Originally Posted by
SteveH
Dianne - My pleasure. I give those speeches a lot...
I agree, most folks do not realize how may different methods were used before they came up with the "obvious" solution of the needle at the tip. The first attempts were actually like crochet hooks with a barb instead of a hole. The system with the needle in the middle actually tried to use two sets of arms to pass the needle back and forth through the fabric.... Talk about timing issues!!!!
To me this is one of the most interesting things about truly old machines - all of the engineering dead-ends. All of the ideas that seemed so cool but didn't pan out in the real world. All of the clumsy first/early attempts at things that have become refined and common now. I think it's all really fascinating and I'm grateful for people like you who do all the hard work and lay it all out so clearly!