”How do I measure up a fairly long thread to my prosject?” is one of many questions which can flicker over the data screens now and then where leathercrafters meet and leathercraft is topic. Not long ago, I saw one swedish video on You Tube with the title ”Quiet knowlegde”, as reminded about the quiet knowlegde which often lies in the hands work, without that you can measure up this knowlegde, but you can vaguely describe it: it was called ” quiet knowlegde” in the swedish video.It is something that being developed with each individual right from an early age, among other through heredity and environment, or culture if you like,- from where you get a knowlegde as can be developed through experience. You can build yourself up a knowlegde base you don’t have a paper on, a exam so to speak. *
And this article is precisely about the experienced-based knowlegde, one who is not seen in the own workshop when you stay there and think about the thread length to a prosject. Or out on the market by customers when you want to sell of what you make. In your own workshop can the things blinds you and on the market is items often concidered according to external apperance and useful value where the recognition factor is important. It’s something as can be fare away from the crafters reality in his workshop where the ”crafts magic” can be of a kind the crafter self not understand but as full are a part of the reality as exist within the term ”Quiet knowlegde”. Which can be distinguished by that to be able to draw a suitable length thread out of a spool to the most different shape sizes on a project without measure with any other than what must happen in an interaction between hands, eyes and brain.So it’s about a knowlegde you don’t see in form of letters , words or image like characters when you stay on your own workshop floor and ponders. I also noticed in the video overviwe on You Tube that the designation ”Intelligents hands” also was used for phenomen in connections with ”quiet knowlegde” on the crafts area. But it didn’t feels right for me to call what happens for ”intelligent hands” all the time what happen must happen in a interaction between hands, eyes and brain,- and something else perhaps, some sense?. And apparently you look further on todays digital reality, where you also find suggestions on measuring a length of thread with help of a table on the PC, i.e. in a two dimensional world, you have to ask your self about what it might mean?. *
Because pulling a suitable thread length out of a spool with your hands in interaction with eyes and brain happen in a three diemensional world. And if one adds that it can be a unkown sense as also contributes, are you not then talking about a four dimensional world, one is not able to understand?. But as fare as is known, is such skill developed, like pulling a fairley long thread in interaction with hands, eyes and brain, in a three dimensional world as have width, length and depth in a further interaction with forms in partley equal sizes and certain variables. *
I didn’t come in any way until pulling a fairley long thread out of a spool because I’m particulary smart and rather, who knows, it came to me after many years in the workshop corner where I for a couple of ten years worked with a ”market production”, where many of the same things was made over and over again,- with variations in between. And the interaction between hands, eyes and brain must have been trained that way; on pulling a thread from a spool about long enough to allmost any prosject without realizing it. It just happen one day, allmost imperceptible, after I had started to explore the crafts more, that I stood there with the spool of thread, and the project and pulled fairley accurate thread lengths and understood that something I never had really thought over, and which seemed impossible, was possible, had come true. *
Behind this reality, in the three dimensional world is it hidden that I used the same handtools all the time, and the same thread and largely the same materials. And when you think about it, then ther is something typical for crafts, back in ancient times. They didn’t have like today closer to a dozen of different threads and spools to choose between. And neighter had they hides and skins from every corner of the world to choose between, – but probably, in earliest times they had what they found within a hunting area. The earliest humans which constituted the origin to the crafts also had to participate in hunting, trapping and fishing. And for them must eventually certain prey have become more desirable, not just for the amount of meat, but also for the crafts material the provided: which humans slowly learned to use together with the tools they developed, without me, for example knowing if a crafts person in the stoneage could work so intensely and long that hen developed this sense of deciding the thread length using the hands, eyes and brain?. But possible it could have been like that?. There is hardly anything new under the sun. *
But at least within later tribal societies, and quite certaintly eventually as man became a resident and the hands started to be used in a lager scale to make the same items over and over again in a interaction between hand, eyes and brain , it developed a ”quiet knowlegde” too, like finding the right thread length without any other help than the senses. And you can get a impression from the history that it once may have been a comprehensive ”quiet knowlegde” based on traing between the hands, eyes and brain which have become more or less forgotten?. Especially on the area of hand measurments?. Some of it can still be found in the Inuit cultures. And perhaps out in the peripheral areas as not are so marked by the development of civilisation?. Some remnants of this who have followed through the language can you sometimes hear about in the modern society as ”a fistal of nails” or ”a fathom” etc. etc. *
And sometimes when I ditces the question on netpages for leather art and craft and some ask; ”How do I measure up a fairley long thread to my project ?”, – I feel like answering; ” do not worry about it, just pull a thread of the spool you think is long enough and use it. It may not fit in the beginning, but as the interaction between hands, eyes and brain being trained you will imperceptible develop a sense for pulling a fairley long thread from a spool, as part of the ”quiet knowlegde” , based on experience *
NB: The idea to this article is based on own experience with leather art and craft, but the consept ”quiet knowlegde’ is generally valid and ”quiet knowlegde’ can be found on all areas of life.