2013 in review

This year has gone by so fast, and once again it is time to look back on what I've accomplished for the year.  What have I done? What have I learned?

Shortly after making my goal list I was surprised by being chosen as the Queen’s A&S Champion, for my research into how spin direction affects the look of the woven fabric.

While my goal had been to do my best work, actually being chosen changed my priorities a bit. I am truly enjoying this honor. I get excited by the intersection of arts and sciences, and my time as champion has allowed me the opportunity to encourage others to look at their work in a new way. I've attended a wider range of events, I've gotten to know many more people, and I've been able to spread my enthusiasm farther than I could on just the Baronial level. Shortly after I was chosen, Kiena requested that I make a gift for the King and Queen of the Mid. That slowed my progress on the goals I had set for the year, but I used it as an opportunity to learn a new embroidery technique.

In May I was off to Kalamazoo to present my research on 8^th century Danish spindle whorls. What an amazing opportunity that was! My paper was well received, but more importantly, it gave me access to many other researchers, not only in textiles, but every other field of medieval study. After the conference I was asked to submit my work for consideration for publication. I've yet to see what comes of that, but after several months of polishing my text, it is off my desk and there is nothing else to do while I wait for feedback.

I also spent time this spring and summer analyzing Egyptian textiles dated to approximately 1000 BC. They are currently on exhibit at the Albany Institute of History and Art. This is something I never dreamed I would have the opportunity to do, and it was especially exciting when we discovered a garment that no one knew the museum had. It was a thrill to examine how the flax was spun, how the cloth was woven and how a garment was constructed. Egyptologists will have new material to study here, and I am glad I was able to be a small part of the research. Some of the research will be printed in the exhibit catalogue in 2014.

At Pennsic I broadened my understanding of textile archaeology, and tried my hand at weaving medieval-style patterns. I still have a mental block about warping the loom, and I don’t get as much pleasure from throwing the shuttle as dropping the spindle. I doubt I’ll ever consider myself a weaver, but my fascination with cloth keeps me coming back. (It is fun to watch the pattern emerge from the threads.) Between weaving sessions, I presented my spindle research to a tent full of interested spinners, which was so inspiring. The art of teaching really is the best way to learn your subject. Students have the most insightful questions, which fuels my desire to know more.

This summer I tackled my goal of learning to spin flax. I still have a lot to learn, but I did have success. One thing I learned is that I prefer spinning animal fibers. They feel so much nicer in the hand. Between spinning flax and spinning quivet, I'm beginning to get the feel for spinning while holding onto the spindle. I'm not that fast yet, but I'm getting better.

I also improved my knitting skills (although this was not one of my planned goals). I learned to knit gloves, expanded my sock knitting, and trained my hands to work with tiny needles. I've learned to “read” my knitting, and I can correct my mistakes, even when I find them several rows later. I did not quite finish my Christmas knitting - my poor husband got 3 socks. I guess that makes my first goal for 2014 to finish that last pair! At least it is already on the needles.

I attempted to work on my goal of recreating the Mammen nalbinding artifact. What I've learned is that this project is going to have to wait a few years until I retire. The stitches are so tiny that it takes a great deal of concentration to make evenly sized stitches. I also find it difficult to pick up the work mid-row (thank goodness for magnifying glasses). This project will have to wait until I can devote several uninterrupted hours of work at a time. Meanwhile, I’ll continue to work on my tablet weaving skills.

I have made progress on recreating the Ribe nalbinding mitten. While work on it was slowed by unexpected projects and family emergencies, I am happy with how the work is going. The yarn is spun and the stitching is started. I completed one final test mitten to work out a few questions I still had. It is meticulous work to recreate an artifact, rather than just use it as inspiration, but I am enjoying the effort.

So once again I have meandered this year, but I have no regrets. I have accomplished some of my goals and I am well on my way with others. I will allow myself to drop one goal temporarily off the list, and I am ready to leap into the new year with new work.

If you are coming to East Kingdom 12^th Night, bring a small project to display, and be sure to say hello. I’d love to hear about what art or science excites you.

mitten update

I've started the "timed" version of the Ribe mitten. It took me 45 minutes to make the first 29 cm of stitches. After I joined it in a circle, it has taken me an hour to go around twice more. As usual, my stitches tighten up after the first row, so it is slightly less than the 14.5 cm diameter of the original. I will match the number of rows to the original, but I expect my finished mitten will be a little smaller. Now that my gauge is set, the stitches come faster. I'll post a picture when I am a little farther along.

a gift of love

When I was a child, my great grandmother taught me to knit. I hardly remember a time when she didn't have knitting needles in her hands (maybe at her 90th birthday party, but I'm not sure). I only remember her knitting one thing - socks. She knit hunting socks for the men and ski socks for the women, who were also lucky enough to get "all purpose" socks as well. My great grandmother died in the mid-1960's, and on Thanksgiving, as I sat knitting socks, my Mom reminisced about Grandma's socks. And then she went to her drawer and brought me a pair:

 These are the finest hand knit socks I have ever seen. The needles can't have been larger than size 0, maybe size 00. I love the pattern, with alternating plain and cabled ribs. But perhaps what makes these socks especially extraordinary - my great grandmother was blind when she made them. You can tell they were made by a human, not a machine - she missed the cable twist in one spot. I look forward to the day when these socks are mine. And I hope one day my knitting skill will rival hers.

Thank you, Grandma, for your gift of love.

mitten musings

I have found myself with conflicting goals. I want to duplicate the Ribe mitten as closely as I can, and I want to know how much effort is involved in making a mitten. I've realized I can't do both things at once. If I am concentrating on the size of my stitches,etc, I am working at a much slower pace than usual. The person making the original mitten was only thinking about making a good mitten. So, I have decided to make 2 mittens at the same time. One with a similarly sized commercial yarn, that I will make in a similar, but not measured style, and one with my handspun as close to the original as I can make it, based on the photographs.

a nalbinding project

First, I would like to thank my son for working his computer magic so that I can post again. He makes it look so easy.

So, once upon a time, in medieval Ribe, Denmark, a person lost a mitten as they were walking down Gronnegade, a street in the middle of the city. Had the day turned warm so they had taken their mittens off? I can picture their distress (or perhaps their wife or mother's distress) when they got home and discovered they had only one mitten. Did they go back to look for it, to no avail? In any case, it sank into the mud where it lay for many years, waiting to be dug up by archaeologists in 1955.

It has been safely kept in the Sydvestjyske Museer since then. Now, I have been studying the mitten and am attempting to make a similar one. I've made measurements and drawn a scale pattern; I've examined the deteriorated sections to try to determine the stitch; I've made several "test mittens" to work out parts of the overall pattern; I've spun enough thread to make a pair of mittens.

 I've used combed Jacob wool, spun on 38 gram whorl.

I've spun a total of 103 grams (3 5/8 oz.). The plied thread is 7 wpc.

How much of a commitment is it to make a pair of mittens? First, the wool would have been washed. I'm sure no one washed less than a fleece at a time, so that would have readied enough wool for at least several projects, depending on what it was going to be used for. But, I'll allow a half day for washing the wool. Once the wool dried, it had to be combed. While this wool was commercially combed, I know from past experience that it would take me about 6 hours to comb this much wool (I'm rather slow at combing). It took me 8 hours to spin this 103 grams of wool, and another 2 hours and 40 minutes to ply it. So, almost 15 hours of work would go into these mittens before even beginning to stitch. 

Spinning success!

I have been studying variations in methods of using a drop spindle. In addition to examining historical representations of spinners, such as

  I have been watching videos of modern spinners who still drop spin as part of their culture. This includes Navajo spinners, Andean spinners and African spinners. There is so much to learn!

While I do not desire to spin with a long Navajo spindle, from watching these spinners I have learned a trick to join together the thread from two or more spindles before plying or setting the wool, in order to have a longer continuous thread than could otherwise be had from one spindle. This seems very useful for warp thread. Simply take the ends from two spindles, fluff them out and allow them to twist together, The Navajo spinners will sometimes spin the wool twice - re-spinning the thread to give it enough twist for plying. This second spinning also allows them to correct any thick spots, resulting in a very even thread.

Andean spinners do not comb or card the wool. They gently pull and stretch the locks, having fluffed them out first. The wool sticks together, and they give it just a gentle twist to keep it together as roving. When they spin, they seem to use a form of double drafting.

This summer I purchased a small amount of quivet to spin. I expected it to be rather like spinning cashmere. The fibers, however, are extremely short and fine. It felt like trying to spin dryer lint.No matter how finely I spun, I could not make a stable thread. I only had success when I switched to long draw drafting - holding a palm-ful of fluff and letting the twist grab the fibers. By keeping the spindle in my hand after initially adding twist, I could add more twist as needed (frequently in this case) by turning the spindle between my fingers. After the thread reached arms-length, I spun and dropped the spindle to add strength to the thread and to give it enough twist for plying. I cannot spin well this way with combed wool, but I have been successful with spinning from locks and carded wool.

The brown yarn is quivet; the white yarn is BFL which I washed and spun from the locks. While I've had success, I am much slower at it than when I use a short draw method of drafting. But speed comes with practice.

Thoughts: This method of spinning looks very much like the frescoes and illuminations of women spinning flax. If women were spinning wool this way, too (although I have not seen it illustrated), would they have been using carded wool, as seen in this picture?

All of these types of illustrations post-date the Viking Age. Only wool combs (not cards) have been found at Viking sites. So, did Viking women use this method of spinning, or was their spinning more like the Greek and Egyptian illustrations? Or did they spin in another way altogether?

too many ideas

My sister is getting her MFA in film production, and she writes a blog about her experiences. She wrote something recently, and I thought, she's exactly right! Here is what she said, regarding movies she wants to make: "Too many ideas, not enough time. No, that's not true, all the time in the world." And I thought, her sentiment applies to me, too. I have so many ideas about textile things I want to research, design, create. Some days it feels like there will never be enough time to make them all happen. But just because I have an idea doesn't mean I need to be in a hurry to see it through. I need to allow myself the time to play with my ideas, experiment and see what comes of it. There is no point in making something just for the sake of making it. If that's what I do I will miss all the joy of learning new things. And I'm in this for the fun of it. So, I will keep adding to my project list as I get new ideas, then take a deep breath and pick the one that seems most appealing at the moment. Right now it is working on the reproduction of the medieval mitten found in Ribe. I've started to spin yarn of an appropriate gauge. I've chosen Jacob wool spun with my whorl #6 for this project. The yarn is fine, so it will take me a while to get enough for a pair of mittens.

Finishing some projects

I've been trying to get a few projects off my plate before the busy autumn months. I finally finished a project to nalbind mittens for a friend. She wanted them to be very warm. Here they are:

They are made from hand spun Jacob wool, with hand spun BFL for the fringe. The stitch is Balsta which picks up 5 loops from the back of the thumb. It is not a difficult stitch, but it uses up a lot of yarn. They are definitely very warm.

I also spun some Polworth. I love the color - it's called "cider house" - and I wanted to make sure I used it all. Here are the socks I knit:

This was a real learning experience for me. First, I had to learn to make a sock from the toe up - I used a short row technique. Then I had to learn how to nicely increase my lace pattern so that I could increase the width of the sock at the calf. I've also finally gotten the hang of negative ease. I invented the pattern as I went along, and these are the first socks I've knit that fit me perfectly. I'm looking forward to colder weather so I can wear them.

My third project is gloves. These are made from hand spun Romney. I spun the wool while my Dad was in the hospital over the summer (I needed to play with a cheery color). Once again, I didn't have a pattern, but I've made many mittens, so I figured out the fingers as I went along.

They were fun to make and I'm looking forward to seeing them peeking out of the sleeves of my black coat this winter. I think the next gloves I try will be done with nalbinding.

With these last two projects I feel that I have gained a better understanding of the knitting process. I've gotten used to knitting with small needles by making the socks (and two other pairs), and it has made me confident enough with my skill to think about trying something based on an historical project.

Natural Dyes

Over Labor Day weekend, a group of us got together and experimented with natural dyes. Our first experiment was using indigo. I had spun some South Down lamb wool, Shetland, and Finn. I wanted to know if the breed made a difference for how much color was accepted. There was not much difference between the Shetland and Finn, but here is a picture of the South Down (on top) and the Finn (below):

Both hanks were in the dye bath at the same time, for the same amount of time (about 5 minutes). The lamb's wool took more color. I had not expected this. The first shearing vs later shearing made more of a difference than the breed (or at least the breeds I used).

Our second experiment was using lily of the valley leaves from my garden. We used alum as the mordant. We chopped and then simmered the leaves for about an hour. We kept the mordant separate, soaking the fibers in the mordant bath and then placing the wool in the dye bath. I had only Finn left to dye, but a friend had some lamb's wool. Once again, the lamb's wool accepted more color. Her wool came out a pale golden yellow (you'll have to trust me, I don't have a photo). Here is a picture of my wool:

The roving is undyed. As you can see, there is very little difference between that and the spun wool. It is barely off-white, even though it was left in the dye bath for a very long time. I don't feel like it was worth the effort. But it certainly brought home the point that lamb's wool is the easiest to dye.

Egyptian textiles

My friend and I have been continuing the work of analyzing the textile artifacts found under the mummy at the Albany Institute of History and Art, in anticipation of the new exhibit which opens on September 21. We've made several exciting discoveries. The visiting Egyptologist, Peter Lacavara, has tentatively dated the garment remnant to approximately 900 BC, and identified it as a kalasiris - a long sleeveless robe (this one is approximately 60 inches long, including the fringe). According to Dr. Lacavara, this is very rare; he has seen paintings of them, but never an actual textile. While it is woven as a simple tabby (as are all the textiles we examined), it has beautiful decorative stitching around the armhole.

The garment will be in the exhibit, so if you are in the Albany area this year, it is definitely worth a visit. While this textile has a thread count of 48/26 threads per inch, the finest textile we were able to examine has a count of 140/60 threads per inch! The only way we could count that was with the help of a microscope. While there will be several textiles in the show, here is a photo of a piece we examined which will not be on display:

I'm fascinated by the pattern of bundled threads. This artifact is too small to know what its original use was. This textile has a thread count of 40/50 threads per inch.

What I did on my summer vacation

The days at Pennsic went by so fast this year! I had more responsibilities this year, participating at Court, volunteering with hospitality, teaching a class about spindle whorls. I had hoped to have some free time in camp to card wool, spin and nalbind, but as usual, I filled all my hours with classes. There are so many new and interesting things to learn! Unrelated to textiles, I took classes in medieval math, the history of labyrinths, architecture, and dancing. I suppose that's appropriate for a meanderer. And of course I took as many textile classes as I could. My favorites were taught by Barbara Klessig. She taught a class on the textile tools found on Gotland, Sweden. I found it interesting that the whorl shapes were mostly disks and spheres - quite different from the whorls found at Ribe, Denmark, although many were a similar size.

The second class she taught was reproducing weave structures found in medieval textiles. After learning about the different weaves, we were able to weave our own samples. I was rather slow and only completed 3 of the 4 samples. But I am very pleased with how they turned out:

Tabby, in the style of Coptic tunics woven as one piece.

This "waffle" pattern was found in a 10th century textile from Coppergate.

The rosette was fairly easy to weave. The complicated part was threading the warp correctly.

All of the samples were made on a rigid heddle loom with 3 heddles. I had so much fun with this project that I bought myself a little loom. (Yes, despite my insistence otherwise, I am turning into a weaver.) I want to make a larger piece like the Coppergate textile, and play with twill patterns.

I also took a class in 14th century nalbinding. This is very different from typical Norse nalbinding - simpler and more complex at the same time. Many of the artifacts are gloves made with the buttonhole stitch. The complexity comes from the fineness of the threads and the hole patterns made with the stitches.

I think I will put making a silk glove on my project "to do" list. But don't hold your breath - it will take a long time to finish.

New fibers to spin

We are back from Pennsic. I'll write all about it later this week. I was excited to be able to buy a few new fibers to spin. I've come home with hemp, musk ox and guanaco to spin. Can't wait to try them!

my pewter hoarde

Remember when I was carving a mold for pewter casting? Last night I cast my pieces. Now I see why it is worth spending the time to make a "perfect" mold. I cast 36 little coins in less time than it took to carve the soapstone mold.  And in another hour I could have doubled my count. But, since my intention is to give the coins as tokens at Pennsic A&S, I think this will be enough.

 

(I don't know why the computer has rotated my image, but I can't seem to fix it.)

Where does the time go?

It's hard to believe that in just over 2 weeks we will be on our way to Pennsic. I've been working hard to get my class ready. I will be presenting my research on spindle whorls, and hopefully people will be interested enough to give some of them a spin. When I am not working on my handout and outline, I've been making a banner to display by my tent:

These are my arms, which were approved since the last time we went to Pennsic. As an added bonus, I paneled the piece at Northern Region War Camp, and was given competency in applique. The next time I try that technique it will be a much smaller piece! (I received competency for the laidwork pillow as well.)

Also at War Camp, I took a class in spinning flax on the wheel. Happily for me, I was the only student. Henna was an excellent teacher. This was my first experience with a wheel, so I spent a long time just learning to treadle at an even pace. And to keep the wheel moving without thinking about it. It's harder than it looks. I learned how to properly dress the distaff and the correct technique for drafting the fibers.

Although I don't own a wheel, I think I will be able to translate these new skills to the drop spindle. I am anxious to get started.

A & S Project for Pennsic

It has been 3 months since I began spinning thread for the embroidered pillow which is to be a gift to the King and Queen of the Midrealm from the King and Queen of the East. Today I finished. I am very happy with how it came out. Here are a couple of detail pictures:

I like the way the chain stitches and French knots add texture.

The border was adapted from a mosaic design in the Byzantine church of San Vitale in Ravenna, Italy.

Here is the finished pillow:

All of the thread is my handspun wool. It is embroidered on a linen ground.

What I learned:

• Gotland wool does not make good embroidery thread. That was all I had in purple, so I tried it. It spins a beautiful thin thread, but it does not pull nicely through the fabric. It tended to tangle and/or pull apart. Therefore, there is less purple in the piece than I originally intended. It was too frustrating to work with.

pewter casting

There is a reason why I call this blog meandering - today I learned a new skill, totally unrelated to spinning. My friend Ignacia is teaching me pewter casting. I've barely scratched the surface (no pun intended) of all there is to learn, but I think I made some good progress tonight. I am making little wool comb tokens.

First I carved a circle, then I scratched the design into the soapstone. Everything has to be done in reverse. Each time it looked to me like I had carved the figure deep enough, we made a test. By my fourth try I was happy with the image. At the next class I will carve the sprew (I don't know how to spell it), and pour some tokens. I can't wait!

spinning flax

I've decided it is time to start tackling one of my goals for 2013 - learning to spin flax. I've started with tow, which was given to me by someone who was giving up spinning. I have about a 200 gram ball of it. The fibers are fairly short - about 8 centimeters. I am using a modern 40 gram disk spindle. I decided I should start with something very easy to spin with, rather than a medieval style spindle, so that I wouldn't have to pay attention to too many things at once. Even so, I have dropped the spindle several times when I haven't noticed it back-spinning. But I am making progress - slowly. While it is not particularly difficult, I cannot take my eye off the "roving" if I want a consistent thread diameter. It is S-spun at 9-10 wraps per centimeter. That  might be a good gauge for weaving a basket cover.

It's a very different spinning experience from spinning wool or other animal fibers. It will take getting used to.

making progress

Just about the only thing I have been working on for the past month is my embroidery project. I am closer to done than not done at this point. Here is how it looks today:

This is what I have learned about the Bayeux stitch so far:

• It is much quicker to execute than I had expected.
• You need to be careful to make sure to lay down enough threads across the ground. They shouldn't overlap, but they should definitely be touching. This becomes especially important once the couching threads are added.
• Do not pull the couching threads too tight. If the long threads are too tight, it pulls the ground away from the edges. If the attaching stitches are too tight it creates gaps in the ground threads.
• The couching threads can be manipulated a little bit to make the ground threads evenly spaced.

Getting the right coverage and tension takes some practice. The king's tunic is better than the queen's. Mistress Briony suggested weaving in an extra thread if there are spots with poor coverage. I will probably need to do that in a couple of spots, but when I added the fold lines on top of the couching it took care of most of the thin spots. Overall, I'm happy with how it is turning out. 

War of the Roses

War of the Roses is the biggest event our Barony puts on. There is something for everyone - fighting, fencing,   dancing, thrown weapons, archery, arts and sciences, shopping, singing around the campfires, and just hanging out with friends from near and far. This year, the weather put a damper on things. Literally. Needless to say, attendance was down. It had started raining on Wednesday. By the time we arrived on site on Friday morning, the ground was a soggy mess. I stood on the spot where we usually camp, umbrella in hand as the steady rain came down, and we decided not to pitch the tent. Luckily, we live close enough that day tripping was an option. We could not just go home because Richard was in charge of gate, and I was in charge of family activities for the weekend. The day went on and the rain came down harder and the wind picked up. And the weather only went downhill from there (is that possible?). Tents got flooded, the mud got deeper, and the temperature dropped.  Several people went home with hypothermia. Tents blew away, and the mud got deeper. For some reason most of us persevered. All activities were squeezed into the barn. Somehow we made it work. The archers (diehards that they are) shot in the rain. The rain stopped enough by Sunday afternoon that there was finally an opportunity for people to try thrown weapons. Of course today, Monday, the sun is shining and the temperature is rising. Just in time to take everything down and go home.

Saturday was the day that I stepped down as Baronial Arts and Sciences Champion. I had set a challenge for people to look at the science side of their art. There were 4 amazing entries. So much work had gone into each one. The new champion is Branwen Stargazer, who researched 13th century astronomy, from the perspective of her persona. It was fascinating, and I can't wait to see how she incorporates her new knowledge into her game.

It was a busy court for me. Besides reporting on children's activities and the A&S competition, I was awarded the Order of the Pine, which is our Baronial service award. I was completely taken by surprise. I enjoy helping out - it keeps the game fun - but I don't feel like I do more than other people. I am very grateful for the honor. I was given a beautiful scroll, designed by two talented members of my household, Elizabeth and Kenneth, and the words were written by the Baron himself.

The last thing I did before stepping down as A&S Champion was to set a challenge for our talented bards - to come back to next year's Roses with a song or story about this year's event. I can't wait to hear the results. Hopefully as we relax on a dry evening around a warm campfire.

a new project

I have started to work on a project to create an embroidered pillow as a gift from Queen Kiena to the royalty of the Midrealm. Actually, I started about a month ago, spinning the embroidery thread. Because the Mid royalty have early period personas, I decided to model my design after the Bayeux Tapestry. So far, I have finished the dogs. This is the first time I have used this stitch technique. I like it.

I have to be finished before we leave for Pennsic in July. I'd better get back to stitching!

Kalamazoo

We are back from the Medieval Congress at Kalamazoo. It was fantastic! If you ever have an opportunity to go - go! No matter what you are interested in, there is someone else with the same interest. I had a chance to not only learn more about textiles, but to learn about many other things as well.

I attended a wonderful session about Viking winter camps in England, and a couple of sessions about early medieval castles. I learned about the symbolism of birds in illuminated manuscripts, and ceramic tiles as a form of social identity in the 15th century. One of my favorite sessions was about the similarities between some styles of illuminated manuscripts and modern graphic novels.

And then there were the textile sessions. I met Ingvild, from Norway. She presented a paper about 3 graves with significant textile finds, including the related tools. I am looking forward to corresponding with her over the coming months. Eva gave a paper about the marketing of silk in early modern Denmark. My paper on spindle whorls seemed to be well received. There were about 50 people in our session.

The second textile session was great fun. La Belle Companie, a reenactment group from near Washington D.C., explained the evolution of armor during the Hundred Years War, by dressing 4 knights in different armor styles. That filled the auditorium. That session was followed by the textile exhibition. It was packed with interested people. I spun wool and explained drop spinning and my experiment, non-stop for 2 hours. There was also knitting, weaving, costuming and quilting, as well as the knights in the hall.

The second day's textile sessions included papers about the re-use of Egyptian silk; the proportions of tunic artifacts; 14th century padded doublets; the wardrobes of 16th century ladies in waiting; and a 13th century Paris shopping list. Thomas, from Vienna gave an interesting presentation about silk as a metaphor; and Gail Own-Crocker talked about the symbolism of Guy's clothing in the Bayeux Tapestry.

The days went by so fast. The only thing that would have made it better would have been a little less rain and a little more warmth.

Medieval Studies

It is hard to believe that in just over a week I'll be on a plane on my way to the International Congress for Medieval Studies, in Kalamazoo. I've been working very hard on my presentation. Last night I got feedback from Robin Netherton,who organizes the textile sessions. She says I am in good shape, and has asked that I begin with a short demonstration of spinning. That will be easy! There are going to be so many interesting papers, on textiles and everything else; I can't wait!

Nalbinding

On March 23 I will be teaching a class on designing accessories made with nalbinding, at Hrim Schola, an event being held in Massachusetts. I've posted my class notes here in case anyone is interested. The class itself will include lots of samples, and discussion of pitfalls and things to consider when making hats, mittens and socks. I'm hoping it will help people overcome the trepidation I often hear from beginners who are afraid they can't make something unless they have a complete pattern to work from. If you are in the area, stop by; I think it is going to be fun.

Egyptian Textiles

My friend and I went back to The Albany Institute of History and Art today to examine the textiles found under their mummies. We examined the two largest pieces. Both pieces are S spun warp and weft, and tabby weave. The first piece is a rectangle, with a selvedge edge. There is no way to know what its original purpose was, but it is a lovely piece of fabric.

The blue/green warp threads are almost hidden by the weft, but enough color peeks through that it almost reminds me of modern 2-color fabrics. The selvedge edge is also decorative.

The second piece we examined was a piece of clothing. It is 59 inches long, and includes a seam and an armhole. The bottom edge is fringed. There is decorative stitching around the armhole.

Isn't it beautiful? We have taken measurements and photographs. Now it is time to do more research!

My S and Z Spinning Study

I've been busily working on my presentation for the conference in Kalamazoo, but I thought it would be nice include my documentation from my study on the blog. So, if you are interested, you can find it under Projects. You will need to look at both the words and the samples for it to make sense. Most of the photos do not show the pattern very clearly (real life is much better), but at least you might get an idea of what I was up to.

King's and Queen's Arts & Sciences Competition

Saturday was King's and Queen's A & S competition. I went to the event to support my apprentice sister who was being inducted into the Order of the Laurel. Of course that meant, to keep the surprise, I had to enter the event. So, I entered my spinning experiment.

It made such a plain display compared to the work of all the other amazingly talented entrants. But, as I discovered last year, it is great fun to get to talk to people about what you are passionate about (whether that happens to be thread or subtleties - you should have seen the amazing dragon!). I was lucky enough to have a table in the sunlight. The best thing of all was that as I began to explain what I was testing - the impact of spin direction on cloth design - even before I was done, people's face would light up and they would pick up a sample and say "oh, I can see it!"

This is Icelandic, my most obvious sample, but it was usually a white sample that people picked up.

As I worked on the project I had begun to wonder if the effect was really real, or if people beside me, or experienced weavers would also see the change between S and Z threads. It really made me happy when people whose expertise was pottery, or woodworking, or metalsmithing, could also pick up on the subtle change. 

Unlike other years, the King and Queen narrowed the field down to 5 finalists with a wide range of talents, before choosing their champions. 

In the end, I was chosen as this year's Queen's Champion. It is a great honor, which I hope I can live up to.

the S and Z spinning experiment

I have spun the wool of 6 different breeds and woven 10 samples to test the effects of S and Z spinning in fabric design. You may think that is excessive, but it was so much fun, I kept wanting to try another breed. I won't bore you with all the results. The Romney wool was the most successful. Whether the wool was carded or combed, dyed or natural, the plaid pattern is easily seen.

The photos don't do it justice, but the slightly lighter stripes in this carded wool sample are the S threads.

While there is a slight variation in the natural fiber color, the threads are actually quite uniform in color. The stripes are formed by the change between S and Z threads.

I will have to add weaving a larger, usable piece to my 2013 to-do list. I already know from my samples that the larger the piece is, the more noticeable the pattern is as the fabric shifts in the light.

more sampling

For my next test I spun Jacob wool - "S" and "Z" - with my #6 cone spindle at 30 wpi. This wool has a higher luster than the Shetland wool. It also has a more uniform color. Here is a picture of my results:

It is more difficult to see the pattern in the photo than it is in person. The areas that appear to have a white haze are the "S" spun threads. There is an equal amount of white fibers in the "S" and "Z" threads, however, the sunlight is reflecting off the white fibers toward the camera in the "S" threads, making it more noticeable. Clothing made of this fabric would appear changeable as the person moved in the light. What a simple way to make a fashion statement!

More on my spinning project

As I am testing the effect of spin direction on fabric design, one of the things I am curious about is if and how the fiber choice impacts the looks and feel of the cloth. The artifact I am basing my study on is a 2/2 twill. My first test was made with the gray Shetland wool. I wove my sample in the same pattern as the artifact - 4s-4z-4s-4z-4s-32z...in both directions. Due to the natural color variations of the fibers it is difficult to see the pattern, except in bright light.

I then spun the same wool and wove the same plaid as a tabby instead of a twill. I was surprised to see that the thread difference was much easier to see.

twill

tabby

In both samples the S and Z threads lie differently in the fabric. With the tabby, the difference is more textural, and it can be felt when you run your fingers over the cloth, particularly at the narrow stripes (which are at the top of the photo). I hope you will be able to see the difference in the pictures.

ancient Egyptian textiles

Working with my apprentice sister, I have begun a very interesting volunteer project for the Albany Institute of History and Art. In 1911, the Institute acquired two mummies. The Ptolomaic period mummy is partially unwrapped. The 21st Dynasty mummy remains wrapped, but is in fragile condition. Little research was done on these mummies in the past, but now the museum is preparing for an Egyptian exhibition. Over the summer, the mummies were removed from their coffins and taken to the Albany Medical Center to receive MRIs. The mummies had been propped up in the coffins on scraps of fabric. The cut away wrappings of the Ptolomaic mummy were mixed with the other fabric scraps in his coffin. We have been asked to examine the fabric and determine as much as we can about it using non-destructive methods.

Weave structure (tabby) and ply (single) can be determined by close examination. With additional study we aim to determine spin direction, thread count and fiber type. We will also look for any differences between the textiles from the two time periods.

Museum staff placed the textile fragments in boxes and bags when they were removed from the coffins. Most of the pieces are small and in various states of decay. On our initial inspection we discovered three very interesting pieces - a scrap of fringe; a rectangle which includes the selvedge and a blue stripe in the warp threads; and a piece which appears to be clothing - we found a whip-stitched seam (we won't know for sure until we are able to flatten it out). I am very excited about getting back to examine these pieces in detail.

My current spinning project

On page 85 of her book " Ancient Danish Textiles from Bogs and Burials," Margrethe Hald described a fragment of cloth where the pattern of the material is solely formed by the spin direction of the threads. The artifact dates from the second century C.E. When you look at the photo of the cloth, it is clearly a plaid. I want to test this phenomenon for myself.

The sett of the artifact is 47/38 per 2x2 cm (59/48 per inch). While I can spin a thread fine enough to match that, I am not yet able to weave successfully with thread that fine. Therefore, I am spinning at about 30 to 40 wpi for my test pieces. I am testing 5 different fibers - Shetland, Jacob, BFL, Icelandic, and Romney, which vary in luster. Just for fun, I've chosen a variety of spindles for the project. I don't expect the spindle choice or gauge of thread to have a significant impact on the results.

So far I have spun commercially prepared Jacob and Shetland top, as well as BFL that I have washed and combed myself. I spun a small amount of Shetland on my #2 whorl (a 15 gram cone) at 35 wpi, and a larger amount on my #6 whorl (a 26 gram cone) at 28 wpi. The BFL was also spun on the #2 whorl, and the Jacob on the #6 whorl, at similar gauges to the Shetland.

Goals for 2013

My first goal for 2013 is to do the best work I can for my presentation in Kalamazoo in May. There will not be much blogging until I am satisfied with my paper.

Second, the King and Queen's A&S competition this year requires only one entry. My goal is to complete my current spinning project (more on that later) in time to enter the competition in February. It was so valuable talking to the judges last year that I want to push myself to be able to have that opportunity again.

Third, I want to complete my reproduction of the Ribe mitten. I did enough research and experimentation last year that it should be possible to reach this goal. I will not start until after Kalamazoo.

Finally, I want to return to tablet weaving, to advance my understanding of the Mammen artifact.

Between these larger goals, I want to make time to try spinning flax, and practice some more with spinning silk. I have a hard time not spinning, so even while I am writing my paper I'm sure there will be time to pick up a spindle. If nothing else, it will clear my head when I get stuck.