Kim and Aaron,

Aaron, I read through everything you wrote. Just from my perspective,
as one who prefers to knit textures and lace, speed is the farthest
thing from my mind. Even when I'm knitting a plain sock it's not a
concern. I don't understand the "need for speed" that's so prevalent in
society. Why can't knitting be an enjoyable leisurely endeavor? With
my days as hectic as they are, with kids, job, regular household chores,
medical issues, and now the extra work of putting the house back
together after having wood floors installed, it's nice to pick up the
needles at night and relax.

I can see both sides of the topic. I have friends who like to
recreate the middle ages, not at a Renn Faire, which is for the public
to enjoy, but just for themselves. They like to make cowhide armor
and stage mock battles and go around saying "my lord" or "my lady",
and they like to do a lot of crafts by hand, some work being
exquisite, and some coming out looking like it's really cheaply done.
Of course, not too many go to the extreme of using nothing but hand
made products that they made themselves (like linen yarn they spun
themselves from flax they grew themselves then wove into cloth
themselves) to produce the article, but some do go to great lengths to
make their costumes as authentic as possible. There are very few out
there, but they go to the trouble of making everything they use in an
item, including gathering the raw materials to do so.

Most of these friends feel that learning how things were done in the
age of chivalry promotes more of a community spirit. Others just
think it's downright fun to play Haloween dress up more than once per
year. Some others just like to learn how things were done before the
Industrial Revolution (like me when it comes to fiber crafts) It
really depends on the person.

Your last comment about knitting smart came off to me as dissing those
of us who choose to not knit as quickly or "efficiently" as possible.
Hel, I know my knitting style is suboptimal and would rightly be called
inefficient, but I honestly can't pick; I simply cannot hold the yarn in
my left hand properly (I'm dominantly right handed and can't do much of
anything with my left hand). Trust me, I've tried many times, and
others have tried to show me how but all have given up when it became
obvious that my left hand is incapable of independent thought g

I agree with you think there is a difference between some items when
it comes to quality versus quantity. Those who lived by their fiber
arts in the past often slaved many hours a day to produce those. I've
read of entire large starving Irish families being saved by a single
family member who knew how to create Irish crochet items, which became
quite popular when lace was so much in demand. In a situation like
that, there would be a great demand for both quality and quantity.
However, I don't know if they'd produce just one item, like
specializing in Irish crochet type leaves and someone else would buy
them and other items then sew them on a background which they then
sold, or if they produced entire pieces. None of the information I've
read goes into that much detail. I just read that Napoleon
commissioned a dress made entirely of lace for Josephine, but it took
so long to produce that he ended up giving it to a different wife
after Josephine couldn't produce a male heir for him.

As for me, I'm told I'm a fast crocheter, but I have absolutely no
desire to get into a competition with Lily Chin. I saw the UGLY
"sweater" she made for Dave Letterman, really nothing but a series of
loosely sweater shaped chains done on a Q hook that she dashed off in
an hour. It's not something that I think anyone would want to wear.
I personally would not want to turn out anything that quickly if it
was, to me, that hideous.

Speed knitting may be fine for some, but let me and other "inefficient"
knitters plod along, okay?

I think that's why the Industrial Revolution came about. There are
those of us who can't crank things out without feeling like quality
suffered terribly, so we look for things to help us increase speed
while maintaining our personal standards of quality. Hence the
popularity of knitting frames and machines. If I want something in a
dull single color stockinette stitch fabric cranked right out, I'll
use a knitting machine. I also use the machine if it's something that
is very hard for me to control gauge on while doing by hand, like
intarsia. However, for most other things, I like the feel of fiber
moving through my hands, and since it's for pleasure and not a living,
I take my time.

But, I can also see wanting to recreate and practice with the tools to
do something faster/more efficiently to help you feel you are getting
in touch with an ancient craftsman or woman. I know a gaggle of
people who like to do things with their hands that try and use time
honored tools for other crafts, but who also "fudge it a little" in
order to get things done in quantity in a shorter time.

Leah