It apparently took the knitter five months to knit working seven hours a day - and there are over a million stitches in it. No, something like that could not be made by machine even now. You could get something that look similar perhaps but it would not be the same.
There is something different about something handmade. There are those tiny little differences that make it easier to look at - yes, easier, not more difficult. We need those little differences.
A friend of mine has been looking at houses recently. His brother is moving back here after many years abroad. He has been sending his brother pictures of possible houses and his brother has been "driving (him) crazy because he doesn't like them". I asked him what sort of houses he had been showing his brother and he pulled up some websites on his phone. I looked.They were very new and very modern.
"I think they might be too new," I said.
"What do you mean?"
"Your brother has been living in one of the oldest cities in the world. He is used to being surrounded by old architecture not new. He doesn't want to live in a box."
"But a new house would be so easy to maintain and...."
"It is still a box. Send him something that is at least 70 years old. That will be new in his book."
He sighed, scrolled through some more and said, "More this sort of thing?"
"Yes...if he can afford it."
"He can afford it. I just don't think...."
I don't know whether any decisions have yet been made but apparently his brother is "feeling more hopeful" after being shown what is, for this city, an "old" house or two. (That would mean built about 80 years ago not 180 years ago.)
Yes, those "clean lines" are not what everyone wants.
I suppose life really was slower back then.How else did Sarah Ann Cunliffe find the time to spend seven hours a day for five months knitting something that may not have been used more than once? I think we might have lost sight of something here.
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3 comments:
Beautiful. Superfine yarn and very small needles too, I guess.
Perhaps the knitter had servants to do work.
I have not long moved to Blue Mountains. This house is not old, it was built in 1977, but is solid and well thought out in a way many newer houses aren’t. I lived for many years in a place which is now about 130 years old. A traditional design, not energy efficient, but comfortable and comforting to be in.
I enjoy your knitting comparison to housing and the times. Gorgeous knitting. A museum is an appropriate home for such a beautiful garment.
I agree with you that most of the modern buildings of recent times are 'cheap and nasty' with cheap materials and slapdash workmanship; ugly and impractical for our climate. It is true in many ways that, "They don't make them like they used to."
Thank you, Cat, for sharing the exquisite baby gown. I would like to live in the V&A Museum.
I like old things, being 73 years old myself. :) Old houses are the best.
Big Sister Cat
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