.html
http://www.angelfire.com/home/avital/wireknitting.html
http://www.rosiesyarncellar.com/classes.htm
Again, although not what I was thinking of, here's some examples of what can be made by crocheting wire:
http://www.hgtv.com/hgtv/cr_accessories_je...4128917,00.html
http://www.seafore.com/wire/wireheart.html
http://www.jenanne.com/mt-static/archives/000444.html
http://members.aol.com/patmcaudel/2index.html
Back in 1975, Arline M. Fisch wrote "Textile Techniques in Metal" in which she surveyed ways to apply textile techniques such as weaving, knitting, knotting, braiding, basketry, etc., to metal. I've checked it out of my local university library, and although some of the techniques don't appeal to my personal sense of aesthetics, some do very much. I believe she came out with a new edition a few years back, updated with color photos and developments since the first book. You might be able to find it at Barnes & Noble, etc. Worth browsing through at least, if you're at all interested in the subject.
Aah, here's a brief review of the new edition, with a couple of pix:
http://www.needleartsbookshop.com/needlear...s_in_Metal.html
I am also interested in trying some of the traditional hand-made chain techniques, and maybe jewelry made with chain-link techniques.
Now that I think of it, considering your comments on wire-jewelry a few months back, maybe you've already done this kind of work? Seems like it would be a natural...
Regards,
Dako-ta
"The instruction we find in books is like fire. We fetch it from our neighbours, kindle it at home, communicate it to others, and it becomes the property of all."
-- Voltaire