Mr. first of all , i don`t remember [ but i might be wrong] that people here just say "So and So said something else " people might mean [and usually do ] mean that So and so wrote /or said something else , since you too QUOTE a book or some article and use the same way of arguments this a very strange `complaint.
I am saying here that when you say HISTORICAL Documents , you MUST specify exactly what you mean by that,,,,, since we all are acknowledged for instance that History wasn`t always recorded exactly as it happened. The person with the writing ability WROTE the FACTS ,, Those of us who are close to my age, might remember that in the USSR , Encyclopedias had take out pages, Biographies of people were Changed according to the will of the Authorities, to fit political goals. In older ancient times written documents were kept by the few who could write, who knows how `exact` those numbers are ????? if you could provide the SOURCE where you got it, i still would like to have a second source. Than i would like to ask you where you got it from , or where the original finder got it from , who copied/translated it ? under which circumstances ? In my last Moebious i had 548 stitches on my circular , according to you those knitters could knit a round like this in 2.74 minutes. assuming they didn`t loose a stich or two while mooving from one needle to other ???????when were circulars invented ????? As i said i have proofread and met too many reserachers and students, and one must take such a DECLARATION with a bit of salt, unlkess you have several documents that name this number about several people....at different places and times who achieved this number of stitches per minute. When we say PROOF , it is proof like that , not even a fact loosely quoted from another book , and when quoting one must give the quoted place ,,,, I have a strange habit i call/write to people /publishers etc to verify facts /sources etc....You would be amazed how many URBAN or let`s say Published legends are surfing around,,,,, But why go further, i proofread sometimes ago, an article where amongst others an ex student of mine , was questioned about her art work`s sources and begining. . Let`s say that some of her claims STUNNED me. Because i remember quite well how when and where she started, but her printed artistic bigraphy looks legendary, to say the least. People make Political or PR use with facts now ? why assume that in former times people were different. Let`s say somebody wanted to be hired to knit by some rich person, couldn`t she /he write such a number about her/his ability to knit to be more wanted by the hiring person???? When you wrote you CV , did you always write the EXACT abilities you have ? or did you `beautify` them a bit ? As to your constant refference to the famous sheath making it possible for people to knit faster , i believe you that some people knitted faster , but i also remember that many of those sheaths were used by herders , and other people who walked about and knit here and there, should i believe that they knitted all the time even when walking their herds in hard mountain passages??? Did they never stumble over a stone ??? Thus in waht conditions were those people Trained ??? since you seem to know so much about the importnace of this training , i might assume that you know how to train people to knit faster, ???? KNITTING IS NOT A MARATHON ,,in a Marathon you run and have to look forward with your eyes to see the way ,,,,, and keep mooving your legs, Knitting has different Moovements,,,, you can not compare that ,,,,And even by your own Marathon example , you might need for the quick knitting a healthy , strong person , well fed , with a strong bladder , provide him/her with an enviroment that will not disturb him/her while he/she knits , just like during the Marathon the runners are not botherd by anything else , all they have to do is RUN ,,, nothing else ,,,,, have you tried to sit and knit in the circumstances those women lived ????? The last chapter in your letter just showed me the error of all your writing , while you claim that you told people they had millions [ did you count that yourself ???] of errors, in their calculations, You refuse to listen to reasonable women here who all speak from their OWN experience of life long knitting = thus well trained according to your own ideas. while you willingly accept writings of personaly unknown to you people who quoted a number from some source , whose ,motives you don`t know. The fact that the numbers you provide are mostly coming from people who in our time would be called Slave drivers or Child abusers , doesn`t disturb you at all . Those people overworked children and women to their early death , and the moment those people `couldn`t provide anymore` they were thrown to the street, or the grave. I Doubt any document written by these slave drivers, who pushed people to the end for a meagre salary . Maybe if we put you in a unheated room and give you meagre rations of foul food , we might squeeze from you all kinds of `working speeds ` you are so eager to reach ??? mirjam ps if you indeed told people they had millions of errors , maybe you just had a problem with reading one 0 too much in the number 200 ...