• Odds and Ends

    Dropping a Line

    At the beginning of September, I got an email asking if I could spin linen fishing line. I’ve been spinning linen thread/yarn, so from a technical perspective, it wouldn’t be too different. The site that was requesting it had a bamboo fishing pole event scheduled for the end of the month. Folks could stop by and try their hand at fishing with 19th century style fishing poles and hooks. I asked for a sample that I should try to match, how much they were looking for, and a deadline. I had about 300g of unbleached flax top on hand, so I wasn’t terribly worried about having the necessary supplies. This…

  • Odds and Ends,  Updates

    Do All The Things!

    Apparently June/July has turned into a chunk of time where I try to do everything. All at once. I signed up for the Livestock Conservancy’s Wrap It Up Shawl Challenge (June 16 to July 14). I didn’t pick out my pattern/yarn until the 16th (and had to wait for the yarn to be delivered), so I didn’t get started knitting until about a week later. I opted to knit the Reflection Line Shawl by Tetiana Otruta, as I’ve knit it once before and knew about how long it would take. But since the recommended yarn did not match the yarn Leicester Longwool yarn that I purchased from Gypsy Mountain Farm,…

  • Living History,  Updates

    Back Into the Swing of Things

    Back on May 16th, I got up early, put on funny clothes, and got in the car to head out to the High Point Museum to do a flax spinning demo. I’d loaded my wheel and most of my gear the night before, and just had a few things to grab in the morning. In 2019, that would have been a pretty typical Saturday. It should have been a typical Saturday in 2020 as well. It was definitely not a typical Saturday in 2021. It was my first event back post-vaccine. It was outdoors and small (about half a dozen of us in kit, with under 50 total visitors over…