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We should probably look at what we're wearing too
Rebeca Burgess, founder of Fibershed, in this interview;
![[wip] Portuguese wool - a practical guide](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/648982341579d12f2111cfb5/1687858372291-XW3CG5XCRV8I4N978MEQ/image-asset.jpeg)
[wip] Portuguese wool - a practical guide
The very tedious part of doing the sample photoshoot is the very satisfactory part of seeing your work finally come together.
At the shop: books about flax!
Finding books on flax cultivation written in Portuguese is not easy. Most of the ones I find that are actually useful for practice were published in the first half of the 20th century and are rarities, really.
![[wip] Portuguese wool - a practical guide](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/648982341579d12f2111cfb5/1687858404902-N0Z3Y2AQ41DDESC95Y97/image-asset.jpeg)
[wip] Portuguese wool - a practical guide
Well, There's a problem that I just never have...
Did I know that transforming bags of raw wool from every corner of our country into teeny-tiny envelopes like these would be so much work? Of course not. And I'm glad I didn’t, otherwise I would have chickened out.
The Woodworking Tools book is back in the shop
After being sold out for a couple of months, the Woodworking Tools book is again available at the shop.
In the meantime: national sheep breeds.
While I don't finish the marathon that this small study about the wool from portuguese sheep breeds as turned into, here's a little video on the subject.
The first experiments
Although I'm buried in work and do not have the time to write all the posts I need to write, I had to come here and share Guida Fonseca's first experiments with some of the wools she discovered through our ongoing small Portuguese Wools study, in her own work.
In search of the lost scutcher
By the end of June, there I went, all the way up Minho, hoping to find one of those mechanic scutchers still in working condition.
The festival
Just like last year, it was a very intense day fully spent teaching spinning, weaving and basketry. Although we ended up extremely tired, we all agreed that it is very important to open this kind of activities to the general public, that for the most part, never did anything of the kind.
Being Merino in Portugal
The merino confusion began with our work on portuguese wools, when terms we had been using for some time got mixed up with new terms we were learning. Merino, Merino Alentejano, Merina Branca, Merina Preta, Merina da Beira Baixa, merino extra, merino fino, merino médio e merino forte. What do they mean, and how do they relate to each other?
Portuguese Wool national classification system
One thing that is good to know, is the classification system that is being used in our country. These two tables aren't the easiest thing to find (this book is from 1947), but I was lucky enough to find it in a bookshop right here in Porto, at the moment I started looking for it.
Plying with a portuguese spindle
Surprisingly for me, most of my Portuguese Spindles have been traveling to the other side of the Atlantic. I guess it should be no wonder for two reasons: first, fiber culture out there is much more developed and intense than in our country, and second, I know that this spindle is quite unusual, so it should spark some curiosity in the community.
Where do your plastic clothes end up?
There are other costs, as well. This disposable, mass production of fast fashion is amplifying one of the biggest environmental problems you’ve probably never heard of. Billions of micro fibers—small bits of plastic easily consumed by aquatic life—are being emitted into the environment from the clothes we wear.
The number one
The number 01 of the Woodworking Tools silkscreen that I saved for us, framed and ready to hang.
Saber Fazer at the Fall Festival - September 27, 2015
Save the date: sunday, the 27th of September, Saber Fazer will once again be present with two activities at the Festa de Outono in Serralves.
The true cost of what we wear
This documentary is a must-see. It took me a few months to get around to watch it, because the trailer made it look like a compilation of stock footage simply edited to prove a point, but I was wrong.
Flowering Flax
Most definitely, the most beautiful time in flax growing: the flowering. The plants already have their maximum height, and they get the typical purple flowers in the morning, that then fall throughout the day.
The first one to form a cocoon
The thought on my mind was “But when will these silkworms start cocooning?”, when we found this pioneer working on her cocoon, on one of the sides of the wooden trays.