Tag Archive: wool

Guest Post: A Weaver Shares Her Path

Back in September of 2018, I got an email from a woman in Tennessee, Carol Devenski, who was fairly new to weaving.  She had seen a weaving swatch that she liked on my… Continue reading

Eighty Years Ago in Mexico

Finding clues in the most unlikely of places… More beautiful textiles arrived from my mother-in-law’s house.  She told me that her in-laws had traveled to the West and Mexico on camping vacations every… Continue reading

Tattered Treasures

As my mother-in-law continues to downsize, she is contributing to some sizeable up-sizing of our own household, and the treasures she is passing on to me came from a generation even further back,… Continue reading

Tracking Textile History: The Minoans, Part Two

Before we get into more of Minoan textiles, we need to take a short look at how this culture was brought back from three thousand years of oblivion. There is a fast-paced, readable… Continue reading

On the Trail of Sail History – the Vikings

We left off somewhere around 1350 BC, when the Mycenaean kings may or may not have been requiring plain linen cloth to be woven as a tax or tribute intended for sail use. … Continue reading

A Great Coat for Great Weather

This coat belonged to my husband’s grandfather!  Gary Cooper wore one like it in The Fountainhead, which was made in 1949, so I would guess this is from the 1950s. It is only… Continue reading

Colorious Results

All summer I have been experimenting with natural dyes from the plants in my yard.  After getting many wonderful yellows,  I was full of anticipation to try pokeberries and get red for a… Continue reading

More Beautiful Yellows

Here are the latest results from my dye jars* – Jenny Dean mentions hawthorn in her book Wild Color.  She recommends using the flowers or berries, and says the leaves and twigs will… Continue reading

Dye Days of Summer – Pears

For my second dye experiment, I used pear twigs and leaves, soaked in well water for about a week. I put the soaked twigs and leaves in the dye pot with fresh water,… Continue reading

Dye Days of Summer – Sunflowers

First the results – And then the details. My plan for the summer is to learn about natural dyes from the plants growing wild on the farm.  To simplify my learning process, I… Continue reading