Because it is shopping season, and also because the new year approaches and many of us start to thing of the projects the next year will bring, I thought I would take the time right now to share some of my favorite fibers and yarn that work really well for SCA projects.

While I definitely recommend the experience of working with raw wool and hand processing it, we often do not have time for that, and it can be very difficult for beginners.  There is one processed wool roving/top that I have regularly spin and that I recommend to spinners of any level.  That wool is naturally colored Shetland roving that you can buy from several vendors at Pennsic, including Brush Creek Woolworks and Minerva's Spindle.  This stuff drafts and spins very well.  It has lots of loft so you can make a thick wooly yarn, or you can spin it out exceptionally fine on Viking period spindles.

http://www.brushcreekwoolworks.com/collections/fibers/products/natural-morrit-brown-shetland-wool-roving

Harrisville Shetland Yarns

Harrisville makes two weights of Shetland wool yarn.  The Highland is heavier, and for SCA purposes I would reserve it for cloaks or functional textiles (or for something where you want a bit more warmth or bulk).  The Shetland yarn is a great weight for functional textiles (woven mittens, pouches, mats, possibly hoods or something like that).  I highly, and I mean HIGHLY, recommend this yarn purchased as UNWASHED cones for new weavers.  The unwashed yarn is smooth during weaving, which means the threads are less likely to hang up on their neighbors (which gives you a clean shed).  Both weights work exceptionally well in rigid heddle looms and I have crafted many projects from this wool.  The Shetland can be used for garments, but the resulting item would be much heavier, and have a much lower threadcount, than most of what we see in finds from the Viking era.

Another way to use this yarn as as an easy to manage warp for your own handspun weft.

My favorite vendor for hits is Halcyon Yarn.  https://halcyonyarn.com/yarn/009/harrisville-shetland-yarn-_-unwashed-cones

EPiC Wool Yarn

I discovered this yarn early last year and fell in love.  The problem is that the company disappeared before I could order enough to do a project with it.  Well, we are lucky that Timeless Textiles have purchased the business and are offering this amazing yarn again.

This two-ply lightweight yarn is a true worsted wool.  It is both smooth and strong and weaves very easily.  It worked well at a sett of 20 for tabby on the rigid heddle loom when I sampled (and made a thick, almost canvas-like cloth at 25 for tabby).  I also know many people who love this particular yarn for tablet weaving.

You can get more information in the company's Facebook page:  https://www.facebook.com/timeless.textiles.sb2ollc/?fref=ts

Swedish Yarns

Bockens and Borgs make wonderful yarns that are exceptional for weaving.  They come in array of rich colors and can be worked into a number of items for reenacting use (including garments).  The one issue you can run into is that often it can be difficult to get a large number of skeins on very short notice.  It is good to plan larger projects well in advance so that there is time to get it from Sweden if need be.

Borgs 6/1 Faro wool yarn is a single ply yarn that works well at a sett of 20 or slightly higher for a twill.  This is the yarn I used as the warp in my apron dress and I have played with it also as a brocading weft for tablet weaving.  It is also often used as a tapestry wool.  It can be a little sticky as warp, but I still consider it easy to use.

Borgs 20/2 Tuna wool yarn is both fine and strong.  It is not sticky and works well for both tablet weaving and traditional weaving.  I have only sampled with it (and used it for tablet weaving) but it would make a lovely fabric.  This might be a good option for garment yarn for those who feel they are not quite ready to try weaving with singles.

Bockens 8/2 Mobelatta is very strong and has a bit of a sheen.  It is great for functional textiles that will have a lot of wear and would also likely make a wonderful shawl or outer garment.

You can find these yarns at the following vendors (I use all of them and they are great):
Vavstuga Weaving School: http://vavstuga.com/
Glimakra USA (Borgs only): http://glimakrausa.com/
Loan Star Loom Room: http://www.lonestarloomroom.com


Even with amazing yarns such as those I listed above, it can still be very difficult to find the correct yarns for imitating historic textiles.  Most garments in the Viking era were woven from singles.  Faro yarn is nice, but still thicker than much of what was used at the time.  Vendors who carry mill ends from the commercial weaving industry give us incredible access to exceptionally fine yarns.  The only warning I have with these sources is that they often have only what they have and will not get more in stock of an item.  I suggest ordering extra in the event you discover you need more later.

The weft in my handwoven aprondress was a large cone of mill end wool yarn that was gifted to me by a friend.  (It is the same wool I used for my Dublin scarves.)

I have resourced these types of wool from two sources.  One is WEBS (http://www.yarn.com/mill-end-weaving-yarns/). This vendor does not always stock yarns that meet our needs, but I purchased some there this fall that is exceptionally nice and will work very well for garments.  Look at the Yorkshire 30s yarn if it is still there (and then be in awe of the price, it is a fantastic deal). 

The other resource that I positively love is ColourMart in the UK.  This vendor carries a massive supply of yarn including some incredibly fine wools (and silks as well).  I highly recommend getting on the email list to be advised of sales.  And, if you are purchasing a large amount of yarn for weaving garments, make sure you change the items to larger cones at check-out, as you will save your self a good deal of money.  I have loved every yarn I have gotten there (especially the 1/13 wool and the 1/20 Merino/Cashmere).  http://www.colourmart2.com/products/rootProducts.php

Mistress Oda Wlslagre dicta Widoeghe from Atlantia recently added a post to her blog (Medieval Threads) with tips about spinning singles for weaving.  It is a very informative post (especially if you are new to spinning or weaving) so I am sharing it here.  (She also has lots of other goodies on her site and in her documentation, so definitely worth checking it all out!)

Click her banner below to go to the post!


(The earlier segments of this article can be found here:  http://awanderingelf.weebly.com/blog-my-journey/viking-embellishment-and-embroidery-part-2  and here http://awanderingelf.weebly.com/blog-my-journey/viking-embellishment-and-embroidery-part-1 )

Embroidery, while evidenced, was not common, and often what we have is considered to be imported goods.

First, let me make a comment about how I differentiate types of embroidery that are often discussed among reenactors.  Often I see someone come onto a forum and ask about Viking embroidery.  Others quite often launch into long dissertations about how Vikings did not do embroidery.  What the poster sometimes means, however, is often not figurative, large-scale embroidery, but rather the seam embellishments that are frequently employed by reenactors.  For the purpose of this post I am going to categorize those three types differently as “seam embellishments”, "functional stitches" and “embroidery”.

Seam embellishment, while (in my opinion) over done by reenactors (myself included), is at least plausible and in evidence in several places.  The Hedeby Harbor aprondress fragment had a braid applied over a dart.  There is also mention of embroidery covering a seam in one of the Oseberg scraps and some of the apron dresses from Birka had narrow cording sewn to the top edge of the garment.

Functional stitches, on the other hand, are exactly what they sound like.  They are stitches that serve a purpose (to create a seam or to hold open the seam allowance) but because part of the stitch rests on the surface of the cloth, it can be quite attractive when stitched in a different color of thread. (Even something as simple as unbleached linen thread against a dark blue dyed linen garment can be striking in its simplicity.)

(Note 9/22/15: I was rereading Hilde Thunem's excellent paper on aprondresses and am really thinking hard about a remark the author made "Inga Hägg comments that the hemming stitches would usually be invisible on wool, but would show up clearly on linen. She believes that the reason that the band has been placed lower on the linen smokkr could be to cover the stitches."  I need to go back and look at Hägg's comments and some other things as well.  I want to chart out the extant seams from various finds and see what I can figure out about the visibility of the stitching and the threads used.  It could well be that they Viking era Norse preferred a very clean look, with little in the way at all of stitches showing.)

Ideas for using seam embellishment and functional stitches to create a more accurate impression:

• Dot not cover every inch of a garment with decorated seams.
• Fine cord or braided string as an edging has ample evidence (on apron dresses a string, especially if it were linen or silk, at the top might serve a functional purpose in helping the top of the garment to not stretch as much with wear).
• If the stitch serves a functional purpose, it actually makes more sense in use (example a running or overcast stitch on the surface that actually is part of a hem).  There is one example from the Hedeby Settlement (S 27) that uses buttonhole stitch to join two textiles.  Note though, that that was only one of several types of stitches used on that garment. (S 27 information added 9/30/15)
• Keep stitches narrow and compact, there is no evidence of an inch wide herringbone stitch anywhere.
• If you must add stitching, employ stitches that were used in period – examples of some stitches are running stitch, stem stitch, split stitch, osenstitch (though most of the the extant examples of this are metalwork).  Note here that while we as reenactors love herringbone, evidence for its use in period is actually quite limited.  It was used on a pouch from York and on the INSIDE of a hem at Hedeby.  A stitch similar to herringbone was used on the Mammen cushion cover (decorative item rather than a garment) and on the collar of the Skjoldehamn tunic (which may or may not even be Viking), but it was not the sprawling herringbone seen in the reenactment community.  For a deeper look at Herringbone see my post HERE.

And now on to the controversial topic of larger, decorative embroidery. 

The examples that we have are often are thought to have been Saxon, Rus or Byzantine imports (the first is thought to be the case with the larger Oseberg pieces in particular).  It is very important to understand that some of these were also considered to likely be from decorative goods, rather than garments.  This proves that the technique of heavily filling an area with stitching existed at the time, it does not at all indicate that this was applied to garments in period.  Also worthy of note is that all of these items were very, very high status.

Mistress Þóra Sharptooth has a good article about extant embroidery here:  http://www.cs.vassar.edu/~capriest/vikembroid.html