A Wandering Elf
  • A Wandering Elf
  • Blog: My Journey
  • Iron Age Celtic Studies
  • A Wandering Elf in the Woods
  • Classes
  • Resources: Sheep & Wool
  • Resources: Costume and Textiles
  • Resources: Migration Era
  • Resources: Historic Glass Beads

Wrapping Things Up

12/16/2013

0 Comments

 
Picture
In September of 2012, only a month after I started spinning, I got about a pound of this Icelandic roving from a vender at the Shenandoah Sheep and Wool festival. 

The roving it self is lovely, it was creamy white with a darker core.  Unfortunately, I was too new to the art at the time to know understand different types of processing and how to best spin different wools.

This, as it turns out, would have been better off as a fluffly, bulky yarn.  I was forcing the carded yarn (that I swear had some sort sticky stuff added in to it) to spin fairly fine and ended up with some wicked lumps throughout.


Despite the issues, it is now all finished and blocked and will still look fine as the weft in a woven piece that will become a hood for my boyfriend.

Because this is wrapped up, I was able last nigh to move on to the nearly-black Gotland we got at the MD Sheep and Wool festival this past spring and it is not only silky to the touch, but the processing is very loose and the fibers are pretty much aligned and it as nothing short of a joy to spin!  It will definitely not take me over a year to spin all of this!  (Of course, had I not kept getting distracted by other, more interesting, spinning opportunities, this Icelandic would have been done in shorter time as well.  lol)

Picture
The wool above was spun on my Ashford Traditional wheel.  The wool to the left was done on drop spindle (mostly on an older Spanish Peacock spindle that I bartered for, some of it was on a Norwegian spindle).

This was all spun from a Shetland wool I bought at Brush Creek Wool Works at Pennsic and this, like the Gotland I mentioned above is a delight to spin.  I have about 250 yards finished and much, much more to go, but it is a nice project to take with me to events and on camping trips. 


The green in the photo is the Borgs Faro 6/1 wool that I used for weaving my apron dress so that there is some basis of comparison.  I plan to use this wool as part of a sampler to show period weave structures using a period weight of yarn that is also single ply.

In all, I am extraordinarily happy with this particular bit of spinning!

0 Comments

The Fibre Mine

12/11/2013

2 Comments

 
Picture
Occasionally a vendor or shop is so exceptional I feel the need to let everyone know.  The Fibre Mine (https://www.etsy.com/shop/TheFibreMine) goes way beyond the norm in terms of customer service and product!

I made an inquiry to Heather, the owner of this shop, last spring or summer when I began collecting wool samples for my sheep breeds research.  She had some Herdwick roving and I asked her if she had any raw fleece of that type.  She did not at the time but made some other recommendations for similar wool (which, unfortunately, did not meet the needs of the current project). 

A few weeks ago, however, I got an email letting me know that she indeed had Herdwick again.  Very nice!  I no longer needed it, but went to look at her other offerings and was in awe of the selection of rare wools that one could purchase by the ounce!  I chose 5 of them and place my order.  I could not be more happy when it arrived and I saw each wool wrapped nicely and in a pretty bag.  She went one further though and had included a card with additional samples that she thought might interest me!

I placed another order last week and look forward to spring sheering (she has already let me know of some interesting and rare things she will be getting then).

If you are looking for rare or specialty wools for projects I cannot recommend The Fibre Mine

2 Comments

Updates and Scattered Thoughts

12/4/2013

0 Comments

 
Picture
As always, things have been quite busy.  I had a wonderful time hosting and Ottoman Q&A at the Barony of Steirbach's annual Holiday Faire.  The group was very engaging and I hope that folks got some answers they needed to help them work up fabulous garb for Atlantia's 12th Night.

This class also made me think that I might expand the time for my "Step Further from Fantasy" class (the one that focuses on explaining what it is you often seen worn as Middle Eastern Garb in the SCA) and giving a more complete overview of late period Ottoman costuming during the second half of the class.  I need to flesh out my layers handout, but I think it would be useful and well received.


I also turned in my first ever A&S food entry at that event.  I did a Sheker Burek (and Ottoman pastry) and will be posting my paper and recipe here in the next week or so.  I got great feedback from the judges, and some tips on improving my dough.

I am still working on finishing my ensemble for 12th Night, but the desire to get back to my Norse textiles research is causing an internal conflict.  I am trying to work up two new classes for the summer.  The first is already in the works and is a hands-on class for a small group covering Viking stitches (both for function and decoration) and the result would be a small pouch created during the class.

The second is the one I have been I have been researching and working towards for 2-3 years.  It would be a class covering wool and textiles (and likely flax as well) for the Viking age.  Covered would be sheep evolution, harvesting and processing wool, and textile production.  There will be tons of samples to fondle and some demos of things such as spinning and weaving as well.  They idea is to have a class that would interest both the general Viking costumer or a textile/fiber geek might like.  I am incredibly excited about compiling my research and being able to present this in a digestible format that can hopefully

0 Comments

    About Me

    I am mother to a billion cats and am on journey to recreate the past via costume, textiles, culture and food.

    A Wandering Elf participates in the Amazon Associates program and a small commission is earned on qualifying purchases. 
    ​

    Archives

    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    March 2022
    March 2021
    February 2021
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    March 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    September 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012

    Categories

    All
    12th Night
    14th Century
    AEthelmearc
    Aprondress
    Awards
    Bog Dress
    Dance
    Dance Name
    Distaff
    Dyeing
    Embroidery
    Fiber Arts
    Flax Growing
    Food
    Glass
    Haberci
    Headcoverings
    Inspirations
    In The News
    Library
    List Of Links
    Machine Embroidery
    Metal Clay
    Mid Month Inspiration
    Migration Era/Iron Age
    My Documents
    Ottoman
    Ottoman Fabrics
    Pennsic
    Publications
    Research
    Rigid Heddle
    Sca
    SCA Camping
    SCA Forestry
    Sca Name
    Sca Newcomer
    Sewing
    Sheep
    Spinning
    Tips
    Totally Not SCA
    Viking
    Viking Bead Research
    Viking Costume: Beyond The Myth
    Viking Swatch Book
    Viking Textiles Looking Deeper
    Weaving
    Wool


      Email Updates

    Subscribe to Newsletter

    Blogroll of SCA & Costume Bloggers

    Below is a collection of some of my favorite places online to look for SCA and historic costuming information.

    More Amie Sparrow - 16th Century German Costuming


    Gianetta Veronese - SCA and Costuming Blog

    Grazia Morgano - 16th Century A&S

    Mistress Sahra -Dress From Medieval Turku 

    Hibernaatiopesäke

    Loose Threads: Cathy's Costume Blog

    Mistress Mathilde Bourrette - By My Measure: 14th and 15th Century Costuming

    More than Cod: Exploring Medieval Norway

    RSS Feed


Proudly powered by Weebly