Petal Scarf and Red Thread: Goethe and the English Marine

Good Morning!!! Ah, it's really good to be back after some R&R and limited internet time. So what did I do?

Well, I thought a lot.....and no, I don't need a whole two weeks off to do that. I was thinking interesting thoughts rather than functional thoughts like "There's no food in the fridge, what are we gonna eat tonight?" No, my thoughts revolved around the question, "what ties one's life together?", "what makes a life a good life?, a fulfilling life"? It occurred to me last week that my life would be even more pleasant than it is, if there was somebody willing to pay me for thinking interesting thoughts. I'm sure you all know that feeling.

And while multitasking is not my strength (I can hear my entire family chuckle), the two things I can do at the same time is thinking and sewing. With the holidays approaching and still plenty of time left to make something by hand, I experimented with some of my small scraps cut from wool suits.

Scarves are perfect. They make a wonderful gift especially when made by hand.

The first one, shown in the picture above was sewn with a visible red thread running through the entire length of the scarf. I often use red sewing thread, partly because I like when the hand sewing is visible and partly because it reminds me of the Germany expression "Der rote Faden", or in English: "The Red Thread" refering to a main theme or idea in a story. So why not make it literal by using a red thread and weaving it through a garment.

I wasn't exactly sure where that expression came from, but was curious and sure Wikipedia had something on the subject.

It seems, Goethe used this expression in one of his works "Die Wahlverwandschaften" ("Elective Affinities") written in 1809:

"There is, we are told, a curious contrivance in the service of the English marine. The ropes in use in the royal navy, from the largest to the smallest, are so twisted that a red thread runs through them from end to end, which cannot be extracted without undoing the whole; and by which the smallest pieces may be recognized as belonging to the crown. Just so is there drawn through Ottilie's diary, a thread of attachment..."

Hier nochmal in Deutsch: Aus Goethe's Wahlverwandschaften (1809)
Der Begriff wird seit Goethes Wahlverwandtschaften im übertragenen Sinne verwendet. In den einleitenden Bemerkungen zu einem ersten Auszug aus Ottiliens Tagebuch, beschreibt er den Kennfaden der britischen Marine:
 „Sämtliche Tauwerke der königlichen Flotte sind dergestalt gesponnen, dass ein roter Faden durch das Ganze durchgeht, den man nicht herauswinden kann, ohne alles aufzulösen, und woran auch die kleinsten Stücke kenntlich sind, dass sie der Krone gehören. Ebenso zieht sich durch Ottiliens Tagebuch ein Faden …“.

Who would've thought? The brown scarf in the picture above illustrates this well. A red thread. A running thread. If I pull it out, the entire scarf would fall into its many components, like leaves from a tree, though they wouldn't be recognizable as belonging to the whole.

The concept seemed good, so I experimented sewing black wool circles together with the same technique using black thread and making it a bit longer. And I liked it even better.

Next was a two colored scarf made from t-shirts. I'll show you that one tomorrow. They all turned out great. They're easy and fast to make... perfect for the hand-sewing novice.

The English Goethe translation uses "A thread of attachment". I like that. Off to finish my tutorial which will be up tomorrow morning. Gather some fabric scraps, friends!

It's good to be back.