Happy Year of the Dog!

As new years come and go, I always make ambitions plans, and generally fall flat on my face (resolution-wise). This year is no different and I debated with myself about just not, just don’t… but what would life be without goals? DH suggested that I do what I do without posting, but with no oversight, as it were, I know I would end the year with the exact same thoughts and no progress, so I’m doing the next best thing. I am posting here on my blog an nowhere else, at least for the moment, not even on my Google+ blog. I have not posted here in so long I would be downright shocked if anyone were still subscribed. Having said that it is still public, it’s still discoverable, and we get to see if fresh content makes any of the search engines perk up and take notice. It’s almost a science experiment!

“But what is this ambitious plan?” you say, “Where is my knot content?”

I’m thinking of doing a knot-a-long using the Chinese decorative knotting skill evaluation tests. As it turns out there are 2 (possibly 3) that are far more different than I originally thought. Firstly, there is the Taiwan Hand Knitting and Crafts Association (THCA). They administer a test as described in this book. The (mainland) Chinese knotting website Chinese Knot Art Network (which I will probably be referring to as ZGJ for zhong guo jie (.org) the URL of the web site) also has a test based on the Taiwanese THCA with many modifications.

Japan also has (had??) a Japanese Chinese Knot Association (JCKA), a vestige of which you can still see here although the JCKA site no longer works (no idea when it happened, sometime after May 15, 2014 though). That said, the (?) main mover, Ryoko Minami is still posting and exhibiting.

Over the next few days I will be posting about the content of the tests, where they diverge and/or complement each other, and how they might be used as a study guide, or conversely how we might create a study guide for them.

Let me know what you think, if you’re there and/or care. 8-)

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