The question about what degree of generalization is reasonable and whether certain things are more or less similar or not does not come up in knitting and design exclusively. I think it is a sufficiently relevant and interesting topic. The starting point for me was the fact that often people ask for instructions to knitwear that has plenty analogies and free at that, also in knitting textbooks etc. I am not talking about beginners who do not dare to knit without a pattern but about those with some experience and who are able to make their own calculations for their yarns on the basis of an instruction. This is not to convince anybody in anything, everyone is entitled to knitting in preferred way; however, the question what is similar and what is not is remarkable.
Võtame näiteks inimese, kes ise ei koo. Ta suudab küll näha erinevaid mustreid, kuid mõnikord ajab nad ootamatul kombel segamini (näitkes, üks inimene kiitis seelikut alumisel pildil ja ütles, et toredad palmikud, kuigi kudujad teavad, et need ei ole palmikud) või paneb kokku erinevaid pitsimustreid. Aga samas võivad ka sarnased mustrid olla tema jaoks päris erinevad. See on arusaadav.
Let us consider a person who does not know how to knit. The person is able to distinguish between different kind of stitch patterns but sometimes confuses them in an unexpected way (for instance, somebody praised this skirt in the picture below and said that the cables are cool, although knitters would know these are no cables) or confuses quite different stitch patterns. At the same time, this hypothetical person can view quite similar patterns as rather distant ones. This is understandable.
Kuid räägime nendest, kes koovad. Kas iga jakk või sviiter on unikaalne või mõned on siiski omavahel sarnasemad? Muidugi, on olemas mõned üldtunnused, mis teevad sviitrist sviitri: eest kinnine (muidu oleks jakk), mingid varrukad (muidu oleks vest) jne. Aga see on liiga kõrge üldistustase ja pole antud juhul kasulik. Vaatame neid pilte. Kas need mudelid on sarnased või erinevad? Kuidas tundub? Kirjutage palun kommentaare, siis jätkan järgmine kord.
But let us talk about those who do knit. Is every jacket or sweater unique or some of them are more similar than others? Of course, there are some common features that make a sweater a sweater: it is not opened on the front (otherwise it would be a jacket), it has some kind of sleeves (otherwise it would be a vest) etc. This degree of generalization is too high to be useful for our discussion. Let us observe the pictures. Are these knits similar or dissimilar? How do you feel? Please write comments and I will continue another time.
Esimene on Suvi võrratu jakk nimega Roheline (pilt Twist Collective ajakirjast, talv 2010).
The first one is the delightful Roheline-jacket by Suvi (picture from Twist Collective, Winter 2010).
Teine on Islandi kampsun (pilt leidub siit, pole kindel, kas seda tohib kopeerida)
The second one is an Islandic swater (the picture is here and I am not sure I am allowed to copy it).
Ja kolmas on siinsetele lugejatele tuttav sviiter:
And the third one is a sweater familiar to the readers:
I am looking forward to reading your opinion!