Flax to linen

[Photo: Tow and line linen]

I have been spinning linen...or flax? I guess I have been spinning flax and at some magical Rumplestilkskinian moment the flax turns into linen. And like the captive maiden's spinning, mine too turned into gold!

[Picture from Franz Eugen Köhle'sr,
Köhler's Medizinal-Pflanzen 1897]

I didn't think I would enjoy spinning flax but I do. There is something about the neat, tidy, golden threads that tugs at your ancestral memories. It is comforting. Well...maybe not comforting in the same way that spinning wool is comforting, but linen satisfies. I don't know why, I am just reporting how it effects me. And satisfying is the way I feel after spinning flax into gold linen.

"The life of a flax plant is 100 days of thought..."

Be Linen

[Photo:Flax stem cross-section
Photo: Ryan R. McKenzie]

So here are a few things I learned along the way. Flax is a plant and the fibre comes from the inner bark or bast of the stem, so the fibres are, at the longest, the length of the plant, maybe around 2 feet. To make a long story short, during the processing of separating the fibre from the plant, you can end up with a pile of short fibres (the tow) and a pile of long fibres (the line). Okay, okay linen spinners, I know, I know, I am over simplifying, but we have to keep up the interest of non-spinners. If you want to know more about the very interesting processing of flax, check out this beautiful video 'Be Linen' video. I digress...

Each of these types of fibres can be spun. The tow will produce a fuzzy yarn and the line...oh, the line flax, sigh, will produce a beautiful golden yarn. There are a variety of spinning techniques from using the classical distaff to accordion folding of the fibres. Each method is designed o allow only a few threads to draft out into the yarn yet also allowing those threads to grab their following threads to keep a continuous line of yarn forming as you spin. Then, you can spin wet or dry. Wet spun will smooth the yarn and give it a higher gloss, and dry spun allows more frizz to show. Then we can get more technical and spin with water or spit. Yes, spit, as in drool, saliva. I haven't seen proof of this, but rumour has it that saliva works on the flax enzymes, making the fibres glue together, while water helps control the flax and makes it softer, easier to spin and creates a smoother yarn, but doesn't create the glue.  

But here's the thing...you can blend linen with wool, or cotton, or silk or....who would have thought? Endless possibilities!

EDITED Dec 31, to add 2 more pictures.

Another story--A thank you gift

[Photo: Soapstone carving with
 First Nations design]

Here's another story. A heart warming story told to me over lunch the other day.  Jill (not her real name), a woman I know went to an aboriginal conference four years ago. It was a three or four day conference held at a large hotel. While there, she met one of the hotel staff members who admired a bag she carried. The bag had a First Nations design silk-screened on to it, designed by a friend, so it meant a lot to her. Jill, who coordinates a major program to support young aboriginal children and their families, has a big heart. When she was leaving at the end of the conference she gave him the bag. He was overwhelmed with her generosity.
Four years later, she returned to the same hotel for another conference and was surprised to see him and even more surprised that he remembered her amongst the thousands of hotel guests that he probably meets every year. He was excited to see her telling her he had been searching for her--for four years!   He only knew her first name, but at every aboriginal conference held at the hotel he would ask participants if they knew Jill. He never gave up and sure enough, the right conference came along and someone told him 'Yes', there was a Jill at the conference who looked like the woman he described.
He told her he was so grateful for the bag that he took it with him to South America where he knew a soap stone carver. He had the carver make a few things for her. She had just received the package and she opened her bag (you can tell Jill is more of a bag than a purse person) and brought out a large package and opened it up. Tissue paper protected a large item and many smaller ones. She carefully opened each item up and placed them on the table. They took up half the table: earrings, pendants, necklaces and a large flat panel carved with the same First Nations design that the bag had on it that had meant so much to her.

Selling my yarn

[Photo:One of Marks (ImagePlay) cards]

I am a spinner. I am learning to knit and weave to use up my spun yarns, but let's face it, I am a spinner. People often ask what do 'I do' with my spinning. I am very honest in my sheepish (no pun intended) replies 'Oh, it just piles up.' And it does. The pile of yarn gets bigger and bigger. Strangely, the pile of fleece does not get smaller. So I have an ever growing pile but every now and then, usually just before Christmas, a solution comes up -- a craft sale! So this weekend, I took my pile of yarns to a friends house where we set up in her living room and participated in the island craft walk. About 15 craftspeople take part and islanders and visitors walked from house to house looking and buying handmade items.

[Photo: ImagePlay]

I don't sell much, but I appreciate their appreciation and I enjoy the socializing. This year three of us shared a living room filled with handmade items. Cathy had made some lovely colourful pony string puppets and dolls, while Heather had shibori silk scarves and a few felted items, including a gorgeous black top with bright needle-felted elegant flowers--it sold very quickly and way too cheaply. I also brought Mark's cards with his photographs on them and his sales were as much as mine which goes to show that small purchases are sought after.
Heather and I set up our spinning wheels and Cathy setup her rug hooking frame. We gave the salesroom a working studio ambiance. We had over 30 people come through and Heather plied them with mulled wine and hot chocolate which may have contributed to the loosening of purse strings. While people shopped and we chatted, I spun and spun and added yet more yarn to my growing pile. Next Christmas season look for black mohair blended with silk. Perfect for lacework.

Yippee! It is done.

Remember this <----? It is finally finished and is now this ------>
Holden shawlette by Mindy Wilkes. 5058 ravelers have made this oh, make that 5059 ravelers have made this pattern making it one of the most popular patterns on Ravelry. Me, I made it four, maybe six times, if you count all that ripping out and re-knitting. I may even make a second one now that I know how to knit.

Fibre-related acronyms

I started to create a list of fibre acronyms, things like UFO (unfinished object) and WIP (works in progress) but I couldn't find some definitions and so, had no idea of what WIM meant (work in mind). And then I found this list from the Spindlers yahoo group and there are even more acronyms than I could ever have imagined. Here's my favorite: WHACO: Wool Housing And Containment Overflow. Very apt.

BIGHI: But I Gotta Have It
BF: Boy/ Best Friend
BFL: Blue Faced Leicester - a sheep breed
BFN: Bye For Now
BRB: Be Right Back
BTW: By The Way
BUFO: Boring UnFinished Object
CAD: Compulsive Acquisition Disorder
CREMA: Computer Reading E-Mail Addiction
CVM: California Varigated Mutant - a sheep breed
CYA: See Ya
DD: Dear Daughter
DH: Dear Husband, Darling Husband or D(word of your choice) Husband
DIL: Daughter In Law
FIL: Father In Law
FO: Finished Object
Frog Stitch: To take out stitches (e.g. Rip it, rip it, rip it)
FYI: For Your Information
GC - Gift Certificate, preferably from a fiber vendor!
GCNI: Gulf Coast Native Improved - a sheep breed
GF: Girl Friend
HALFPINT: Have a Lovely Fantasy Project, I've No Time
HOTP: Hot Off The Press
HTH: Hope This Helps
IAGW: In A Good Way
IYKWIM: If You Know What I Mean
IMHO: In My Humble Opinion
IMNSHO: In My Not So Humble Opinion
IMO: In My Opinion
IOW: In Other Words
ISO: In Search Of
JIC: Just In Case
KM: K-Mart
L8R G8R: Later Gator
LFS: Local Fiber Store/Source
LFSO: Local Fiber Store Owner
LOL: Laugh Out Loud
LP: Life Partner
LYS: Local Yarn Store/Source
LYSO: Local Yarn Store Owner
MIL: Mother In Law
MAS: Magazine Acquisition Syndrome: The habit of collecting magazines
MVBFITWWW: My Very Best Friend in the Whole Wide World
NA: Not Affiliated
NAYYY: No Affiliation Yadda Yadda Yadda
NIPS: Spin, backwards; when you have to unspin something you messed up, or to use the fiber with something else.
NOSTEPINDE/NOSTEPINNE: See next...
NOSTY: A nostepinde or nostepinne - a carved stick used to wind a center-pull ball of yarn.
OFC: Obligatory Fiber Content*
OIC: Oh, I see
ORF or ORFIE: Orifice (on a spinning wheel)
ORF or ORFIE HOOK: a tool used to pull fiber thru said orifice
OSC: Obligatory Spinning Content
OT: Off Topic
OTOH: On The Other Hand
ROFL: Rolling On Floor Laughing
ROFLMAO: Rolling on Floor Laughing My @$$ Off
ROFLMBO: Rolling on Floor Laughing My Butt Off
SABLE: Stash Accumulation Beyond Life Expectancy
STASH: Our caches of fibers and yarn
sig: signature lines at end of email telling who you are, etc.
SIL: Sister/Son In Law
SIP: Spinning in Public (and you're encouraged to do it!)
SO: Significant Other ~or~ Spin Off depending on the context in which used
ThUD: The Usual Disclaimer
TIA: Thanks In Advance
TINK: to KNIT backwards, for when you must work a mistake backwards
one stitch at a time (see FROG above also.)
TMS: Too Much Stash
TPI: Twists Per Inch (Not to be confused with WPI, below.)
TTFN: Ta Ta For Now
TTYL: Talk To You Later
TY: Thank You
UDO: Un-Designed Objects
UFO: Un-Finished Object
UPGS: Unfinished Project Guilt Syndrome
USO: Un-Started Object
VM: Veggie Matter; commonly refers to all the crud in an unprocessed
fleece. Can include raw veggie matter or veggie matter that has already
been... through the sheep.
WHACO: Wool Housing And Containment Overflow
WIP: Work In Progress
WIM: Work In Mind
WM: Wal-Mart
WPI: Wraps Per Inch (not to be confused with TPI above)
YKWIM: You Know What I Mean
YMMV: Your Mileage May Vary
YW: You're Welcome

Another story - life after death

[Photo: Protection Island lighthouse]

We met John this summer. Late fifties, early retiree. He anchored his 40' live-a-board sailboat just off Lasquiti Island. In the heat of the day we sat admiring it from shore with him. He had purchased it last year from a widow whose husband had spend over $200,000 getting it ready to sail around the world, just before the husband died. The boat sat for six years before John found it. When he retired from 32 years working in Alberta, he was desperate to live on a boat. Any boat. A hulk would do. He didn't care if it had a motor, he just wanted to live on the water. But he found a dream boat instead.  
He wasn't sure if he was up to sailing across deep seas, so he set sail with two friends, a retired FBI agent and a Navy Seal, two guys ready for any emergency, from Puget sound headed for the Baja. Off the Washington Coast they had engine troubles but John managed to jury rig some parts and they headed in to Astoria to make permanent repairs.
That was the last thing he remembered before waking up in the Portland hospital. He had been dead for 3 hours. His heart had stopped and paramedics had managed to keep him breathing. He arrived at the emergency operating room DOA and the doctor asked what the hell was he supposed to do with him. Someone said 'do what you can.' And the doctor did. John is alive 9 months later due to a series of little miracles: engine breaking down when/where it did, paramedics being so close by, the doctor doing what he could.
I asked if his friends had first aid training and had kept him breathing until the paramedics had arrived. He said they were both trained but neither had administered first aid for fear of being held liable. 
I didn't ask if they were still friends.

Judith MacKenzie - Spinner Extroidinaire

Judith MacKenzie, is the reason: I have a passion (some would call it an illness); a guest bedroom unfit for guests; and a potentially lethal bomb in the form of vacuum packed fibres and fleece and, as my husband often worries 'if just one of them pops, just one, it will have a domino effect; each bag exploding into the next until the whole house will explode outwards, with fibre bulging at every seam'.
Judith taught me to spin, and weave, and dye. She didn't just teach the techniques, she inspired with her knowledge. She taught me 30 years ago and I spun, knit and wove up a storm for a few years before my career took over and I put my loom and spinning wheel aside only to take them out again a few years ago.
Thirty years later, Judith is internationally renown. She has many articles in Spin-Off, books and DVDs (see below).  

[Photo:From Judith's textile stash - African fabric]

Two years ago, I met up with Judith on the Olympic Peninsula when I took her Tribal Textiles workshop (see the blog post here). Judith now lives in Forks, Washington, the centre of vampire Twilight country (ask any female teenager) and set up her teaching studio in an old historic building used by the local theatre group and arts groups. That building burnt down last week and Judith lost all her wheels, looms and OMG, her stash!
I know, I am guilty of wishing for a fire every now and then to clean out my guestroom but it is only a fleeting idea and it feels like such a sick thing to even think even if it is internal lighthearted humour to avoid the actual act of de-stashing. My stash isn't that exciting. It is merely a stash made by not being able to resist any fibre while I had unclaimed cash in my pocket. But consider Judith, who knows her fibres so well and has been collecting only the best, the unusual, the interesting. When at the Tribal workshop, Judith mentioned Texas mohair, I asked her what it was and she replied 'only the very best , the softest, the finest, mohair'. That night she dug into her stash and the next day presented me with a bag of it.  That's Judith. Not only does she know exactly what you need to do to improve your spinning, but she is so kind and thoughtful.
Franklyn Habit (that hilariously funny and slightly outrageous male knitter...you MUST read his blog) posted the news on his Facebook page, and Stephanie Pearl-McPhee, who also keeps us in stitches, blogged on her Yarn Harlot blog
about the tragedy. Her fan club 'Daughter's of Judith, in Ravelry have a discussion thread on it too. Friends have rallied and have created a web page 'Rebuild Judith's Studio' and have a Paypal link if you wish to donate: http://www.rebuildjudithsstudio.com/index.html#continue
I've put an amazon list of her books and videos below, but you can also purchase them from Interweave.