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A thread about textile production and seasonality (1/13)
(2/13) It's undeniable that 2020 has been a trash-fire of a year, but one thing I do appreciate is that this year has made me more aware of seasonality than any other
(3/13) I guess when days bleed together and our established units of time seem increasingly arbitrary, the changing of the seasons, but more specifically, the subtle changes within seasons become more noticable
(4/13) It helps that this year I became more interested in basketry and gathering local plant fibres
(5/13) The effects of seasonal changes on textile production is something I considered during and after my MA, particularly in relation to how different levels of light throughout the year would have influenced the length of working days
(6/13) And, seasonality is relevant to my thesis (when silk reeling takes place, and if cocoons are stored are dictated by the Bombyx mori lifecycle, which in turn is bound up in the changing of seasons and weather patterns, both of which affect their food supply)
(7/13) But I have never been more aware of the changing of seasons than this year when thinking "this is the time of year to gather nettles" or "this is the time of year to harvest bramble bast"
(8/13)...Or more accurately "Oh, this is no longer a good time of year to harvest nettles and brambles, but soon it will be a good time to gather pine needles..."
(9/13) All of this was on my mind today when, eager to start processing some Gotland wool that was a Christmas present from my partner, but mindful of the dust that combing would generate, I went outside with my combs and wool
(10/13) And while I stood in the cold thinking that there are definitely better times of year to do this, I realised that this must have also occured to Viking and Anglo-Saxon textile workers before me...
(11/13) They were surely aware of the dust and the the cold, and must have tailored (hah) their outdoor fibre processing to more suitable times of the year, maybe saving spinning and other somewhat less debris-filled activities for indoor winter work.
(12/13) This isn't a new or revolutionary thought, but there is something special about coming back to it through practical experience, and I'm grateful for these moments where I connect to something that was probably second-nature to my ancestors.
(13/13) ...to honour this I'm now spinning indoors, and the wool is beautiful
