At the 1999 IOLI convention, one of my favorite events was a presentation by the "the Lares" (no other name given in the official program we received) on "The Story of Flax". They talked about and demonstrated every step in the process of linen production from the sewing of the seeds (when, where, and how...) to the harvesting (when, which, and how), to the retting (at least two options), the combing, spinning, etc., etc. The (copious)equipment was all antique, their clothes had been made from linen they had grown, harvested, combed, spun, woven, and sewn. I was fascinated with the presentation.
It was my impression that one of the key components to getting such fine fibers for spinning was hand-pulling the plant at a critical point, measured from the date of the bloom. So one would need to know exactly how a flower looked "post bloom", to pull it when it was prime for lace thread. (They actually spoke of the number of days after bloom, but since not all plants in a crop bloom at precisely the same time...) I can't resist this sidebar: At the beginning of the lecture/demonstration, they passed around a container of flax seeds and instructed each of us to take "as many seeds as we needed" and put them in our shoes. They declined to give any other instructions, and noted that we would learn why at the end of the lecture. The end of the lecture came, and they had not brought it up. So when they asked for questions, they fielded those that related to the demonstration, and finally I could not resist. I asked, "Why the flax in our shoes?" The answer was that flax was considered good luck to put in your shoes, and insured a fertile woman who would bear many children. There were shrieks as ladies quickly dumped flax on the ballroom floor!!! And amid the pandemonium, the Lares announced that I had won a container of flax seed for paying attention. I still have it... although as far away from my shoes as I can manage!! Which, as I read all of the input from the list so far, simply adds my (their) "2 cents" to the plate! Clay Clay Blackwell [EMAIL PROTECTED] > [Original Message] > From: romdom <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Date: 10/3/2005 8:31:48 PM > Subject: Re: Subject: [lace] Linen (flax) thread > > le 3/10/05 4:23, Adele Shaak à [EMAIL PROTECTED] a écrit : > > I think the fineness of linen > > thread was more likely the result of careful hand-raising, > > hand-processing, and hand-spinning, and climate conditions, than it was > > the result of having some special variety of flax. > > > > Again, my 2 cents. > > > > my two cents agree with yours .. ;-)) > dominique from Paris. > > - > To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: > unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to > [EMAIL PROTECTED] - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
