Trampled by Geese is a reminder to myself to look at the positive side of life and to endeavour to only write about things that inspire me rather than focus on what is negative in the world. Kirkegaard once wrote, “Being trampled by geese is a slow way of dying, but being eaten to death by envy and greed is even slower and more painful”.
Distaffs (or distaves) are used for all sorts of different fibres. It's basically a third hand that holds the fibre while our other hands are busy spinning it into yarn.
Distaff Day is on the 7th of January and is the most important holiday in the spinner's calendar. Well, I say holiday, but it's actually the back-to-work day but we do it with great fun.
This year, I dressed distaves in flax fibre for spinning linen yarn.
So this is a list I made for myself. This includes the videos I am actively working on and if they have any deadlines (and yes, dyslexia is a thing - don't even bother correcting, I promise it will do more harm than good).
To get on this list, the video needs to be in the filming, editing, writing, crafting, or gathering materials stage. The list fails to include some of the long-term projects where I'm gathering footage over several years (I started a flax video in 2019 for example), videos still in the planning stages, or videos that got stalled in the editing due to not having the right story to be worth making... yet. There are also a few secret projects that won't make it into this either.
What unexpected yarn has fallen into your life? Do you have a go-to project you love to make with found yarn or do you wait to see what the yarn says it wants to be?
About a year ago, I stumbled on some free yarn, leftovers from the now closed local mill. Talking to people who used to work there, this was part of calibrating the spinning machine, so it contains a lot of different fibres from a variety of farms. Most of them are less than a day's journey away.
So I made a thing. And I made a video about the thing. And the yarn. And deep thoughts about the yarn, fibreshed, and my personal textile history.
I enjoyed this project. It's the first time I've made something from sheep to clothing that feels like a quality garment. What's more, it's a sheep from my farm! One that I feed every day and who loves cuddles.
In a lot of ways I've gained confidence. I understand better how the yarn behaves in the woven cloth and that I can actually make something from scratch. I also understand why a more historically accurate cloth would involve a lot more people: a shepherd, weaver, spinner, seamstress, etc. It seems almost that I lose as much as I gain doing each step myself.
One of the things I worry about is this sets the bar too high. Both for me and for viewers.
There's no need to do every step ourselves. I did it because I was curious if I could and I'm a cheap little chicken who can't always afford to buy the cloth I want to work with. Even in this project, I combined modern cloth with traditional methods. Add growing, spinning, and weaving the lining to the mix and I would need another year or three to get it done. But even then, I don't think it would have been as good for the cloak as the lining I choose.
It's about learning from history instead of trying to reproduce it. What can I learn from the past and how can I incorporate it in my life today. There's no shame in it. There's no shame if a future project has bought yarn or I go to the shop and buy fabric. And yet, it's a nagging worry that I now need to progress to better and better things, especially on my youtube journey. That's not the path I want to take. I want to make projects that fill me with joy, and sometimes that means buying yarn. Sometimes it means spinning it.
Sometimes there won't be any yarn involved at all.
Most of all, I'm happy with the improvement in my video-making skills. I'm getting better at what to film and what to leave out. My voiceover confidence is improving. I'm still seeking a balance between showing enough for the technically curious and keeping the story moving, but on the whole, I've moved up a notch and am now about 11% of the filmmaker I want to become.
Wow, I may have just jumped the shark here, but I did it. I made a cloak, entirely by hand, using traditional methods, from sheep to finished clothing!
Basically, I gave in to peer pressure and put my life on hold to make this cloak. It turned out amazing, but I still have a lot of work to do to finish it up. Something to keep me busy this winter.
I want to talk about the pattern because the video was long and I edited that bit out. Also I don't really feel qualified to assess a sewing pattern as a complete N00b!
I get obsessed when learning a new craft. I take great pleasure in learning everything and to find out what the limits of the craft are, what my limits doing that craft are, and what happens when I push past those limits.
Last month, I experimented with pushing past those limits - twice.
First, I finally took the dive into making a fully (ish) homegrown garment from sheep to wearable clothing. To keep me focused, I gave myself a timeframe - one month - to get it done.
I choose the wrong month because September is pretty much the busiest time on the farm and the only month of the year the weather is friendly, so I'm regretting this.
But the yarn community is lovely and supportive. Sure there are opinions, but so long as we remember when someone says "the best way" or "the right way" what they really mean is "this worked well for me", it's much easier to deal with absolutes.
The second limit was to see if I could make videos about this adventure on a time budget. (time budget? deadline).
I did better than I expected.
And worse.
The thing I'm learning about making videos is that it is a craft - like knitting, spinning, weaving...
Edititus Troglodytus: a subspecies of the Homo sapiens who dwells in dark grey caverns and worships glowing screens while moving around little boxes that look thus
It's yardage now and it is more beautiful than I could have expected. The weaving took longer than I had hoped. I think that's because I rushed through the spinning so quickly that I didn't get as consistent a yarn as I prefer.
I'm a fairly good weaver but I do have my comfort zone and this wasn't in it.
Actually, there is a pretty good reason. I wanted to understand how circle cloaks work so I made some tiny mockups. And since the only thing I have that resembles a doll are these chickens...
Don't ask me why... Okay, you can ask me why but I'll probably mumble "I don-no" and change the subject to "isn't that pretty yarn?"
For some reason, I am filled with the belief that my life will be infinitely better if I own a cloak.
(or possibly cape, I haven't figured this part out yet - I figure cloaks are longer but this might just be something I made up in my head)
So I'm going to drop all my other projects and make a cloak. By "make" I mean I'm going to go outside and ask my sheep for some wool then spin, weave, and sew a cloak.
But to make things even more challenging, I'm going to do it in a month. This month. The month of September, in this year, 2022.
Um... this sleep thing they keep talking about. That's optional, right?
I have no idea if I can do this. It's a lot more than I've ever attempted before. On top of that, I'm still on the mend from my surgery. This might not go well.
Full disclosure, I have some of the yarn spun already. Probably not enough to make much difference.
So it's going to be a challenge. Especially because I hope to also make some videos about this journey which makes everything take twice as long.
“The theory was that while in a Fallow state you were gathering and conserving strength, nourishing yourself through meditation, sending invisible rootlets out into the universe.”
― Margaret Atwood, MaddAddam
Got to hang out with the Victoria Flax to Linen group last weekend. It was really special to connect after so many years in hibernation.
The most frustrating thing about recovering is trying to find momentum. But I'm working on it, building a bit more each day. Finally got into a routine with making coffee and having an hour of craft time while listening to an audiobook or lo-fi girl each morning.
Mostly I'm working on my sewing, trying to make a block pattern. This is a map of my body that I can use to make my own sewing patterns. I need this because my body is now a massively different shape and it could open a huge world of possibilities to me - and save loads of money in that I don't need to buy new patterns each time I want to make something new.
It began as a compost pile and a birthday present.
When I asked what he wanted for his Birthday, he said something like, you know that yarn you have stashed away as a treasure? You know how you promised me a rug? That's what I want.
The yarn has a story. It's spun at the (former) local fibre mill from a mixture of fibre from the farm. Some of the animals like the rich deep black alpaca, are no longer with us. This is sad, but also happy because the rug helps us remember the good times we had.
But it's not just any old fibre, this fibre was destined for the compost heap, to get smothered with squash plants as it slowly transforms into soil. The fibre was too fragile, too dirty, too... whatever to spin into a sensible yarn. But the mill had this machine that could use inferior fibre to twist around a core and make it soft and strong and valuable.
It used to be that once a year I would take an internet vacation. A month without internet, usually in February (because it's a short month). I would try to get my work holiday to match and I would worry away at projects that need finishing or something I want to get started and done.
The last time I did that, I wrote a book.
It's been a few years since I took my internet vacation and it's a bit like cookies on the browser, too much internet and I start to slow down and life clogs up. It's hard to get away and spend time doing real-world things.
This year I can't do a proper internet detox, so I'm doing a longer one. Max 1 hour per day on the internet (but more time for video editing). Trying very hard to get the farm ready for spring, grow extra food in the garden, and film more projects for youtube.
Sheep are very helpful... or enthusiastic.
It means the same thing when you are a sheep.
But this internet vacation means I haven't had much time for blogging lately. It also makes me realize how much I enjoy blogging again. So I'll be back.
Just as soon as I can get a few more things done around the farm.
Laying the flax out to dew ret - for more on that, here's a video:
My attention span isn't always what I would like. I admit, I find it difficult to stick to one task for long enough to get anything done. So I look around for tricks to hack my brain into getting stuff done.
One of those tricks is watching youtube videos in the background. It's a lot like when I used to watch TV, I knew the show was a set amount of time, and used that to guide my action. I would work until the show was over and it really helped to have the background noise to distract the part of my brain that want's to get up and do something else. Music helps too.
This last few years, I've been using Study With Me and LoFi Girl videos to help my crafting. But to be honest, studying isn't a good friend for crafting. It's so serious, the music is designed to cause deep focus and my crafting is more light brain work and repetitive tasks. I'm not engaging the same part of the brain.
I really needed something more craft specific. Preferably something with yarn, good music, and no talking.
But alas, the internet seems to be lacking in this.
So I made a thing.
I really enjoyed making this!
I want to make more.
I worry it's going to flop pretty badly by youtube standards. There's very little out there like this and even if I'm not the only one who needs something like this in their life to help make things, people don't know to search for it because it's too new.
Maybe I can make one a month, if I can stick to a schedule that much, if only to use up the extra footage that didn't make it into my main videos.
And maybe it will become a thing. I hope so. I imagine having a whole bunch of people making Craft With Me videos about many different crafts, so I can choose today I want to spin yarn, so I watch a spin with me video. Tomorrow maybe I'm in the mood for a woodworking with me video. I don't know.
If you think it's a good idea, please share with your friends who need a little motivation to get crafty.
13 years ago, I met one of you in a yarn shop. It was good. There was fibre and friend. A delightful combination. Like silk, angora, and merino
With that fibre, I wove my first, 100% handmade cloth (both spun and woven by me). It was a significant moment in my life - empowering.
This scarf started me on a path that I'm still travelling today.
Which brings us to today's video. Another landmark on this journey. An attempt to capture some of those feelings from that first scarf and weave them into today's life.
Not only is it a pivot from tutorials to storytelling, but it's also my first collaboration. A few youtube coconspirators and I decided to make videos about angora fibre in honour of Easter and Spring! The videos will show up here as they are published. I encourage you to check them out - there is some great info about angora from knitters, spinners, and other yarncrafters.
Alas, the only bunnies on the farm are wild and don't hang out much with the humans this time of year, I had to make do with Bunny Substitutes. I hope you enjoy.
Winters here are dark. Far darker than you think for our latitude, but with the clouds, rain, and oppressive conifers hemming us in on all sides, we can go weeks needing the lights on in the house at noon.
It's also very hard on the animals. We have lights in the hen house our they forget to wake up and eat. It's always a battle to keep everyone healthy - critters and humans alike.
Basically, winters on the farm are dark. But what makes them bearable is spring and all the new life it brings.
A while back, I put an advert in the local UsedAnywhere seeking bummers. A bummer is a lamb whose mum is unable to feed it, either because the lamb is an orphan or they have too many siblings competing for limited milk supply or other reasons.
Well, I got a reply so I'm off on an adventure to meet some lambs.
It's a day trip and a ferry trip from home. But it's a lot of fun to see what's up in the Cowichan Valley. Enjoy.
The internet is a better place because I made this video.
At least that is what Mrs Clint tells me.
I also promised Mrs Clint a special treat if her video went viral. She said any video with her in it will go viral so I might as well give her the treat now. I said, let's wait and see.
The goal is 50K views in the first month to go viral for a channel my size. I think I'm safe.
The garden is growing, but the soil needs improving. It just gobbles up water and when we can go months between rainfall... well, here's the rain star for the station nearest the farm.
See how we get just about all our rain from about the 13th of October, until the second week of Jan? Then it's rainy until the first of May. And then nothing. Just dew.
That was fun, but the big question is, how did woven wattle raised bed walls hold up? Well, the best way to find out is to take it apart and look.
And oh look, that's todays video:
I can see using this technique for garden beds again (especially that the price of wood has increase ten fold over the last three years). This is made with materials not only I have to hand, but that would otherwise be tossed on the burn pile. Wattle has a lot of use outside the keyhole design. I'm hoping this spring to use it to solve a different problem.
But that's for another day.
Patiently waiting for spring. Happy gardening all.
