Spinning & Weaving

First of all we wanted to see how our dyed yarn turned out! Every child has chosen one jar to pull out the yarn from the dye. They look amazing!! Some colors are really bright for example the beetroot and  madder. While the pickle pear looses the color while drying in the sun. We write little labels to remember the dye we used for the future.  Back inside we start with todays main topic – Bandweaving. Every child chooses one rigid heddle and starts choosing the colors of the wool they would like to use. Preparing the heddle requires mathematics to understand the amount of threads needed and also some logical thinking to imagine how the pattern will look like afterwards. We soon realise that the preparation of the heddle is a long process of counting, measuring, ordering the threads and threading in the heddle. While listening to some theory about the structure of a weaving frame.  Once prepared all the heddles we can start weaving. To do so we decide to go outside and search for a fixed point to tie the backstrap loom. In the sun we find a fence that seems perfect. Let’s start! Weaving the first centimetres of our band we slowly get a feeling for the process. Some local woman passes by and is curious about what we’re doing. After some difficulties in the beginning the bands are growing, and it’s fun!!  Time flew and we soon have to tidy up. Next week we want to continue our band but all continue to spin some wool for a further project! 

Wool comes in so many colors, that’s for sure. But where do they come from? Plants, Animals or only some chemicals? To get a first feeling for different natural dyes the children divide a basket full of coloured wool into natural colors and artificial ones. Then we talk about which colors where really natural. There are soooo many colors nature can create! A full rainbow.  But now we want to try to colour some wool on our own. In some prepared jars we have water with roots (woad), pomegranate skin, red wine or beetroot pieces inside. The color of the water has already changed and we add some white sheep wool to see what will happen. Due to the fact that we won’t heat it up but just leave it in the liquid for some days, the result will be clear next week. We decided not to use any morband to remain fully natural. Only some salt and vinegar to fix the colors better.  After some time inside, talking about dying plants, roots and even insects that are used to dye wool the children ask to go outside to collect some dying plants on our own. We find acorns and many different green leaves that we want to experiment with. Let’s see what will happen!  The last hour of the lesson we continue spinning wool and are getting better and better! Already the first little balls of wool are done and will wait to be used in a little weaving project in some weeks. 

It’s Friday again and we meet for the second time to learn more about natural fibres and their transformation.  After a short repetition of what we’ve learnt last week we talked about the local situation of shepherds. In our region there are many sheep that came with their owners from Sardegna many years ago. Nowadays its nearly impossible for them to sell the wool, instead they have to pay for the disposal because it’s seen as special waste. Many of them hide the wool or collect it in their farm to not pay for it.  When the children hear this, one girl shouts: WE WILL USE THE WOOOL!  Then we watched a short documentary about how farmers from Tuscany shear the sheep, the children remain surprised that they bond the legs of the sheep to keep it still.  Afterwards the children ask to see a video how the silk worm is creating a threat of silk. We were all impressed and wondered if the folder is still in the cocoon when they cook it. Poor folders!!! In the end we watched a short film about the cultivation of cotton in Sicily that restarted a few years ago.  After some theory we continue to practice to spin more wool and talk about what we’d like to create with the wool once it’s a bigger amount. Maybe a small little rug? In different shades of grey, white, black and brown. The children love the new wool that arrived from north Italy. It’s so sooooft! The enthusiasm is big about finding different ways to spin alone and helping each other. Then the idea came up to make an extra long threat down the wall. One stays up preparing the wool while the other is spinning the spindle down. The longest thread of Gradoli!!! To close the session we decided what we’d like to learn the next times. Natural colors, weaving bands!

Today was our first meeting of the spinning and weaving course at gradoli, a small village close to Lake Bolsena.  We start to get in touch with different types of fibers – plant based, like flax, hemp and nettles and animal based ones, like wool and silk.  To get a first idea the children get various forms of fibers in raw or already processed form and pair them with illustrated cards with images of the different fiber plants and animals. They are impressed by the variety of fabrics and their origin – silk, nettles, hemp, flax, alpaca, sheep wool and even agave. A worm that creates silk? What a surprise! And even from the banana plant a fiber can be extracted!  After exploring the fibers by touching and smelling them (unwashed sheep wool is reaaally smelly!!) we start to prepare the sheep wool to spin our first threat.  The first step is to remove all the straw pieces and other dirt (luckily we had already pre washed wool) and make the wool more fluffy.  Then we take some dog brushes to card the wool – the last step before spinning it. After preparing the black and white wool we can start spinning. Some children start with alpaca wool, which is softer and quite easy to spin while others mix black and white sheep wool. The motivation to spin enough for a carpet or a sweater is big!  In the beginning we share the work, one is spinning the spindle while the other is preparing the wool supply. Then we change the roles. In the end some are even trying to spin and prepare the wool and create their first own threat! Such a satisfaction!  After two hours we write the names on the spindles to remember which one is who’s for the next week and tidy up the room.