agog
I never thought I'd see the day. It just wouldn't have occurred to me. The New York Times has published an article on home spinning. A picture of a Lendrum wheel just like mine is included!
Bizarrely I've also been reading several articles lately about well-educated well-to-do women who "choose" (debated by some) to "opt out" of various "careers" to stay home and "raise children". (All debatable. Some would say the last is more a managerial task of organizing lessons and social schedules). No doubt a mere coincidence, but it does make me wonder if there is any relation between the reported choices to stay home and the reported increase in numbers of spinners. Just in the most general way, you understand.
And by the way, I *seriously* doubt icelandic wool was used for rope and sail, unless the icelanders truly couldn't get hold of anything else. Hemp, hemp all the way for rope and things going to be exposed to salt water. But maybe I'm wrong on this. Any experts in Icelandic seafaring archaeology out there to set us straight on fibers used for vessel outfitting?
Because Icelandic sheep were especially long-haired and their wool rich in lanolin, Icelandic cloth and cloaks made form it were highly water repellant… [The Icelanders had two] different grades of homespun cloth (vađmál)… which [were] based on quality… Both were woven cloth, as knitting had not yet been introduced… By far the most common type was vararvađmál… it was relatively cheap, and working clothes, gloves, stockings, and so on were sewn from it. The higher grade was a finer and rarer cloth called hafnarvađmál. The best grades of hafnarvađmál were used for sailcloth.
Byock, Jesse. 2001. Viking Age Iceland, pp197-8. Penguin Books Ltd.
Posted by: wilbraham | January 20, 2006 at 07:16 PM
Actually, given the climate in Northern Europe, flax was also grown and processed then spun into extremely fine linen yarn and made into sails. Flax is much more capable of growing in a very cold climate than hemp (and warm climate as well -- it was grown along the Nile and the Egyptians wove cloth from handspun linen singles that was finer than 200 count bedsheets). It is a bast fiber, like hemp, but it can be grown in all kinds of climates, so long as there is adequate moisture. I don't think hemp was discovered in Europe until AFTER the new world. I took a class in processing flax with traditional tools -- discovered that I was horribly allergic to all of the chaff, but it was fun. Lots of work! Wool sails would have rotted away. Probably more than you wanted to know.
Posted by: Carolyn | January 22, 2006 at 07:15 AM
Hmmm. I'm well educated and fairly comfortable and a SAHM. I would argue that it involves a lot more than just "scheduling". That said, I also spin on a lendrum and love it.
Posted by: amysue | January 29, 2006 at 11:41 AM