Flax to Linen to Threads in the Garden

Linen has to be my favourite plant fibre for zillions of reasons and for years I have been in awe with this wonderful bast fibre.  The tiny flax seeds will grow into long stalks of up to 1.5 meters with beautiful blue, violet or white flowers that will follow the sun's direction and close up at night. What I revere the most though is the devotion one gives to the processing by hand of such fibre before it can be spun into linen threads.

When ready, the plants need to be collected and hung to dry.  Next the seeds are removed - a step called "rippling" - and saved for next year's crop. After the stalks are rippled, they are bundled and prepared for "retting" - a rotting process that breaks the outer coating of the plants.

Once the retting is done the fibres are dried again before the stalks are first broken to separate the bast fibres from the inner core of the plants, and then scraped to remove the remaining straw off the stalks - a process called "scutching".  The breaking can be done by hand, though a tool such as the "flax brake" quickly becomes handy, while the scutching is done with a wooden knife and scraper.  One last step before the fibres are spinnable and that is "hackling" - the combing of the fibres through finer and finer hackles (different sizes of comb). The hackling process releases the spinnable fibres and it usually takes several passes to produce a good spinning fibre.

I don't know too many people who grow flax themselves - let alone spin it into linen.  A few years ago, I came across The Linen Project - a regional initiative in Victoria - now regrouped under Flax to Linen. It was then that I scutched and hackled some fibres while getting a better understanding of what it really means to process bast fibres.

More recently, I was delighted to meet Julia Ostertag, PhD candidate at UBC. As part of her research project, Julia grew flax this past season, processed it into striks and learned to spin her own linen. Julia's devotion to her bast fibre is inspirational and I am pleased that she invited me to assist her with her spinning and workshop.  It is not every day that one gets to spin local flax into linen - it is rather an honour!

The spinning is part of Julia's research - "an art and garden-based exploration into the history and contemporary practices of school gardening to better understand the relationships between land and teaching".

The public is invited to view Julia's installation and participate in her research process. To read more about Julia's project visit The Orchard Garden.

Socks on the Mend

Back in August, I sat down with Penny at The Urban Weaver Studio and she helped me refresh my skills on darning socks.

My first sock had the "classic" hole in the heel - too much friction from the good ol' boots I wear all the time.  Originally knitted with a sports weight yarn,  I used a similar weight and colour to construct a weave across the hole.  First by creating a "warp" section in one direction and then by weaving over and under all the warp threads.

My second sock - an all time favourite - wasn't too damaged, but the stitches over the heel were running super thin.  Since I wanted to keep the pattern along the heel cup, Penny suggested that I cut right through the heel - something she's done a lot for toe repairs.  A first for me ... it is with due diligence and trust in her experience that I cut a hole in my favourite sock!  Afterwards, we brainstormed the best way to knit the heel back together and figured that short rows was going to do the trick.

I have one more sock to repair and it's been long time coming for this one.  This pair was purchased in Kamchatka years ago and each stitch pretty much has a story ... so have the holes!

Starting October 1st, you can join Penny at the Urban Weaver Studio for a series of Woolley Workshops and rejoice at wearing your "new" mended socks.

Weaving Beyond Cloth

For a few months now, I've been taking part in The Urban Weaver Project - an environmental art project led by artist-weavers Todd DeVries and Sharon Kallis.  Sharon and I met three years ago - when attending her Autumn shade retreat workshop at MOPARCC - and she introduced me to blackberry vine as a weaving material.  Since then Sharon has been working on some amazing projects in our local communities and abroad - and the Himalayan Blackberry is only but one of several species on her list of invasive plants for weaving.

The Urban Weaver Project has been a great opportunity for me to learn more about "invasive" species and to get involved in the harvest and preparation of these plants for weaving.  I have learned a tremendous amount from Sharon and Todd's teachings on traditional weaving techniques using English Ivy, Himalayan Blackberry, Flag Iris and Miscanthus giganteus.  The Stanley Park Ecology Society offers a great guide with the descriptive of these "invasive" plants.  As a permaculturist, I rather label them as  "opportunistic" species, but that's a different post all together.

The Urban Weaver Project also included Master Class Technique Exchanges with other local artists.  I feel very privilege to have learned new skills from Haida weaver Giihlgiigaa (cedar),  Squamish spinner and weaver Sesemiya Tracy Williams (cedar and fibre), and traditional wheat weaver Brian Jones.

Since June, the field-house at Maclean Park has been a second studio space and to be part of a new community of weavers has invigorated my own practice.  The Urban Weaver Project is soon coming to an end with our final celebration this week, but the field-house at Maclean Park will continue to offer community projects.

To all these wonderful people,  I dedicate this page "At The Urban Weaver Studio".