Hobby Thread - Aug 3, 2024 [TRex]

Welcome hobbyists! Pull up a chair and sit a spell with the horde. Spin a yarn about your hobby adventures. A spin of the Ace of Spades wheel of hobbies has come up with a theme of textile artistry for this week. With that decided, let's begin hobbying.

Do you crochet or knit? Do you do needlepoint or cross stitch? Are you a quilter, sewer or tailor? Do you reach for a needle and thread or yarn when on a trip? Is your home filed with boxes of thread, balls of yarn, boxes of bobbins, and pattern books? Do you follow patterns or do you chart your own path? How did you get started? Do remember sitting with an older relative when you were younger, watching them stitch by the fireside or listening to a ballgame on the radio? Do you pick up antique quilts or samplers at estate sales or auctions?

TRex has limited knowledge of this world and certainly has no skills (little arms are not good for knitting). Looking for horde help to make this work in the comments. We're here to talk about those who make textile-related things with their hands. As usual, keep this thread limited to hobbies. Politics and current events can wait for other threads. Play nice. Don't feed the trolls. Pants are optional.

We begin with a horde submission from Teresa in Fort Worth, Texas. She made this:

I have had the yarn for a while, but I just got around to working on this project. This is a pattern by Jane Crowfoot, called The Fruit Garden. I purchased her book and also several of her yarn packs in different colorways.

I have been crocheting since I was 20, when my mom's neighbor, Mrs. DeBusk - who I had known for many years - offered to teach me. It was kind of challenging, because I am left-handed, but we muddled through, and I have been forever grateful for her patience and kindness. Many of my family members and friends have received warm gifts as a result of her instruction all those years ago.

Love the piece and love the story! Thank you!

Schoolgirl needlework samplers are a thing. In America, they date to the mid and late 1600s. By the 1700s, samplers depicting alphabets and numerals were made by young women to learn the basic needlework skills needed to operate the family household. By the late 1700s and early 1800s, schools or academies for well-to-do young women produced more elaborate pieces with decorative motifs such as verses, flowers, houses, religious, pastoral, and/or mourning scenes.

In 2012, when a needlework sampler by a 12-year-old girl sold for over $1 million, the world of schoolgirl needlework was forever changed.

This past January, at the Sothebys sale of schoolgirl needlework collector and scholar Betty Ring's collection, a dealer from Woodbury, Conn., named David Schorsch thought so much of Mary Antrims work that he paid $1,070,500 for it, setting a world record for schoolgirl needlework. One would be safe to say that Mary Antrim, at age 12, is the youngest artist ever to have her work sell for a million dollars, even if it took 200 years for it to happen. The world of schoolgirl needlework is forever changed. School Daze: Understanding Schoolgirl Needlework

The Smithsonian Museum has quite a collection.

The Bayeux Tapestry tells the story of the conquest of England. It was hung in the nave of the cathedral of Bayeux once a year and kept in a wooden chest in the vestry the rest of the time. It remained there for seven centuries, almost unknown. In 1794, the Arts Commission for the Bayeux district seized it (on behalf of the Nation). It was almost cut up in 1792 to make covers for soldiers carts, but luckily saved by a local lawyer. From 1812 the Tapestry was kept in the Bayeux city hall. It was hung and displayed to the public in September of every year before going on permanent display in 1842. Apparently the Tapestry is an embroidery rather than a tapestry but TRex is not wise in the ways of such distinctions.

The Tapestry is getting a new museum home soon. The current museum will close its doors to the public starting in September 2025. The reopening is planned for spring 2027.

Singer Corporation traces its roots back to 1851 when it was first founded. Singer's original design was the first practical sewing machine for general domestic use. It incorporated the basic eye-pointed needle and lock stitch. Singer obtained patent no. 8294 in August 1851 for an improved sewing machine that included a circular feed wheel, thread controller, and power transmitted by gear wheels and shafting. Singer consolidated enough patents to mass produce sewing machines and by 1860, Singer was the largest manufacturer of sewing machines in the world. But...there is more to the story.

In 1939, the U.S. War Department contracted the Singer Sewing Machine Company to build 500 1911A1s. The contract, Educational Order W-ORD-396, was a test to see if Singer could produce 100 guns a day, a number it thought was doable. The War Department got its handguns, serial number series S800001-S800500, but the company was unable to live up to the pace of 100 guns a day. The War Department realized Singers pistols were of such high quality that the company was qualified to do more important work, and that Singer's expert machines abilities would have been wasted on mere handguns.

Washington put the Singer Company to work on aviation-related components that required precision machining, particularly navigation and targeting equipment. During the war, Singer produced components for the Sperry T-1 bomb sight, B-29 bomber gunfire control computers, directional gyro and artificial horizon instruments, and automatic pilot parts.

Button and Needle Sculpture - aka the Big Button - New York City - corner of 7th and 39th:

Doesn't everybody have one?

Beware the mighty bananasaurus:

Lace making clearly involves sorcery:

Compare with machine made lace:

It has been said that every thread on this site ends up turning into a thread involving movies, food, firearms or bewbs at some point. We shall honor the theme and not break with tradition.

Crochet your own Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch (click for building instructions):

Top Gun in yarn form (click for building instructions):

Baby's first M-16:

For the Ettes:

How to Make Your Own Crochet Bikini: The article at the link tackles the question you've always wanted to know - Can you swim in a crochet bikini? Click to learn more (SFW).

Push Button, Get Bacon (click for building instructions):

Did you miss last week's hobby thread with a rocketry theme? The horde shared some great stories. The comments may be closed, but you can re-live the content.

Two notable comments from last week:

Words of wisdom:

"Because despite all our troubles, when things are grim out in that wide round world of ours, that's when it's really important to have a good hobby." Posted by: tankascribe at June 22, 2024 07:41 PM (HWxAD).

If handcrafted textiles are not your thing and you have trouble finding something in the content or comments that resonates with you, hijack the thread for your hobbying as you see fit. We will feature a different hobby next time around. What are you working on? Send projects of your own, thoughts, suggestions to moronhobbies at protonmail dot com. Ace of Spades is not responsible for knitting accidents.

posted by Open Blogger at 05:30 PM

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